DraftKings sign up bonus is a rip off!!

Not sure if this is the right area but it is definitely a gripe so I will post it here.

So I joined draftkings.com to do some daily fantasy football stuff. I only joined because I saw they had a 100% deposit bonus. I went to their site and started to sign up. I noticed it didn't ask you to agree to their TOS about the bonus so I decided to read their terms. There was nothing listed in the TOS about the bonus at all. I figured, OK no problem. I am only depositing $50 and I figured I would blow through the $100 rather quickly.

After I make the deposit I entered a few drafts. It then hit me that after I entered a $2 draft it said that I only had $44 (because I entered 3). At that point I found where it said: Only XX FPPs left before your next $1.00 release ( I can't remember what it said exactly)

So I was a little annoyed because that means that you have to wager before you get the bonus. I scoured their website looking for any info about the bonus. Only after I complained on another board, a rep from DK posted the following which is found in their FAQ.
How Do I Get My Deposit Bonus?

"Periodically, DraftKings will offer Deposit Bonus promotions. The bonus amount varies per promotion, however in all cases, the bonus will release in increments as DraftKings Dollars as you accrue frequent player points on the site. If you receive a deposit bonus, your Pending Bonus balance will show in your My Account area along with additional details."

Again I went and scoured their site looking for any bit of info about the bonus and again I was able to find nothing. I have now wagered a total of $18 and my bonus says the following.
Bonus Details
$50.00 Pending Bonus:
Only 20 FPPs left before your next $1.00 release:

That means it takes $22.50 to unlock $1 and over $1100 in wagers to unlock the $50. This was also posted on another forum from the DK rep. "The bonus has a 4 month expiration because because the majority of customers receive deposit bonus offers more often than once per 4 months." If you were to only wager on NFL it would become nearly impossible to unlock the bonus. You would have to essentially go all in every week to get to that number.

Maybe it is partially my fault for making the deposit but after reading their TOS I thought it was legit. I am a small time low roller and would only waste $50 knowing that I was getting the other $50. I am currently debating on making a complaint with my credit card, or I may just chock it up as lesson learned. Either way, I wanted to make sure other people in the gambling community knows about the bonus "scam".

Thanks for the warning. Draft Kings advertises on the Adam Carolla show and they frequently talk up their 100% deposit bonus up to $600! I was thinking about doing it but was curious about the rollover/play-through requirement. Sounds like it's absolutely ridiculous, so I'll pass.

I don't know why you'd think the bonus would work any way other than this. If they credited the bonus up front, they'd be open to massive potential fraud from people losing intentionally to their friends. I know that fanduel has similar bonus terms, and they don't make any attempt to hide them.

You have zero grounds for disputing the charge with your credit card company.

Quote: sabre

I don't know why you'd think the bonus would work any way other than this. If they credited the bonus up front, they'd be open to massive potential fraud from people losing intentionally to their friends. I know that fanduel has similar bonus terms, and they don't make any attempt to hide them.

You have zero grounds for disputing the charge with your credit card company.

If the terms were not disclosed anywhere on the site, even in the fine print, he may have grounds.

Quote: AcesAndEights

If the terms were not disclosed anywhere on the site, even in the fine print, he may have grounds.

Thats how I feel. If there was ANY mention to how the bonus was credited then I would have ZERO problem with it. My problem is with how they advertise it to be a match bonus and in reality you will never realized the entire bonus. I can't image more than 5% of players playing through $1100 from $50 without going broke. The people who do make it through probably did so because they won a large prize early on. If I would have known the terms prior to making the deposit then I would have no problems with them. I also take some responsibility for not asking them prior to making the deposit to explain it to me which is why I am debating asking for a charge back. I figured I would post it on here so I could hopefully help at least one person make an informed decision.

FWIW, here is fanduels website. It took me no more than 10 seconds to find a page that explained their promos.
https://www.fanduel.com/pending-bonus

yeah I 100% sure they are. I found this website few years ago,but I wasn't interested in gamble on DK,but few months ago I was kind of curious how this works and how I going to win money, so I decided to play little first. I deposit $25 .. was last long for 2weeks, because I play up to only $20 I was doing good at the beginning, then I lost everything because I didn't play good.. that's fine because it's all my fault. so I decided to play some more why not? I bought a pre paid Vanilla mastercard worth $50. and I deposit em on DK. I had transaction error once while deposit em, but I did fill out the form again and successfully deposit money on DK but when I go back to main page. my money disappeared.(you know on the main page your remainning balance always showing on the top left side). only 20cents. ok so I checked my credit card balance and available balance was 0. because DK took em, I sent them an email. they asked if I can send them my Credit card statement so I captured screen shot and attached them on email...they replied "sometimes it takes hours to complete transaction so wait for an hour and then hit me again if money wasn't in my account." I wait hours, and email them.. they said noting they can do .but wait.. ok.. few days later still no money on my account, I now sure they steal or they put my deposit on someone's account by mistake. I keep sent them mails and complain and ask what is happening, then few weeks later I tried to log in just to see if there finally money on my accout.. guess what. My account is gone! they deleted it. you know why? everybody knows... Sorry for my English. so broken but I am sure you will get the point.

Sorry to bring up an old post. Just have a question regarding these kind of sites legality. Are they legal in the US because Fantasy Sports is considered a skill? I don't understand.

Sounds like it would be easy to not understand this one GWAE. I've seen their commercials before and might have fallen for their bonus as well. I would have checked for complaints before I jumped into it. I almost signed up for another site but couldn't get any info about their bonus.

Quote: casinobaseball

Sorry to bring up an old post. Just have a question regarding these kind of sites legality. Are they legal in the US because Fantasy Sports is considered a skill? I don't understand.

Well, US law says this:

Quote: Title 31, Section 5362(1)(E)(ix), United States Code

For purposes of (sections 5361-5367, which deal with making it illegal to use credit cards for online gambling), the term "bet or wager" does not include participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organization (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28) and that meets the following conditions:
(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.
(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events.
(III) No winning outcome is based—
(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such teams; or
(bb) solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.

However, some states have their own bans on betting on fantasy sports.

I am under the impression that the main problem sports leagues have with gambling is, they're afraid that games will be rigged or at least points shaved to cover the spread. With fantasy sports, this isn't really a problem. Note that fantasy sports betting done "in person" is illegal except in Nevada.

The only thing I noticed is, part (III)(aa) makes it sound like fantasy football leagues that let the players choose teams for defensive purposes might be illegal, although I have never heard of anybody being arrested for it because of this.

Yeah spent the last couple of hours reading about the fantasy sports carve out in the illegal online gambling federal law. Fascinating.

So aside from this funny "100% bonus deposit" business they run, how do these sites make money? Any idea? Do they they take a bit of each "pot"?

Quote: casinobaseball

Yeah spent the last couple of hours reading about the fantasy sports carve out in the illegal online gambling federal law. Fascinating.

So aside from this funny "100% bonus deposit" business they run, how do these sites make money? Any idea? Do they they take a bit of each "pot"?

they take a 5-10% rake out of each game. The deposits are real, they just work on a slow drip that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Quote: onenickelmiracle

Sounds like it would be easy to not understand this one GWAE. I've seen their commercials before and might have fallen for their bonus as well. I would have checked for complaints before I jumped into it. I almost signed up for another site but couldn't get any info about their bonus.

Yeah I should have known better for sure. I was just so annoyed because I looked all over their website and there was no mention of a wagering requirement. It was pointed out to me that on the final screen of the deposit they do mention how it is redeemed. I must have missed it, again partially my fault but shame on them for hiding it until you are pretty much committed.

Business is business

Fan Duel is the same thing except not a time limit to redeem bonus. Still pretty useless though.

Quote: FinsRule

Fan Duel is the same thing except not a time limit to redeem bonus. Still pretty useless though.

Being sued saw in the news for violating false advertising I think. Probably both guilty and being sued.

Quote: mcallister3200

they take a 5-10% rake out of each game. The deposits are real, they just work on a slow drip that shouldn't surprise anyone.

Exactly, everyone who ever played poker knows how this bonus works, its nothing funny at all. Everyone who thinks they give you money without any conditions is naive. Alot of things are similar to poker, similar rake structures, tournaments. I am only surprised that you couldnt find draftkings terms of use. If you want to inform yourself about the fantasy sites, check out fantasysportsdaily.com/reviews-and-promos

Give them credit for running a legal bookmaking operation with a 20-30% HE, maybe more....and getting more action than most legal Vegas Books.

what I want to know is why is this not against the law from the perspective of advertising? Its pure deception and I thought you were not allowed to try on purpose to scam the public using the improper wording. I'll give you 20 if you give me 20. hmmmm ok. ill give you 1 every time you spend $22.50 on bets, not so much. OH and wait, it expires in 4 months. We all know they don't need to give the heavy bidders any extra money to sign up. This is purely for the low betters making it an even worse offense in my humble opinion.

It's probably not against the law because it's explained very clearly.

Quote: sabre

It's probably not against the law because it's explained very clearly.

I am guessing they did get some flack for it. 2 years ago it was not explained clearly at all. It is clearly stated now. I still feel that it is very deceptive.

Clicking on the FAQ in the top right corner of the site, down arrow on Deposits, Withdrawals, and Bonuses,

Q: How Do I Get My Deposit Bonus?

A: Deposit bonuses release in increments of $1 for every 100 Frequent Player Points (FPPs) that you earn by playing in paid contests. All deposit bonuses expire four months after they are created. If you have an issue with your deposit bonus expiring, please contact support@draftkings.com

Q: What Is a Frequent Player Point?

A:Frequent Player Points (FPPs) are points you earn upon the start of every paid contest you enter on DraftKings.com, whether you win or lose. FPPs awarded vary per contest type (displayed on the Draft page) and are not earned for playing in FREE ENTRY games. The more contests you join and money you spend, the more FPPs you earn.

Seems pretty clear to me.

It is now, that info was not so readily accessible a fee years ago.

radio folks RADIO!! not the stupid website

Quote: Boz

Give them credit for running a legal bookmaking operation with a 20-30% HE, maybe more....and getting more action than most legal Vegas Books.

How do you figure? It looks like about 10% to me.

EDIT: Okay, now I see, for most smaller contests, it's about 15%.

Quote: 1000kelleymac10

radio folks RADIO!! not the stupid website

How stupid of me to expect the 10 second radio ad you heard to not tell you everything the website, which you actually use to interact with the business, would tell you. Sorry.

I am pretty confident that they got in to some trouble over the bonus. If you see they new TV commercials they have fine print that tell you to check their site for toc. The live read radio promos here also say to read their site. Those 2 things did not exist last year.

Fan duel is taking over. They have sponsored segments on talk radio, they have huge ads on live tv.

It's pretty misleading I think. OK, so the radio ad says you get X deposit bonus. A normal person, who is not used to dealing with gambling sites might think they hand you the cash which is a bit foolish, but most people aren't used to this stuff. I think even a more skeptical person would expect something along the lines of a 5x rollover, though they might not know the terminology.

So you show up to the site, credit card in hand, and are told the deposit bonus has abysmal conditions. Well, they don't really TELL you in plain terms. "You have to bet $10,000" or whatever the number is to get your bonus. It is conveyed using some convoluted system of FPPs that you have to figure out. A lot of people will still say, "this is all over espn, MLB is sponsoring, I doubt it's scam," and not really work out how terrible the conditions are.

That's pretty darn close to a bait and switch. It's pretty friggin obvious that it's all designed to manipulate and mislead people.

And of course, they DEFINITELY don't tell you that they allow pros to enter 100s of contests a day so that, even at the low levels, recreational players have no chance.

Yea it is kind of ridiculous how difficult it is to unlock your deposit bonus at DraftKings. I believe they recently got rid of the deposit bonus offering. Now you can use a promo code for free entry, I got one at that gets you free entry to your first contest. It is definitely less appealing than doubling your money, but at least it's a straightforward promotion.

If I am remembering correctly they may have actually gotten some legal heat for their bonuses. I will look for a link.

ETA: Wait are you shilling a website?


Mods, if you hit reply or quote to the post above mine it shows a link. Maybe it was redacted because of being a new member?

Quote: GWAE

If I am remembering correctly they may have actually gotten some legal heat for their bonuses. I will look for a link.

ETA: Wait are you shilling a website?


Mods, if you hit reply or quote to the post above mine it shows a link. Maybe it was redacted because of being a new member?

It was redacted/disabled for him being a new member. I'm going to assume positive intent based on the flow of conversation and it being pertinent information. We'll see where it goes.

Quote: beachbumbabs

It was redacted/disabled for him being a new member. I'm going to assume positive intent based on the flow of conversation and it being pertinent information. We'll see where it goes.

BaBBs, you say redacted/disabled, but maybe not. I saw the post, no link there. I quoted the post, the link was there and was accessible, then I cancelled my reply. Think that was what GWAE was trying to say. Same thing happened a week or so ago with someone new trying to post a link to a jackpot pic or something. You could see the link if you replied, or quoted with a reply, but not just in the post. It must be magic ;-)

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

BaBBs, you say redacted/disabled, but maybe not. I saw the post, no link there. I quoted the post, the link was there and was accessible, then I cancelled my reply. Think that was what GWAE was trying to say. Same thing happened a week or so ago with someone new trying to post a link to a jackpot pic or something. You could see the link if you replied, or quoted with a reply, but not just in the post. It must be magic ;-)

Yes, it's been working like that ever since they changed the link-posting threshold. I would suggest that any member not wanting to quote a link, just edit it out before you quote someone.