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A Fairfax County, Virginia teacher is being denied a payout of $214K from the Virginia regulated Sportsbook, BetMGM. The respected MGM brand continues to partner with Europe’s Entain in this venture, a company that was informed by UK authorities last year it could lose its license to operate after being told to pay a record £17m settlement over its inaction as individual customers spent hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Gambling911, which has previously sued the US Justice Department in order to protect players interests, has attempted to reach out to the Virginia Lottery for comment. They oversee the licensing of BetMGM in the commonwealth of Virginia. No response yet, however, to be fair, our reporter had lost his internet connection due to storms in Eastern PA last Monday. The Virginia Lottery had also closed many of its offices early due to severe weather on Monday.
According to WUSA, educator Kris Benton attempted to initiate a withdrawal for $100,000, the maximum amount allowed, last Tuesday morning. Benton received an email from the company confirming the withdrawal process, but by 2:30 p.m. on the same day, the bets that said “WON” were now “CANCELED.” Once the withdrawal was also canceled, his stake money was credited back into the account.
“This was going to be a life-changing moment for us, and then in an instant, it was all taken away without any notification whatsoever,” Benton told WUSA9. “I was completely devastated. My wife and I had already started discussing what we were going to do with the money.”
The backlash to this story has been substantial, especially considering how poorly paid teachers are.
(pictured above, Gambling911.com founder's mom teaching her second grade pupils - circa 1950s)
BetMGM announced its entry into the Kentucky market on Monday while also reaching its first profitable quarter ever. All the usual suspects continue to ignore the nonpayment story, as sadly is to be expected.
- TC Jackson, Gambling911.com
