The estranged wife of a New Jersey man who lost more than $942,000 gambling on DraftKings has filed a lawsuit accusing the online gambling site of fueling his gambling addiction.
The Nutley resident last week accused Boston-based DraftKings of providing her husband with gifts and incentives that “created, nurtured, facilitated, and/or exacerbated” an addiction to sports betting. filed a lawsuit in court.
The husband, identified only by his username, is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The couple’s two minor children are named as plaintiffs. Both are identified only by their initials.
DraftKings’ wife said in her complaint that her husband had failed for nearly four years to verify the source of funds deposited into his account, as is standard with high-stakes gamblers.
They also exacerbated his addiction by making him a “VIP” member, the lawsuit says.
As a VIP, the New Jersey man received frequent text messages and phone calls from VIP hosts, including bonuses and free bets, and regularly placed large bets on him, according to the complaint. He was said to have been motivated to do so.
VIP organizers knew the man was a problem gambler and continually monitored the amount and frequency of his bets, according to the complaint.
DraftKings did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NJ Advance Media. Resorts Atlantic City — DraftKings’ retail license partner in New Jersey also could not be immediately reached.
According to the complaint, the husband made 1,560 sportsbook bets in 2020, 2,674 in 2021, 6,139 in 2022, and 14,736 in 2023, resulting in a total loss of $942,232.32.
According to court documents, he deposited $24,486.84 into his account in 2020, which rose to more than $153,000 in 2021, about $531,000 in 2022, and that amount last year. The amount jumped to nearly $777,000.
In many cases, the husband used money from one of the children’s savings accounts to augment his own income, court documents state. The money in the account came from birthday, Christmas, and baptism gifts from family and friends.
In total, he bet nearly $175,000 in 2020, but that amount jumped to more than $1.4 million the following year, about $4.9 million in 2022, and more than $6.2 million in 2023. At the time, his annual salary was about $175,000, according to the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, her husband bet more than $100,000 in 10 out of 12 months through 2022, and more than $1 million in two of those months.
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jeff goldman may reach [email protected].
