Massachusetts May Start Cracking Down on Sportsbooks Limiting Bettors

If you’re a regular sports bettor, you are probably at least somewhat familiar with the term “Sports Wagering Operator Wagering Limitations.” What you may interpret these as are cheap ways for the man to keep you down. How sportsbooks explain them, however, is that there are limitations on individual sporting even in order manage their risk and maintain integrity. That sounds somewhat reasonable, but with Massachusetts sports betting laws, things go a little further: They can limit on a per-customer basis, meaning that it is not a blanket rule that applies to everyone.

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And now the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) is looking into this practice.

As rules currently stand, sports betting operators are allowed to set maximum and minimum limits on bets and winnings as they say fit — and only the MGC can determine otherwise. Sportsbooks in Massachusetts are following these rules as of now.

The problem comes with the limitations being much harsher on winners. Some MGC note, for example, that sportsbooks have not necessarily been entirely clear why winners are being restricted when losers do not face much of anything at all.

So basically, the betting public needs answers as to why they are punished for winning and encouraging for losing.

MGC also noted that giving little oversight to sportsbooks is sound in a business sense, but that doesn’t make it any less alienating for bettors. A losing bettor could, in essence, break their own bank (if they don’t set personal limits), but if someone were putting a dent in, say, DraftKings profits, that person would be limited heavily.

For the moment, there are no steps in place that suggest the MGC is going to severely change sportsbook habits. Rather, for now it is simply gathering information. But this is a time where sprots bettors’ voices are being heard loudly and clearly, which is a bit of a change of pace.