A Florida man has recently filed a lawsuit against the owners of Hard Rock Sportsbook, Seminole Hard Rock Digital, over allegations its “No Regret First Bet” promotion was illegally misleading.
Brandon Montgomery of Bradenton, Florida, lost his $100 promo bet with the online sportsbook earlier in 2024.
He then noticed that, having put down $100, he was given back bonus money that he says was not exactly equivalent to his initial wager. He says this made the promo misleading.
Montgomery was encouraged to file the class action lawsuit after investigating the views of others, both winners and losers, with experience of the Hard Rock promotion.
The case mirrors several others in the U.S. in recent years over the term “Risk-Free” used in sports betting promotions. Most cases went the way of bettors, and the majority of licensed U.S. operators have dropped the use of the term.
Deceptive Practices
The lawsuit alleges that winners and losers of the promo have been misled.
First, the plaintiff says, the bet is advertised as no-risk or regret. But bettors have to put up their own wagers, up to $100, and then are told that they will be refunded if they lose. But the refunds are given out as bonus bets, good only for more wagering, and not withdrawable cash.
On the winning side, the suit says bettors were not paid out their winnings and stake, as usual, but only their winnings. That meant any bets of $100 with odds of less than +100 would not put the bettor in a position of profit.
This non-wager return rule also applied to any bonus bet money paid out as refunds to losers of the initial promotion.
“One such deceptive practice was Defendant’s promotion that told new users that if they signed up, their first bet would come with no risk or regret (“No Regret First Bet,” the lawsuit reads.
“The bets, however, were not as advertised. The promotion required users place their initial bet with their own money. If a user lost their bet, they were not returned to their original position. Instead, their accounts would be credited with a “Bonus Bet” that is worth less than its counterpart in U.S. dollars, in contrast to what was implied by Defendant’s promotional materials.”
Risk Free Bets
Since legal sports betting began spreading across the U.S. after 2018, many sportsbooks have offered such free bet promotions.
However, this specific no-risk free bet terminology has been disputed in several states. BetMGM and DraftKings have been sued over the practice in the past year.
In other states, regulators have banned the use of the term risk-free or equivalent. The gambling regulators of Ohio, Massachusetts, and Maine all updated their sports betting rules to ban the terminology.
In 2023, Penn Entertainment and Barstool Sportsbook also got in hot water in Massachusetts over a Barstool Sports podcast that promoted a sports betting tip on its branded sportsbook as risk-free.
The case was one of several controversial incidents that led Penn Entertainment to drop the Barstool brand and open up ESPN Bet instead.
David is an online casino expert who specializes in online slots and boasts over 10 years experience writing about iGaming. He has written for a wide range of notable publications, including eSports Insider and WordPlay Magazine.
David graduated Derby University with a BA Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing.
