DraftKings Sued After Father Loses Nearly $1 Million in Four Years

• A lawsuit filed against DraftKings in New Jersey claims the sportsbook operator preyed on a father’s gambling addiction for nearly $1 million
• Lawsuit claims the gaming company “actively participated” in his gambling addiction
• The lawsuit claims the user had four VIP hosts that knew of his gambling addiction and did not verify the source of his funds

A lawsuit filed in New Jersey against DraftKings alleges that a user known only as “Mdallo1990” lost $942,000 betting on sports since 2020 and that the sports betting company “actively participated” in his gambling addiction, according to reports from The Independent.

Lisa D’Alessandro, the wife of the DraftKings user who is only listed in the lawsuit under his user name “Mdallo1990,” says her husband was betting more than $125,000 a month at the height of his addiction and was plied by four DraftKings VIP hosts to continue his habit.

The lawsuit alleges that DraftKings did not follow its company policy of requiring heavy users to verify their funds by providing either a W-2 or bank statement.

Pressured to Bet More

D’Alessandro, who is now estranged from her husband, said in the lawsuit that during his first year of sports betting he never gambled more than $3,775 in a month, but by 2023 he was betting as much as $125,000 a month. The lawsuit is attempting to recoup his losses from DraftKings

DraftKings did not respond to a request for comment from The Independent.

According to the lawsuit, D’Alessandro’s husband was using money from their children’s savings account, which were funded by gifts they had received for birthdays, Christmases, and other holidays. D’Alessandro claims that DraftKings willingly ignored the obvious signs of her husband’s gambling addiction, as the company assigned him four VIP hosts that provided him with opulent gifts and specialized offers to keep playing.

At one point “Mdallo1990” had been upgraded to “Onyx Elite level status” and was provided with a free vacations and high-end Apple products to keep playing. The lawsuit alleges that if the VIP hosts were doing their job correctly, the user would have been cut off from action when they noticed he was betting more than four times his $175,000 annual income.

Sports Betting Dime recently published a deep-dive into VIP hosts and their interactions with sports betting users, in which several industry experts predicted their actions could pose severre problems for sports betting companies.

“To be clear, this suit does not allege liability on the basis that Defendants passively permitted a problem gambler to use its gambling platform,” the complaint argues in The Independent report. “Rather, this suit alleges violation of New Jersey statutory and common law because Defendants actively participated in the addiction of Mdallo1990 by targeting him with incentives, bonuses, and other gifts to create, nurture, expedite, and/or exacerbate his addiction.”

D’Alessandro and her counsel are suing DraftKings for violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, negligence, and fraud.

Rise in Gambling Addiction Lawsuits

The lawsuit is reminiscent to one recently filed against FanDuel, where ex-Jacksonville Jaguars employee Amit Patel sued the operator after he claimed a VIP host took advantage of his gambling addiction.

Patel pled guilty to wire fraud and engaging in an illegal monetary transaction after stealing millions from the NFL franchise. He sued FanDuel in federal court, accusing a VIP host of allegedly preying on his gambling addiction. He is currently serving a 6.5-year federal prison sentence after stealing more than $22 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars to fund his gambling habit. According to the newest lawsuit, Patel transferred more than $20 million to FanDuel to finance his daily fantasy sports addiction.

According to the lawsuit, a FanDuel VIP host provided Patel with more than $1.1 million in FanDuel credit, an all-expense reimbursed trip to a Formula One Grand Prix event in Miami, an all-expense reimbursed trip, plus a suite, to the NCAA Football Championship game in January 2023, a reimbursed trip to the Super Bowl, and other lavish trips to ensure he would keep playing.

Patel’s lawyer who filed his lawsuit, Matthew Litt, is also representing D’Alessandro in New Jersey state court.