DraftKings Class Action Lawsuit Filed Over SBNC Betting Rules

The fantasy sports contest provider DraftKings has been hit with a class action lawsuit over their allegedly unfair Sports Betting National Championship betting rules.

According to plaintiff Christopher Leong, he went to DraftKings’ Sports Betting National Championship (SBNC) from Jan. 11 to 13 in New Jersey.

Leong argues that he and the other participants were subjected to unfair and inconsistent betting rules that prohibited participants from getting a fair shake at entering some bets.

The DraftKings class action lawsuit argues that he and other participants were financially injured because they paid a substantial entry fee to participate in the tournament and were promised a chance at a significant prize pool.

Leong claims he was not able to fully participate in the tournament and wasn’t given a fair chance at the winnings because of DraftKings’ unfair betting rules.

The DraftKings class action states that DraftKings charged participants $10,000 to participate in the SBNC.

Leong says that of that $10,000, $4,700 per entrant went to a prize pool, and $300 went towards covering administrative costs for the tournament, while the last $5,000 was given back to the entrants for their use in betting in the tournament. The plaintiff states that first prize in the tournament was $1 million.

The DraftKings betting rules class action lawsuit states that DraftKings encouraged participants to place bets on a range of sporting events. However, some bets would be accepted, while others would be rejected.

Allegedly, it was not evident to participants if there were any standards by which bets were rejected or accepted.

The DraftKings SBNC bets class action lawsuit argues that the organization never posted rules about what wagers would be accepted or rejected.

Leong claims that the only betting terms and conditions posted by DraftKings stated that participants “can wager on any sport (or combination of sports via parlay) or wager in the [DraftKings Sportsbook] that is live between 12:00pm EST Friday January 11th and 1am Sunday January 13th and whose events(s) are graded by 8am EST on Sunday, January 13th.”

The DraftKings class action notes that “grading” is a betting industry term referring to the process by which bets are deemed successful or unsuccessful, and stresses that the process is automated in nature and is not subjective in any way.

According to Leong, the process by which bets were accepted or rejected was not based on a discernible standard, and he claims that the time it took for each bet to be accepted or rejected “varied wildly” from bet to bet.

In addition, the DraftKings class action notes that a bet from one person could be accepted while a comparable bet from another person could be rejected.

Leong states that Jonathan Aguiar, the DraftKing Senior Product Manager noted that in a competition like the Sports Betting National Championship, bet size limits “shouldn’t really come into play in major sports.”

The plaintiff makes note of this statement to stress that the company did not make a practice of placing limits on the size or type of bets placed, despite their practice of rejecting bets.

Leong is represented by William H. Pillsbury of the Law Offices of William H. Pillsbury PLLC and Maurice VerStandig of The VerStandig Law Firm LLC.

The DraftKings Betting Rules Class Action Lawsuit is Christopher Leong v. Resorts Digital Gaming LLC d/b/a DraftKings, Case No. ATL-L-000114-19, in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Atlantic Division.