Caesars Refuses to Pay Sports Bettor’s $800K in Winnings

Posted on: April 27, 2025, 12:26h. 

Last updated on: April 29, 2025, 06:06h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas, Restaurants, Las Vegas Myths.
  • Thomas McPeek won a total of $800K in sports bets from Caesars Entertainment casinos in two Midwestern states
  • Caesars refuses to honor the wins, claiming that the 24-year-old Chicagoan violated their policies

Thomas McPeek, a 24-year-old Chicago man who lives with his parents, wasn’t interested in the long, hard road to financial independence. He wanted the shortcut that sports betting seemed to promise him.

Thomas McPeek of Chicago is taking on gaming giant Caesars for refusing to pay out his football parlay winnings. (image: CBS News/Chicago)

But he wasn’t about to leave his success up to dumb luck. He studied up on parlays, bets where several events have to happen to produce a win. And he conducted extensive research into specific football wagers that might give him an edge.

And now, the two casinos where his strategy paid off the largest refuse to pony up.

“It was calculated attack,” McPeek admitted to CBS News/Chicago. “(But) it’s not like I can just snap my fingers and just make the bets win. They still have to win.”

Of the hundreds of small bets McPeek placed between August and September of 2023, the overwhelming majority didn’t win. But a few won very big.

One sportsbook — a FanDuel branch operated at Boyd Gaming’s Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, In. — paid McPeek the $127K he won. However, Caesars Entertainment invalidated both the betting tickets that won him $350K at their Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, In. and $450K at their Isle Casino in Bettendorf, Ia. — though they offered to refund the $50K he spent to make those bets.

What Did He Do Wrong?

McPeek contends that his betting was perfectly legal and aboveboard and, therefore, Caesars owes him $800K. However, two of his strategies violate common casino policies: cross-state coordination and structuring. And state gaming regulators usually allow casinos to refuse to pay players who win by breaching their stated policies — as with card-counting in blackjack — even if no laws are broken.

  • Cross-State Coordination: While betting across states is not illegal, coordinated betting across states can violate casino terms of service and even state regulations. It can also be seen as an attempt to manipulate the system.
  • Structuring: McPeek broke down large wagers ($30K in Indiana and $20K in Iowa) into dozens and dozens of smaller ones. This is prohibited by a federal law enacted to safeguard against money-laundering, which requires casinos to report any cash transactions over $10K. Ironically, McPeek employed it for the very reason that it got him noticed: to avoid being noticed.

Indeed, McPeek admitted intentionally changing up his look to avoid detection.

“I’ll switch up the disguise — sunglasses,” he told CBS. “I’ll hide my hair in my hat, I’ll put it up in a bun.” But, he added, there are “no rules against staying under the radar.”

Nevertheless, McPeek has already lost his case against Caesars with the Indiana Gaming Commission, which ruled that the casino giant adhered to its policies when voiding his wagers at the Horseshoe.

His other case against Caesars is currently under review by Iowa regulators. If he loses there, too, he is reportedly planning a civil suit against Caesars for the full $800K.

In addition, CBS reported that McPeek is banned from re-entering all three casinos mentioned in this story — a ban that probably also extends to all Caesars properties — though the duration of that ban is unknown.

McPeek’s parents may want to wait a bit before converting their son’s bedroom into an office or gym.