BetMGM hit with $145,000 Maryland fine over early betting snafu

BetMGM has been fined $145,000 by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission (MLGC) for taking bets prior to the launch of the regulated sports betting market in the Free State.

The fine was confirmed at a settlement meeting of the MLGC which took place last week, with more than 140 mobile bets being accepted by the Maryland licensee prior to launch.

Wagers were accepted as early as November 16, five days before the accepted launch date of November 21, with most placed during a three-hour window in which it was operating on an unlicensed basis.

The error occurred during the operator’s demonstration phase of its sportsbook, with a link being sent which directed players to the live version of the operator’s sportsbook once players were verified under current KYC (know your customer) checking protocols.

Testifying at the MLGC settlement hearing, BetMGM director of technical governance Roman Rubas explained the situation which had occurred.

“At the time, we were going through our checks for the controlled demo that was going to occur in the following week, part of that was wrapping up our UAT testing internally,” Rubas told the MLGC.

“The teams were making configuration changes to the beta site, which is hidden from production and the public, and gives us the ability to do our final checks and sign off, making sure everything is working.

“There’s a lot of pressure and focus on the controlled demo to make sure everything works properly during that time,” he added.

Once the error was discovered, all bets taken were immediately voided and refunded back to the individuals concerned, with Rubas keen to stress the operator’s resolve to not have a reoccurrence of the problem in the future.

Rubas continued: “Since then, we’ve taken this as a lesson learned. We’re working with our geolocation provider to ensure that for new states coming on board we’re going to ensure those states are in the exclusion zone, not allowing any wagers to get through.

“Our internal processes are going to be in place to make sure that this doesn’t happen again, as well as using our geolocation provider to ensure that no wagers get through as an additional precaution,” the technical governance director added.

BetMGM’s compliance officer Rhea Loney, who also gave testimony at the settlement hearing, echoed much of Rubas’ sentiments and highlighted the operator’s swift actions following the breach.

“We do take this very seriously and I want to reassure the commission that as soon as we were notified about this issue, we acted immediately, working closely with GeoComply to ensure that any wagering available prior to launch or authorization was stopped immediately,” Loney said.

“This is an isolated occurrence for BetMGM. As soon as we were notified we stopped, worked to remedy our error and launched a full technical investigation.

“The following day, we were able to provide a report on what occurred on the technical side and provide an explained explanation around the configuration change that allowed this to occur,” she concluded.

Elsewhere, BetMGM has been unanimously approved for a mobile sports betting license in Massachusetts following an extensive review by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC).

The operator, and its retail partner MGM Springfield, were granted permission to launch in the state, with retail sports betting going live in January.

The approval came after two days of review, in which commissioners raised concerns about player data sharing between the casino and BetMGM.

BetMGM’s license was granted on a conditional basis, with the operator mandated to provide a so-called “vendor diversity list” as well as providing updates on two confidential investigations disclosed to the MGC’s investigation and enforcement branch on December 16.

The nature of these investigations were not disclosed by the MGC.