BetMGM Moved Goalposts in Million-Dollar Slot Promo, Lawsuit Claims

• Player alleges retroactive rule change favored a VIP competitor
• BetMGM cited terms allowing promo changes at discretion
• Lawsuit seeks damages under NJ Consumer Fraud Act

A New Jersey resident is suing BetMGM and related casino interests, alleging that the company manipulated a promotional contest mid-stream to favor a high-roller and cost him the top prize.

Plaintiff Lawrence Murk, who is paralyzed from the waist down and uses voice control and one arm to engage in online gaming, entered the “$2 Million Super Series” slot-machine promotion in May 2021, according to the suit.

He claims he wagered approximately US$1.5 million on the designated slot machines during the contest period.

Race to the Top

There was nothing sophisticated about the promotion. It required players to opt in and wager real money on specific “Featured Slot Machine” games that changed weekly throughout the month.

For every $1 wagered on the correct featured games, a player earned one leaderboard point, and the prizes were awarded purely by total points accumulated – not by game outcomes or luck.

The top finisher at the end of the month was promised $500,000 in casino bonus credits and 100 free spins per day in June, while lower places received smaller awards.

Essentially, it was a race to spend the most.

I got excited when I realized this might be a contest I could win given that there was an open leaderboard and one scored points based on the number of dollars wagered on certain slot machines,” Murk told Casino.org.

“Using my logical mathematical mind, I realized that given these rules, I could win this competition. All I needed to do was to get into the lead and then there would be no way anybody could catch me,” he added.

“The open leaderboard meant that I could keep track of anybody trying to catch up to me at which point I could wager on the fastest wagering slot machine offered to ensure the competitor could never catch up .”

When Murk questioned the anomaly, he contacted his VIP account manager, Ryan Weiner, who, he later learned, was also serving as mjbrojer’s  host. Murk says Weiner admitted that mjbrojer had failed to “opt in” to the promotion properly but was being retroactively added to the competition anyway.

Fraud Claim

The plaintiff further claims that the mid-contest inclusion of the VIP and adjustment of leaderboard points constituted a violation of contract, breach of a duty of fair dealing, and consumer-fraud under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act.

For its part, BetMGM argues that the promotion’s terms and conditions allow the operator to suspend, modify, or end the promotion at any time. Murk signed the agreement to the terms, according to the company.

Murk ultimately finished fourth, collecting a $50,000 bonus instead of the advertised $500,000 grand prize plus a month of daily free spins. He’s suing for at least $600,000 in damages and is seeking punitive and treble damages under the Consumer Fraud Act.