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Three physical casinos that fall under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission have been penalized with a combined fine of $50,000 for participating in unauthorized college sports betting. When sports betting was first made legal in the state, the infractions took place.
The Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville was fined $20,000 by the Commission for taking wagers on a men’s basketball match between Merrimack College and Long Island University during the regular season. A comparable fine of $20,000 was imposed on MGM Springfield for providing wagering on regular-season Harvard men’s basketball games. For taking a wager on a regular-season game involving the Boston College women’s basketball team, Encore Boston Harbor in Everett was fined $10,000.
Gambling on games featuring Massachusetts universities is completely illegal by state law unless it’s a part of a tournament with at least four teams. Each event was found by the Gaming Commission to be “a serious violation of statute, regulation, and the Massachusetts Sports Wagering Catalog.” The penalties operate as a deterrence to future offenses as well as a sanction for breaking state law.
The specifics of each event are what are responsible for the various fine amounts. The sportsbook at Plainridge Park Casino took 33 bets totalling $6,848 on an illegal Merrimack game that was mistakenly listed as taking place in Florida. A total of $1,230 was wagered on the two Harvard games at MGM Springfield as a result of the Cambridge university being mistakenly listed as a Connecticut college.
As part of a five-game parlay, a single wager was put on an illegal Boston College women’s basketball game in the first occurrence at Encore Boston Harbor. The entire wager was $70, but before the game started, Encore swiftly invalidated the BC leg of the parlay. The second alleged infringement, which occurred later in February when more illicit wagers were placed on BC women’s basketball, was not brought up during the current hearings.