Being PASPA.
It seems like everyone has a story or two about the quick way sportsbooks will seek to limit sharp, or at least apparently sharp, bettors.
Well, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has decided to — very slowly, as this first came up in January 2023 — take a hard look at the methods sportsbooks use to make these decisions.
During a regular meeting Thursday, Andrew Steffen, the state’s sports wagering operations manager, detailed the regulations in the legal sports betting in Massachusetts law that allow sportsbooks to limit customers at will.
“The division fully investigated the topic, performed an extensive review of house rules, internal controls, consulted with the legal team, talked to operators,” Steffen said.
And the rules are pretty straightforward in the commonwealth. Sportsbooks are allowed to limit.
But the commissioners aren’t entirely happy with the way it works, and might not be entirely happy with it at all.
‘This is the beginning’ 6w3n1b
“This is the beginning of the conversation,” said Eileen O’Brien, one of the commissioners. “Seems to me the regs and the house rules puts a tremendous amount of discretion in their hands. The deeper issue here, in of individual patrons, particularly in light of some of the coverage out there recently, like VIP credits … is ‘why am I limited, what’s the rationale behind that?’
“What I’m curious to know is what’s the basis for that, how and why are they making these determinations, because that’s critical if we need to amend this reg,” O’Brien continued. “Doing a deeper dive in this as we go forward.”
Commissioner Nakisha Skinner is also looking for answers.
“There should be a way for patrons to really understand what will get them limited,” she said. “It’s really at the operator’s discretion, and there’s no way for a patron to know what has happened. I don’t think our regs go far enough.”
Skinner was also concerned about the idea that losing bettors get encouraged to bet more, while winning bettors get shown the door.
“For me this is about fundamental fairness and transparency to the patrons, where you have a situation where a patron is losing and being encouraged by outreach, VIP staff, and incentives … what’s the balance when that same patron begins to win? It really needs to be explored,” she said. “How big of a problem is this, and can we find that sweet spot so the sportsbook operator is protected and the consumer is protected?”
While no firm timetable was given, the commissioners did indicate they will be tackling this issue in the coming months.
