Massachusetts regulator continues player wager limits discussion

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) recently held a public meeting and addressed next steps for players receiving betting limits from sports betting operators.

The gaming commission has been reviewing player wager limitation issues for more than a year in an effort to understand the reasons state operators might lower wager limits for local players.

Last December, the commission’s Sports Wagering Division asked for data from state operators “related to the stake factor and closing line value (CLV) of registered players on each operator’s platform.”

“The goal of this request was to determine if the data supported a conclusion that a correlation exists between a player’s stake factor and CLV, i.e., between the extent to which a player is limited and their tendency to place “good” bets by beating the closing line,” the commission said in a statement.

After examining data compiled from the state’s seven sportsbooks, the MGC averaged the numbers and found that 0.64% of statewide bettors were limited “without justification.” In a breakdown of this total, further examination determined (57.6%) were limited in a range of 1-24% of an app’s default maximum bet.

Following data review, the commission said it wants to take additional steps that will keep limits from being placed on players “without justification.”

Chairman Jordan Maynard elaborated on possible courses of action by saying, “We’ve identified the problem we have, and we’ve talked about it for over a year.

“If half a percent of bettors are being limited without justification, I want the alogrithms to be retooled, I want people to be held accountable at the operators to be sure those folks can get back into the regulated market.”

Good to know: Retail sports betting became legal in Massachusetts in January 2023, followed by online sports betting market in March 2023

According to the state gaming commission, online and retail sports betting locations reported close to $55.8m in taxable gaming revenue in August. The state collected almost $11.1m in taxes from online and retail sports betting last month.

Laura Mack

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