Massachusetts Gaming Commission Will Require Sportsbooks to Notify Bettors Who’re Limited

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) will require all seven of its online sportsbooks to notify customers whose bets are being limited.

The decision emerged from an MGC meeting yesterday to discuss “findings after asking for operators to provide data related to how bettors were being limited.”

Data Reveals ‘Limiting’ is Limited at Massachusetts Sportsbooks

In talking with sportsbook operators, the MGC found that “limiting is something that happens to a fraction of a percent of bettors.”

Key findings from averaging data at the seven sportsbooks included:

• 0.64% of bettors in Massachusetts were limited
• 57.6% were limited to between 1-24% of the default maximum bet
• 12.7% of those being limited were limited to less than 1% of the default maximum stake

Additionally, data supported the fact that bettors “who consistently won were more likely to have their betting limits lowered.” Those individuals were also less likely to be included in a sportsbook’s VIP program.

Even though limiting is limited in Massachusetts, MGC officials “still agreed it was necessary to take action on multiple fronts” to increase transparency about the practice. In many cases, Bay State bettors were limited without any notification or explanation.

New Regulations & Algorithms Expected Among Next Steps

MGC Chairman Jordan Maynard discussed the next steps during Tuesday’s meeting.

“We’ve identified the problem we have, and we’ve talked about it for over a year,” Maynard said. “If half (of) a percent of bettors are being limited without justification, I want the algorithms to be retooled, I want people to be held accountable (with) the operators to be sure those folks can get back into the regulated market.”

MGC officials agreed on three measures to be taken immediately:

• Draft language for a new regulation that will require licensed sportsbooks to notify bettors if their accounts are being limited.
• Commissioner Eileen O’Brien suggested the MGC also “revisit the advertising regulations surrounding sports betting to ensure operators are not advertising sports betting as an opportunity to win substantial sums of money” and “not cautioning about the possibility that the sportsbooks might limit how much they can bet if they win too much.”
• Obtain feedback on the findings of the data analysis to gain a deeper understanding of the reasoning behind limiting bettors.

Interestingly, regulators recently reviewed similar data in Wyoming and adopted a completely different approach to limiting. Wyoming Gaming Commissioner Deputy Director Michael Steinberg determined that the limiting happened so little “for it not to be something that the commission should be concerned about.”