Man Sues DraftKings After Gambling Away His Wedding Funds.

[acroman08]

A man in the US sues DraftKings (a sportsbook) after claiming that the sportsbook led him to gamble away millions of dollars. According to the article, the attorney the guy hired claims that the sportsbook VIP hosts bombarded the guy with calls, emails and other forms of communication, which contributed to his growing addiction, which ultimately led him to gamble the money he saved for his wedding and took out loans to feed his gambling addiction.

The article also said that the guy's father of the guy tried to convince him to request self-exclusion in their state, but the guy declined it. The addiction got so bad that the guy wrote a suicide note. After that, he was admitted to a hospital and was diagnosed with severe gambling disorder, anxiety and depression. The article also said that, after the treatment, the guy suffered a relapse and joined DraftKings again, but in the end, he requested self-exclusion in their state.

Currently, the guy is still in recovery, has a job now, and is married and has a child with his wife.

What's your view on this?

Personally, I think the guy should be held accountable for his actions, but in the article, the sportsbook sounded like they were extremely aggressive in their promotion to this guy, I mean, getting bombarded by calls, emails, and other forms of communication is a bit excessive.

An Illinois man filed a lawsuit against DraftKings, alleging that the sports betting company led him to gamble away millions of dollars — including money he had saved for his wedding — which ultimately led to him being dismissed from his job and contemplating suicide.

Dane Miller of Cook County created a DraftKings account around October 2020 when he was 26 years old, and by May 2021 had become a VIP member, according to documents filed in Chicago federal court on June 24 and reviewed by PEOPLE.

DraftKings did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

In the complaint, Miller and his attorney, Yvonne Flaherty, accused DraftKings of breaching policies by creating a product that was “highly addictive and lacking in proper safeguards.”

He started with “small wagers and straight bets,” claiming that “the number and volume of wagers Miller placed on DraftKings quickly escalated” beyond his control as “multiple personal VIP hosts” bombarded him with calls, emails and other forms of communication.

“The constant prompts, access, and live-feeds, along with the rapid-fire pace of bets and the personalized attention directed to Miller, fueled an addiction that eventually consumed all aspects of Miller’s life,” per the document.

“For example, after gambling away the money he had saved for his wedding, one of Plaintiff’s DraftKings VIP hosts offered Miller two tickets to a suite at Soldier Field in recognition of his continued loyalty to DraftKings,” the complaint read.

Miller and Flaherty also argued that the company played a role in his addiction by manipulating the brain’s dopamine receptors.

He ultimately placed more than $2 million in wagers while using the platform.

To feed his addiction, Miller took out “personal loans, credit cards, 401(k) loans, and used his wedding money to fund his frequent online sports betting” before he was terminated by his employer in September 2024.

His father tried to intervene that same month, asking him to self-exclude through the State of Illinois, which Miller declined.

Self-exclusion is when an individual requests that a business — often a casino or gambling platform — ban them from using its services or entering its premises for a set period of time.

On Oct. 29, 2024, Miller wrote a suicide note and was admitted to Northwest Community Hospital with suicidal ideation, according to the complaint. His doctors diagnosed him with severe gambling disorder, anxiety and depression.

“DraftKings ignores any signs of problems and, instead, uses the information it gathers to fine-tune and promote its product, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the comfort (and privacy) of one’s home, school, car, church, work, etc. Users now have a personalized casino in their back pockets,” the complaint alleged.

After treatment, he relapsed and joined DraftKings again before ultimately self-excluding in Illinois on Dec. 21, 2024.

When contacted for more information by PEOPLE, Flaherty said she could not comment on the case since it’s in active litigation.

Flaherty, however, told The Independent that her client has since married and the couple are parents to a young child.

“He’s in recovery, and has been now for many months,” Flaherty said of Miller. “He’s working on his family, he has regained employment, but all of those things took time to repair. It’s an ongoing process.”

[Charles-Tim]

In the complaint, Miller and his attorney, Yvonne Flaherty, accused DraftKings of breaching policies by creating a product that was “highly addictive and lacking in proper safeguards.

”Miller and Flaherty also argued that the company played a role in his addiction by manipulating the brain’s dopamine receptors.

I am still unable to see any good reason he sued the gambling site. All these are just not good reasons to sue a gambling site. I did not see anything like the gambling site did not self-exclused him when he went for self-exclusion. I guess this will just be a loss case.

If he made huge amount of money from the gambling site, he will be very happy and not sue to gamble site.

[Orpichukwu]

There is no statement about how the case was settled in the content of the report, which I could have found very interesting to see how the judge handling the case ruled on it.

The guy might be the one making all the bets and spending the money, but we should not also undermine the role of some offers when it comes directly through phone calls on a regular basis.

Not everyone can be able to handle that, especially when the person is already on an addiction stage, so the sportsbook should take responsibility for some of his losses to some extent too.

[o48o]

If there's not much exaggeration in his story, he definitely has a case here. And not only over that self-exclusion thing. Because reasons why casinos are obligated to offer people self-exclusion are to prevent problem gamblers messing up their lives. And this kind of marketing is highly invasive. It's exploiting and manipulating and destructive.

I am guessing there will be even more regulations and consequences for casinos and their employees, like mandatory courses to spot people with gambling disorder and how to offer to help them. And failing to do that probably causes serious consequences for anyone ignoring that. I am guessing they will start to punish people responsible instead of casinos, because casinos would have just money to pay any fines and keep on going.

[Rruchi man]

A man in the US sues DraftKings (a sportsbook) after claiming that the sportsbook led him to gamble away millions of dollars.

I am always disgusted whenever I read stories like this because it is always a case of irresponsibility to me considering how people always tend to want to shift the blame to the casinos fully for leading them to gamble away all their money when, in fact, the casino did not put a gun to their head for them to keep gambling at the casino even when they knew they were losing. Irresponsibility is what is being shown here because no responsible person will want to shift the blame to another person when they should actually be evaluating their own decisions and themselves instead of another person for the errors they've made.

[Cantsay]

This is the reason why I think those people suggesting that casinos should implement a feature that helps users reduce their loses or help them be aware of the state they are in, is just a wishful thinking and it’s not going to work.

I don’t know if this guy’s story is true or not, but I don’t think it’s entirely impossible for casinos to use aggressive marketing tactics to force their users to use more money to gamble, after all the more they gamble the more money the casino is going to make. As for the case itself, it’s going to be a very difficult one. I don’t know if they are going to be able to win it because casinos like this are most likely going to have attorneys who are experts in cases like this.

[JiiBs]

An Illinois man filed a lawsuit against DraftKings, alleging that the sports betting company led him to gamble away millions of dollars — including money he had saved for his wedding — which ultimately led to him being dismissed from his job and contemplating suicide.

His father tried to intervene that same month, asking him to self-exclude through the State of Illinois, which Miller declined.

Filing a lawsuit is something anyone can do for just any reason in the world, of course the court would be welcoming to your lawsuit, it’s business for those in the legal field but, you wouldn’t always win and that’s a fact.

The fact that his father tried to persuade him to self exclude and he refused highlights how deeply addicted to gambling he is and should never have being gambling in the first place. Gambling calls for a more responsible set of persons capable of good money management but often, it’s filled with those that are irresponsible as it concerns these matters.

I doubt he would win this one.

[Hispo]

There could be a chance for his to see some of his money back if actually the bookie was as aggressive with their targeted adversiting and promotions as he claims it was, otherwise he would not have a case.
The biggest mistake he committed was not getting self-excluded as soon as he realized he had a problem with gambling and could not longer control himself and his finances.

He fact he considered to end his own life is very telling on the level of despair he actually reached before getting admitted to a mental hospital.

If this had happened in a developing country, he would not have many chances, but since this happened in the United States, there is a possibility for him to prove he was being aggressively targeted by this bookie.

[jeremypwr]

This is basically equivalent to someone drinking so much that their liver fails and they then sue their favorite beer company.
Granted the bombardment of calls didn't help but come on this has no chance in court.

[yahoo62278]

You ultimately make the decision to gamble or don't gamble, cheat or don't cheat, steal or don't steal. You hold yourself accountable. There should be no I am gonna sue if I lose. The sites don't sue you if you win.

Should people who have addiction issues seek help, yes but IMO that's not the sites fault you're a fucking idiot.

[Bitcoin.com97]

They didn't forced him ,he wasn't discipline, he chose gambling with his funds  because it won't be hard for him to decline such calls and emails,their are some persons that don't uses bouns given by gambling site when they are not ready to gamble,so what happened to him was entirely his fault,this is something that is avoidable, imagine people who abuse some drugs and the pharmacy or producer are been called out for the abuse ,it doesn't make sense ,I will always blame the individual for misconduct,no point of sueing the sportbook is a business for them ,it's your choice to patronize or leave it .

[LogitechMouse]

---
Currently, the guy is still in recovery, has a job now, and is married and has a child with his wife.

What's your view on this?

Personally, I think the guy should be held accountable for his actions, but in the article, the sportsbook sounded like they were extremely aggressive in their promotion to this guy, I mean, getting bombarded by calls, emails, and other forms of communication is a bit excessive.

I guess it's good that the gambler is on a good time now while recovering, and you know what's the best thing that happened to him? It's not the self-exclusion from DraftKings, but the fact that his wife stayed in his side when he's at the most bottom part of his life. That's the best thing that happened to him.

Now with regards to him though, I said this in the past and will say it again. It's completely BS to sue a gambling website because you lost millions. Any company can send you promotions because you agreed to it while you signed, and they can do it as aggressive as they want to. In the end, it's your decisions to gamble still. I mean if you already said to yourself that you will not gamble, you will not gamble even though they send you millions of promotions.

For me, it's all about the mindset of the gambler. I'm receiving some gambling advertisements as well, but I just simply ignore it because I know how to control myself when it comes to gambling, and I don't want to get addicted as well.

[Cointxz]

@acroman08 change the title from “weeding” to “wedding”. I thought this was a hilarious story for someone that was supposed to weed spend his budget for gambling.

Because person high on weeds will do this kind of shit after losing their funds on casino over the weekend.

It’s heartbreaking to see someone spending money dedicated for important events on gambling just to aim for an extra profit for a better wedding.

[AHOYBRAUSE]

Well obviously this lawsuit will lead to nothing because if any judge ever would side with the notorious gambler (against a licensed casino) this would destroy the whole industry, which would also mean the government would lose out on a lot of money in taxes.
Sometimes it's just easier to admit the own shortcomings and deal with it. Emails can be blocked, same for calls and other promotional stuff. Nobody forced him to play, so he will get nothing from this. The only thing he will get is a hefty bill from the lawyer.

[Dave1]

For sure this case will be thrown by the judges to the bin. We haven't seen any individual who has successfully sue a casino and win. Besides, he is the one who bet all that money in the first place and I don't think that casino has the responsibility here.

Just too bad for this man to gamble all his money away after they have save enough for their wedding. I know that there are a lot of bad sides in gambling, but please each one of us should be held accountable if something bad happen to us because of gambling.

[maydna]

That is the man mistake because he follow the request from the casino to playing gambling. If he can't avoids from the temptation, he will say that he doesn't want to gamble and report the all things from the gambling company. He can asking to the phone provider about this disturbing so he can get a new phone number and don't get any contact with gambling company.

That man should responsible with all things he does and say no to gambling. That promotions from gambling company will not forcing him to gambling but only offers the promo. If he can have strong self control, he will not playing gambling and also not get addicted to gambling.

[PostQuantumBTC]

This is the reason why I think those people suggesting that casinos should implement a feature that helps users reduce their loses or help them be aware of the state they are in, is just a wishful thinking and it’s not going to work.

I don’t know if this guy’s story is true or not, but I don’t think it’s entirely impossible for casinos to use aggressive marketing tactics to force their users to use more money to gamble, after all the more they gamble the more money the casino is going to make. As for the case itself, it’s going to be a very difficult one. I don’t know if they are going to be able to win it because casinos like this are most likely going to have attorneys who are experts in cases like this.

Gambling sites can see a customer to be profitable for them, they will treat such customers with more offers that will make him still gamble. I remember when I stopped gambling on the fiat gambling site that I use mostly because I started using crypto gambling sites, I was targeted very well by the fiat gambling sites with different offers and free giveaways that I can use to bet for free. They do not want their customers to leave, but sometimes it can be another thing like trying to stop gambling addiction may be the reason the customer want to leave.

[Tetu100]

I am always disgusted whenever I read stories like this because it is always a case of irresponsibility to me considering how people always tend to want to shift the blame to the casinos fully for leading them to gamble away all their money when, in fact, the casino did not put a gun to their head for them to keep gambling at the casino even when they knew they were losing.

Like I don't really understand people this days, all what he did was out of his own willing. Nobody force he to gamble and I am pretty sure he knows that gamble is made up of lost and gain so why acting up as if someone actually cause what he is going through or he was literally dragged to come and gamble. I just hope people around him should just advise him properly to drop the case because hs is only adding more salt to his injuries that will cost him more lost than gain.

[Samlucky O]

Personally, I think the guy should be held accountable for his actions, but in the article, the sportsbook sounded like they were extremely aggressive in their promotion to this guy, I mean, getting bombarded by calls, emails, and other forms of communication is a bit excessive.

Surely I blame the sportbook for bombarding him with call, email and text messages, because it was like a trap that led him to gamble away him fund. But then I still blame the guy that gambled as a result of the call they called him. If this case was to be judged, the gambler will be held responsible for his actions because he chose to accept. He was not forced to gamble under duress but out of will. Anything you do out of will is just a personal risk.

[bubilas]

A man in the US sues DraftKings (a sportsbook) after claiming that the sportsbook led him to gamble away millions of dollars. According to the article, the attorney the guy hired claims that the sportsbook VIP hosts bombarded the guy with calls, emails and other forms of communication, which contributed to his growing addiction, which ultimately led him to gamble the money he saved for his wedding and took out loans to feed his gambling addiction.
“He’s in recovery, and has been now for many months,” Flaherty said of Miller. “He’s working on his family, he has regained employment, but all of those things took time to repair. It’s an ongoing process.”

The man is certainly a fool, but the bookmaker is no angel either – they understand human psychology well and know just what to press on the weak-minded and emotionally. No one should blame others for their troubles. If someone doesn't know self-control, then they only have themselves to blame. An adult experiences self-reflection and rebuilds themselves as they mature. They are responsible for themselves and only themselves. Only children blame others for their troubles and don't know what it means to be responsible for their decisions and mistakes. So, overall, I think this guy is to blame himself.