Caesars Sportsbook ‘Lures’ New Bettors with False Offers of ‘Risk-Free’ Bets, Class Action Says

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A proposed class action lawsuit claims Caesars Sportsbook fraudulently “lures” new bettors with false offers of “free” and “risk-free” initial bets.

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The 25-page lawsuit says that Caesars Sportsbook’s “deceptive” promotions mislead new users since they fail to disclose the actual risks and material facts about the service, namely that there is “no realistic way for consumers to recoup money if their first bet loses.”

The filing summarizes that Caesars’ “risk-free” bet promises—whereby the company claims it will provide new users with “a $1,000 or $1,250 or even $5,000” free bet "on Caesars"—are “far from the truth” given that a consumer’s first bet “is not in any respect free or without risk.”

“The misrepresented, and undisclosed nature of ‘free’ or ‘risk-free’ bets on the Caesars Sportsbook payment system means that virtually any money wagered by a new user is at great risk of being lost in part of in whole,” the lawsuit says. “This too is omitted from all marketing, including during the sign-up process.”

Consumers are required to make an initial deposit on the Caesars Sportsbook website or in the app, and if the bet succeeds, the winnings are paid as normal, the case explains. However, if the bet loses, the funds are returned to the user not in cash but as bet credits that can be used only on the defendant’s platform, and that expire in 14 days, the complaint relays.

Subsequent bets made with those bet credits are decidedly not risk free, as a consumer would have to win a subsequent bet or series of bets made with the credits merely to break even, the case adds, charging that there is, in fact, a “huge degree of risk” in a new user’s first Caesars Sportsbook bet.

These promotions, which are advertised on television, the defendant’s website and mobile app, and in print and social media campaigns, omit the truth behind Caesars’ “risk-free” offers—that there is a “real and immediate risk that the entire cash amount of the first bet will be lost in short order,” the lawsuit claims. Moreover, “free bet” offers can serve to “normalize betting larger amounts than consumers would otherwise wager,” and “seduce” novices into gambling over their heads, the case warns.

“Such tantalizing offers have been effective at persuading Plaintiff and other Americans to open and use betting accounts, but new users later learn a startling reality: even so called [sic] ‘free’ or ‘risk-free’ bets can result in the customer losing every dollar of a wager,” the filing reads.

As the suit tells it, other online betting companies, such as PointsBet, Tipico and the UK’s Betfred, reportedly no longer market “free” or “risk-free” bet promotions, and while these others have “cleaned up their acts, Caesars Sportsbook has not,” the complaint alleges.

The plaintiff, a New York resident, made an initial bet of $125 with Caesars Sportsbook with the understanding that “risk-free” meant that her account would be credited with withdrawable cash in the event that she lost the bet, the case relays. 

After the plaintiff’s bet lost, she was not refunded the amount wagered but was instead given bet credits that would expire in 14 days, the complaint states. To avoid losing the credits, the woman made additional bets but still ended up with less money than she initially deposited, the suit says.

“At no time in Caesars Sportsbook’s marketing or during Caesars Sportsbook’s sign-up process were [consumers] warned of the true financial risks of using the … service for an initial bet,” the case reads, “including the immediate and acute risk of losing the entire amount in that initial bet and the risk that losses will never be reimbursed by Defendant.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who signed up for a “free bet,” “risk-free” bet or similar promotion with Caesars Sportsbook and lost any portion of their first bet.

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