The West Virginia Lottery Commission has fined sports betting operator Gamewise $7,000 for emailing customers who had self-excluded from marketing material and its platform.
The operator runs online and mobile sports betting for the Wheeling Island Casino and is reported to have sent out promotional material to 70 self-excluded customers being fined $100 per violation as a result.
Though Gamewise self-reported the incident to the commission, it was over a month after the material was sent when the operator notified the regulator of the breach of rules.
Courtesy of WVMetroNews, the State Lottery Director John Myles stated: “It was 45 days before they found out, so we kind of frown on that as well. While it was a programming error–it wasn’t something they did intentionally–we need to show that West Virginia takes those types of things seriously. Because if people have a gaming problem, we want to make sure they are protected.”
The self-exclusion scheme in West Virginia allows people who feel that their gambling habits are getting out of control to sign up and block themselves from betting online.
The scheme covers online sports betting, mobile sports betting and online casino. Meanwhile, players can also sign up to self-exclude from land-based sportsbooks and casinos.
Those who wish to sign up must write a letter to the West Virginia Lottery, who will then notify the operators of the exclusion.
Gamewise admitted wrongdoing in this incident and apologized to the commission for its lapse in judgment. The company accepted the $7,000 fine and noted it would strive to ensure any similar incidents do not occur again.
