In a written communication to its customers, BetMGM informed them that, starting today, it requires a $2.50 minimum bet on all wager types. Those include straight bets, parlays, Same Game Parlays, round robins, and bonus bets.

BetMGM is not alone in implementing a minimum wager requirement. Hard Rock Bet has already implemented a $2 minimum requirement for all bets.

The change by the two operators comes as a direct response to Illinois’ new two-tier tax structure on mobile sports bets. The law requires operators to pay $0.25 per bet on the first 20 million wagers. After that threshold, the tax rises to $0.50 per bet.

The new tax went into effect on July 1.

FanDuel, DraftKings, Fanatics Opt for Bet Surcharge

While BetMGM and Hard Rock Bet chose to set higher minimums, other major operators are passing the tax directly to bettors through surcharges.

FanDuel became the first operator to respond by announcing a $0.50 surcharge on all bets, starting September 1. The operator highlighted that the recent tax hike was the second in a year.

In 2024, FanDuel’s tax on gross gaming revenue rose from 15% to 40%. The platform claims it absorbed those costs in 2024. However, it now says it must pass them on to consumers to protect its margins.

FanDuel’s decision sent a shockwave through the industry, with observers closely watching to see how investors and analysts would respond.

As the response was relatively positive, FanDuel’s rival DraftKings also announced a $0.50 surcharge shortly after. DraftKings carefully timed its announcement. Last year, it introduced a similar surcharge, following the Illinois hike, but faced heavy scrutiny. That forced it to abandon the idea.

The third sports betting operator to impose a surcharge is Fanatics. However, unlike DraftKings and FanDuel, Fanatics decided to impose a $0.25 surcharge instead of $0.50 surcharge.

Observers note that the lower fee is due to Fanatics not being expected to exceed the 20 million bets threshold. At the same time, a large part of the wagers placed on FanDuel and DraftKings will fall under the higher $0.50 per bet tax.

Meanwhile, the remaining mobile sportsbooks in the state, bet365, BetRivers, Caesars, ESPN Bet, and Circa, have not indicated whether they will impose a surcharge or a minimum bet requirement in Illinois.

Credit Card Ban Advances in Illinois

In another potential blow to Illinois mobile sportsbooks, the state has moved one step closer to banning the use of credit cards to place sports bets. Illinois already prohibits the use of credit cards in casinos and video gaming establishments within the state.

In April, the Illinois Gaming Board unanimously approved a prohibition on credit card usage at sportsbooks. That advanced the proposal through the state’s administrative process.

The proposed amendment to the state’s gambling laws was officially published in the July 11 Illinois Register as part of the required rule-making protocol.

As part of the process, the amendment is now under review by the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules. The committee will hold a public comment period until August 25, after which it will make a decision. The next meeting is scheduled for August 13.

If the committee approves the change, it would prohibit retail and online sportsbooks from accepting credit cards for deposits. Debit cards and bank transfers (ACH) will still be available as payment methods.

With a ban, Illinois would join six other states with similar provisions. They include Rhode Island, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Tennessee.

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The platform’s casino service ran its weekly trivia game late last month, offering New Jersey players a share of a $5,000 prize pool. Players scoring seven or more out of 10 correct answers were due to receive cash prizes from the pool.

However, Hard Rock Bet told the media outlet SBC Americas that all 353 winners instead “each erroneously received $5,000.” That equated to a total payout of $1.765 million, the operator said.

The firm said that it would write off the loss. It explained that it would not make any attempt to ask customers to return the money.

Hard Rock Bet: We Won’t Claw Back Erroneous Payouts

Matt Primeaux, Hard Rock Digital’s President and Executive Managing Director, spoke about the matter on June 27. He claimed that when his firm had been “made aware of the incorrect Live Trivia payouts,” its response was “quick and deliberate.”

Primeaux said: “The awards stand. Others may have tried to claw back the $5,000 awards. But Hard Rock Bet wants to put our customers first wherever possible, not just when it’s convenient.”

The executive added that Hard Rock Bet Casino wants to provide players with “a simple, fair, and transparent entertainment experience.”

He said betting on the platform should not be an experience “filled with terms and conditions, asterisks, and promotions that can never fully be won.”

Despite Primeaux’s apparent largesse, Hard Rock Bet will be hoping to avoid a repeat. The Live Trivia service is only a few weeks old. The operator announced the Live Trivia launch to great fanfare in April this year.

Hard Rock Bet has partnered with the UK-based gambling software developer Playtech on the New Jersey-only trivia game service.

In February, Hard Rock announced the expansion of its offline gambling facilities in Bristol, Virginia, unveiling a new poker room.

The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Bristol says the new 14-table room offers bettors access to No Limit Hold ‘Em and Pot Limit Omaha games.

The post Hard Rock Bet Accidentally Gifts 353 Online Trivia Players $5k Payouts in $1.76 Million Error appeared first on CasinoBeats.

A lawsuit filed in April by Protect The Constitution, LLC, claims the compact that the Seminole Tribe signed with Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2021 violates state laws. 

The compact allows the tribe to offer online sports betting as part of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA), which allows gambling on tribal lands. According to the agreement, because the servers are on tribal lands, this equates to bets being placed on tribal lands. 

In 2018, however, a constitutional amendment that gave Florida voters a say in any future expansion of gambling was approved.

Residents voted 71% in favor of the amendment, which “ensures that Florida voters shall have the exclusive right to decide whether to authorize casino gambling” in the state. It required a vote through a citizens’ initiative “for casino gambling to be authorized under Florida law.”

The agreement between DeSantis and the Seminole Tribe allows online sports betting through the tribe’s Hard Rock Bet platform. However, this was never put to a public vote.

There is debate over whether this constitutes casino gambling. At the time of the 2018 amendment, online sports betting was not part of the discussions. 

Lawsuit Claims Voters Must Approve Online Sports Betting

The lawsuit filed states that, “Today, online sports betting occurs throughout the state of Florida. But no citizens’ initiative has ever been held to provide authorization. 

“And the people of Florida have never been allowed to exercise their constitutional right to decide whether sports betting should be authorized throughout the state.”

Courts initially ruled against the legality of the 2021 compact, and the Seminole Tribe shut down Hard Rock Sportsbook shortly after its launch.

Federal judge Dabney Friedrich did not endorse the argument that bets were placed on tribal lands because the servers were stored there. He ordered a return to the 2010 compact, which does not authorize online sports betting. 

Courts Previously Sided With Seminole Tribe

In 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit reversed the decision made by Friedrich in 2021. It ruled that the compact permitted betting from anywhere as long as servers remain on tribal lands. 

Subsequently, Hard Rock Bet relaunched its sportsbook in November 2023. From that point through May 2024, the sportsbook took in $12 billion in wagers from residents. Florida took in around $357 million in shared revenue over that period. 

The US Supreme Court also refused to hear a case challenging the legality of the compact last year. The court ruled that the lawsuit had filed the wrong type of petition.  

Florida AG Claims Tribal Gaming Exception Applies

The motion to dismiss the lawsuit uses the same arguments from the Supreme Court case last year. It contends that an exception to the 2018 amendment applies, which protects the rights of gambling on tribal lands. 

The amendment states, “nothing herein shall be construed to limit the ability of the state or Native American tribes to negotiate gaming compacts pursuant to the Federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act for the conduct of casino gambling on tribal lands, or to affect any existing gambling on tribal lands pursuant to compacts executed by the state and Native American tribes pursuant to IGRA.”

The motion to dismiss states that “online sports betting is validly addressed in the 2021 compact, and compacts are exempted from the citizen-initiative process.”

“Casino gambling or not, sports betting was properly authorized by the compact.”

With the precedent set by previous rulings, the chances of success for the lawsuit are estimated to be low. However, this case will go through a more typical legal process in circuit court. The case is assigned to Judge Jonathan Sjostrom in Leon County. 

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