Attorney Suing DraftKings Talks to Gambling 911, Says Sportsbook Uses Deceptive Practices to Addict Bettors

Five Pennsylvania men, who bet on sports with online sportsbook DraftKings and lost big, are claiming in a lawsuit that the sportsbook caused and then took advantage of their addictions to gambling.

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The men—Avi Setton of Allentown, Matthew Harner of Reading, Lionel Alicea of Scranton, Robert Walker of Folcroft and Kenneth Macek of Pittsburgh—have hired powerhouse Chicago law firm Loevy + Loevy to handle their case.

But aren’t people responsible for their own addictions?

And is having an addiction to gambling a legitimate reason for having your losses refunded?

In an interview with Gambling 911, Loevy + Loevy’s Isaac Green, one of the attorneys for the lawsuit, explained why DraftKings is at fault.

“Our lawsuit alleges that the five plaintiffs were targeted by DraftKings with deceptive advertising intentionally designed to get them to gamble a large amount of money in a short period of time and ultimately to develop compulsive gambling habits,” Green told Gambling 911.

“The plaintiffs also allege that DraftKings induced them to continue gambling even after the company knew that they were addicted and trying to stop gambling,” he continued.

“For example, one plaintiff alleges that he asked DraftKings to close his account, but instead, DraftKings continued to target him with credits and promotions for years as he lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“No company is allowed to advertise its products deceptively, least of all companies offering highly addictive products with well-known propensities to cause harm.

“My clients’ lawsuit seeks compensation for themselves and those like them and to ensure that future DraftKings customers do not meet the same fate.”

Green added that his law firm also has three other sportsbook lawsuits pending for similar alleged offenses.

The class action lawsuit against Boston-based DraftKings was filed a few weeks ago in federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Among other things, the suit alleges that Setton, one of the plaintiffs, created his sports betting account with DraftKings in 2019 and quickly began struggling with a gambling addiction.

Setton asked DraftKings to close the account in 2020, but the company did not follow his request, the lawsuit alleges.

Setton lost roughly $350,000 between 2020 and 2024 to DraftKings, the suit states.

DraftKings then closed his account in 2024, citing his 2020 request for doing so, the lawsuit alleges.

The lawsuit also alleges that Alicea, another of the plaintiffs, developed a “serious gambling addiction” since creating his DraftKings sports betting account in June of 2024 and lost $39,000 in two months.

Alicea also created an account on Golden Nugget, a separately branded online casino operated by DraftKings, in May 2024, and lost $19,000 to Golden Nugget, according to the lawsuit.
After filing the lawsuit, Loevy + Loevy issued a press release that outlined in detail the offenses DraftKings allegedly committed.

According to the press release, DraftKings “deceives users and misleads them into betting and losing large amounts of money, in violation of state and federal laws…DraftKings is earning enormous amounts of revenue by misleading and addicting its users.”

The release continued: “DraftKings’s business model has long involved pushing the boundaries of the law, misleading consumers and luring naïve gamblers into developing addictions…DraftKings knowingly and intentionally targets individuals with gambling addictions, including users who are on state self-exclusion lists for addicted gamblers and users who had previously directly asked the company to suspend or close their accounts to help them stop gambling.

“DraftKings not only allows these players to gamble, but actively solicits them to gamble larger and larger sums of money despite knowing they are struggling to control their gambling addictions. At the core of today’s lawsuit are specific DraftKings promotions that the plaintiffs allege are deceptive and hide features that are designed to inculcate problem gambling habits in new users.

“These include DraftKings’ so-called Risk-Free Bets, which lead new customers to believe they can place a bet without risking losing their money, and the company’s widely publicized deposit match offers. In reality, the fine-print terms of these promotions lure new users to deposit and gamble almost exclusively with their own money, which they almost always lose.

“Particularly misleading…is DraftKings’ much publicized Casino Deposit Match Promotion, which promises to match 100% of a customer’s deposit, up to $2,000. In reality…these matching funds are contingent upon complicated play through requirements, which can require players to bet 20-30 times the combined deposit and match amounts within a seven-day window.

“Thus, someone depositing $2,000 to get a $2,000 match would be required to bet a further $40,000 within seven days. And if they do not gamble that much, they lose all the money in their account associated with the promotion, including their initial deposit…

“What’s worse, players who want to opt out of the bonus program after discovering the extensive play through requirements have another shock coming: They can forfeit the bonus—but doing so means they forfeit their initial deposit also…

“Rather than cutting a user off when they begin showing signs of a gambling problem, DraftKings pairs them with personalized VIP hosts who—acting as if they were friends—milk them for every dollar they have. VIP hosts deploy a specific playbook of tactics, such as contacting their assigned users when they have not logged on to the platform for a few days—or have just experienced a sizeable loss—and luring them back with offers of promotions that require them to deposit more of their own money and place more bets…

“The lawsuit charges DraftKings with violating several state laws—including violations of several sections of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law that protect consumers against deceptive practices and false advertising—and asks for injunctive relief and damages related to DraftKings widespread and ongoing deception of its customers.”