Massachusetts Orders North Dakota-licensed Lien Games to Cease ‘Illegal’ Greyhound Betting

Posted on: April 4, 2025, 02:19h. 

Last updated on: April 22, 2025, 06:25h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.
  • Massachusetts demands halt to North Dakota-licensed greyhound betting operations
  • GREY2K USA Worldwide alleges violations in other US states
  • Tensions run high between North Dakota Racing Commission and greyhound advocacy group

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office has written to North Dakota-licensed advance-deposit wagering (ADW) company Lien Games Racing asking it to cease and desist offering bets on greyhound racing to state residents.

Lien Games Racing, Grey2K USA Worldwide, Greyhound betting, Massachusetts Attorney General, Oregon Racing Commission
North Dakota-licensed Lien Games Racing processed bets on greyhound racing for gamblers in Massachusetts, where wagering on dog racing is illegal, prompting pushback from the Massachusetts AG. (Image: Shutterstock)

Massachusetts banned betting on dog races in the state following a public referendum in 2008, and its last racetracks were phased out by 2010. In 2022, the state outlawed greyhound simulcast wagering, preventing residents from betting on races in other states and internationally.

Lien Games operates several ADW brands, including offtrackbetting.com, racebetwin.com, and playup.com.

Potential Infractions in Other States

But Massachusetts is just one state where Lien Games has allegedly facilitated unlicensed greyhound betting, according to greyhound advocacy group GREY2K USA Worldwide.

GREY2K volunteers were able to set up betting accounts with Lien Games in New Hampshire, New Mexico, and Ohio, three states where offering such bets is potentially illegal, according to the advocacy group.

Additionally, on Monday, Connie Winn, executive director of the Oregon Racing Commission, told a budget hearing of the Oregon Joint Committee on Ways and Means that Lien Games, along with another operator, Sky Racing World, had been operating illegally in the state.

Winn said she was seeking greater powers from the legislature to hold unlicensed operators to account. She also said, during a hearing of the Oregon Senate Committee on Judiciary on March 10, that she had sent cease-and-desist letters to North Dakota-licensed ADWs operating in her state.

All had complied except one, which offered betting under three brand names, she added.

Lien Games did not respond to Casino.org’s request for comment.

These are patently illegal dog racing bets being offered by ADW companies operating out of North Dakota,” Christine Dorchak, President and General Counsel of GREY2K USA Worldwide, told Casino.org in a statement.

Dorchak called on the North Dakota Racing Commission to “enforce the law and protect the public” from “shady operators.”

Licensing Hubs

While North Dakota has no greyhound racing of its own, it is one of two ADW licensing hubs in the US, along with Oregon. Its ADWs have argued in the past that bets placed by gamblers from outside North Dakota occur within that state because that’s where the processing centers are located.

As such, they may argue in their defense that they are breaking no laws since betting activity takes place inside the state where they are licensed. But that theory only goes so far, according to Nova Southeastern University Law Professor Bob Jarvis.

The bet is legal in North Dakota but illegal in Massachusetts. Thus, a Massachusetts bettor [or out-of-state operator] can be prosecuted in Massachusetts for breaking Massachusetts law,” Jarvis told Casino.org.

“When one really stops and thinks about it, this has to be the law. Otherwise, a state like North Dakota could override Massachusetts’ laws,” Jarvis added. “Obviously, that’s not possible – only Congress, because of the ‘Supremacy Clause’ in the US Constitution, can override a state’s laws.”

Out of the Blue

Bruce Johnson, executive director of the North Dakota Racing Commission, told Casino.org he was blindsided by the Massachusetts cease-and-desist letter.

“The letter comes as a surprise because in the last two years I have heard nothing regarding issues with our ADWs. And going back in the files, I don’t see anything [related to non-compliance] going back at least 15 years.”

Johnson added Lien Games had temporarily suspended all greyhound wagering for Massachusetts residents and had written to the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office stating its own understanding of the law.

“Lien Games is not running and hiding, they’re doing things properly. We’re just going to follow up on in this in the most cautious way that we can, making sure Lien Games was doing everything right,” Johnson said.

GREY2K Vs North Dakota

Earlier this week, the North Dakota legislature defeated a bill, backed by GREY2K, that would have banned the state’s ADWs from taking greyhound bets. A similar bill is gaining traction in the Oregon legislature.

Johnson told North Dakota lawmakers that the bill would have encouraged ADWs to leave the state, cutting off crucial funding for horse racing.

GREY2K is on a mission to eliminate greyhound wagering, which means targeting states, such as North Dakota, that license it.

“We pretty much crushed [GREY2K] here in North Dakota but I don’t think [they were] prepared for the deep red, conservative attitudes and institutions up here,” Johnson told Casino.org of the bill that was voted down by the legislature.

“There are a lot of players in this and a lot of things going on in the background,” he added.