A New York man claimed that he was exploited by casino operator BetMGM, who “plied him with free bets to keep him from reporting game glitches to regulators,” according to a lawsuit filed last Wednesday. The man claims he is a gambling addict and was targeted for this reason.
Sam A. Antar alleged that BetMGM’s online blackjack and other games repeatedly disconnected from its servers, often while he had favorable hands, which wiped out his potential winnings.
Allegedly, his winnings often were not available to him until he deposited more money into his account, which further fuelled his compulsive gambling. In his lawsuit, Antar alleges that systemic failures or ‘glitches’ in BetMGM’s servers caused him to wager over $29m across nine months.
Antar claims he reported the problems to account managers and corporate executives. In response he received free betting credits, only for the problems to persist when he played with the free bonuses.
The lawsuit alleges that BetMGM didn’t fix the problems because the games were profitable. Instead, Mr. Antar was given bonuses that at one point amounted to more than $30,000 a month.
The lawsuit was filed in New Jersey Superior Court and accused MGM Resorts, BetMGM, Entain and the Borgata casino in Atlantic City of consumer fraud, racketeering and gross negligence, among other civil claims
Antar said he experienced thousands of disconnections every 15-20 minutes from May 2019 to January 2020. In this period, he made over 100,000 online bets which included multi-day binges and in-person visits to the Borgata.
However, Antar has also been accused of impropriety in the past. In 2019, Antar was accused by New Jersey prosecutors of defrauding friends and family in an investment scheme that allegedly helped fuel his gambling. He pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception.
Spokespeople for BetMGM, MGM Resorts and Entain have all so far declined to comment on this lawsuit.
