The Hard Rock’s “No Regret First Bet” campaign has one bettor not only regretting his wager but insisting he only signed up because he believed there was no risk involved. Now he’s filed a lawsuit.
Let’s take a further look into the process and analyze its impact on top-rated sportsbooks.
Regret the Bet
A man named Brandon Montgomery of Bradenton, Florida has filed a class action suit against the Seminole Tribe and its Hard Rock Sportsbook betting app. It all stems from a promotion that the company calls “No Regret First Bet” implying there will be no regret because no money will or can be lost. However, as seasoned sports bettors know, there’s always a catch but that terminology has been largely scrubbed by regulators across the nation, except in Florida where the Seminole Tribe has mobile sports betting exclusivity.
The promotion reads that anyone signing up for a new account will receive a bonus bet of up to $100 should the first wager lose. Of course, if the customer loses the bonus bet as well, then they lost whatever they wagered initially and that didn’t sit well with Mr. Montgomery. Montgomery believes a refund of the initial bet is in order and not a second chance bet that can also be lost.
The lawsuit has several parts but the main issue contends that “the Bonus Bet marketing and sign-up process misrepresents and omits several key facts about the service,” including that “a user cannot simply cash out a refund if they lose the bet, but instead must place another bet.”
The lawsuit goes on to say, “Bonus Bets cannot be withdrawn and must be wagered to be converted to currency. Further, wagers made with the Bonus Bets are not paid out like wagers made with U.S. dollars. A typical bet made with $100 at even odds recovers the initial $100 plus the $100 winnings minus the Defendant’s agreed-upon cut of 9% (“vig” or “juice”), which results in a payment of approximately $191. By contrast, a winning Bonus Bet of $100 at even odds recovers $100 minus the vig or juice, resulting in a payment of only $91.”
The Devil is in the Details
Terms like risk-free, no sweat bet, and others like it have been eliminated from advertising verbiage throughout much, if not all the country in which legal sports betting has been launched. This recent lawsuit is typical of what regulators believed would happen if that language wasn’t prohibited.
Montgomery’s lawsuit even quotes Ohio Casino Control Commission Executive Director Matthew Schuler as saying, “If something is claiming to be free or risk-free, then it has to absolutely not require the patron to incur any loss or risk their own money. … We are not supportive of trying to put the truth in small print.”
Even New York State Attorney Letitia James made a point of calling out sports betting platforms licensed in her state by stating the following: “I urge all New Yorkers watching the Super Bowl and betting online for the first time to be careful – don’t let scammers game your gamble. Before placing a bet, do your research into the platform, read the fine print of the offer, and follow our other tips to avoid any red flags and keep the odds in your favor. Online sports betting companies that fumble their advertising to mislead New Yorkers can expect to hear from my office.”
The lawsuit further states, “Reasonable users/consumers, including Plaintiff, were misled to their detriment. They did not receive the advertised benefit of the No Regret First Bet, and in many cases, placed larger or riskier bets than they ordinarily would have but for the misleading advertising.”
Montgomery has made his lawsuit available to all others who believe they too were misled by the Hard Rock bonus bet terminology, which is why this is characterized as a class action lawsuit.
