A Florida man named Brandon Montgomery filed a class-action lawsuit against the Seminole Tribe and its Hard Rock Sportsbook betting app this past May, claiming that the operator's “No Regret First Bet” promotion was misleading and in violation of Sunshine State consumer protection laws.
The promotion promised bettors who signed up for new accounts and placed a bet of up to $100 their money back for a second bet if the initial bet lost. But Montgomery feels “the Bonus Bet marketing and sign-up process misrepresents and omits several key facts about the service,” including that “a user cannot simply cash out a refund if they lose the bet, but instead must place another bet.”
The lawsuit continues, “Bonus Bets cannot be withdrawn and must be wagered to be converted to currency. Further, wagers made with the Bonus Bets are not paid out like wagers made with U.S. dollars. A typical bet made with $100 at even odds recovers the initial $100 plus the $100 winnings minus the Defendant's agreed upon cut of 9% (“vig” or “juice”), which results in a payment of approximately $191. By contrast, a winning Bonus Bet of $100 at even odds recovers $100 minus the vig or juice, resulting in a payment of only $91.”
Referring to “risk-free bet” language that's since been abandoned by most American sportsbooks, Montgomery's suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Tampa, quotes Ohio Casino Control Commission Executive Director Matthew Schuler as saying, “If something is claiming to be free or risk-free, then it has to absolutely not require the patron to incur any loss or risk their own money. … We are not supportive of trying to put the truth in small print.”
Floridians Invited to Join Suit
Montgomery, who hails from Bradenton, lost his initial “No Regret First Bet” earlier this year, and his lawsuit invites all other Floridians who have done the same on Hard Rock's platform to join the class action.
“A commonsense understanding of the '$100 back if your first bet doesn't win' shown in … promotional materials made no suggestion that the Bonus Bet would be turned into what a Bonus Bet actually is,” the lawsuit reads. “Reasonable users/consumers, including Plaintiff, were misled to their detriment. They did not receive the advertised benefit of the No Regret First Bet, and in many cases, placed larger or riskier bets than they ordinarily would have but for the misleading advertising.”
At the time of publication, Hard Rock had yet to respond to a request for comment from Sports Handle.
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