Schuetz: Hey, Massachusetts Gaming Commission, It’s Time To Get The Band Back Together

“We are using data to identify at-risk players, alert them to their suspected disordered gambling, and inform them about available responsible gambling features in online platforms and corrective actions they can take … ” 

— New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement Director David Rebuck, press release, Feb. 7, 2023

Ten months after the above words by Dave Rebuck were released to the world, Lisa D’Alessandro came to understand that her life, as she knew it, was crumbling before her eyes. In a story under the byline of Anna Betts, featured on Feb. 5, 2025, in The Guardian, the story is told of how her husband allegedly lost everything gambling with DraftKings in New Jersey. 

The gambling statistics regarding Ms. D’Alessandro’s husband are rather amazing. In 2020, according to The Guardian, his average monthly deposit into his DraftKings betting account was $2,041. In 2021, this average monthly deposit was $12,760. In 2022, this became $44,234. In 2023, he was depositing an average of $64,716 monthly. Moreover, his betting frequency went from “1,600 bets per year in 2020 to over 14,000 in 2023.” That is a change from approximately 4.4 bets per day to 38 bets daily. In 2022, he deposited 300% of his salary into his DK betting account; in 2023, it was 440%.

More importantly, according to Ms. D’Alessandro, it destroyed a family with children. They lost their house, all of their savings, and their marriage.

What I predict will happen now since the publication of this story by The Guardian is that the chorus of shills from the American Gaming Association Choir will offer a resounding cheer of “Hit Piece,” condemning the journalists for writing such a one-sided story. And every March, they will celebrate “Problem Gambling Awareness Month,” aware that stories like this are probably still happening.

Maybe the industry will even pay to create one or two new organizations to focus on problem gambling, continuing what is becoming a running joke. After all, the industry pays well for those.

If one wants to understand the American Gaming Association, think Big Tobacco. Back in the day, Big Tobacco worked to ensure that a dangerous product went uncontrolled so that tobacco industry profits would skyrocket by selling that addictive product.

As an aside, one of the areas where it is still okay to smoke in public is inside the casinos of many of the members of the American Gaming Association, and that should indicate the organization’s indifference to damaging the health of casino patrons and workers.

What is essential to understand is that tobacco addiction has a high comorbidity with problem gambling, and it is generally understood that over 50% of problem gamblers smoke, and that is why the AGA will not involve itself in the smoking debate. Sure, it kills and damages casino patrons and employees — but it increases casino revenue.

Plainly obvious

I would think that a blind man across the street on a dark night would clearly see that Ms. D’Alessandro’s husband had a clear and unequivocal problem. But the supposed adults running DraftKings apparently did not see it or didn’t care.

Let me repeat: I would think that a blind man across the street on a dark night would clearly see that Ms. D’Alessandro’s husband had a clear and unequivocal problem. But the supposed adults running DraftKings apparently did not see it or didn’t care.

One wonders what the parents of DraftKings’ employees will think when they read about what purportedly happened to the D’Alessandro family. It is kind of a hard thing to brag about to the neighbors when they are visiting over the fence.

A drunk driver who hurts people through his actions at least has the excuse that he was drunk. The DraftKings employees who, according to the complaint, participated in this family’s destruction (“by targeting him with incentives, bonuses, and other gifts to create, nurture, expedite, and/or exacerbate his addiction”) were most likely stone-cold sober. Apparently, they thought this was their job, and don’t try to tell me they did not have excellent data to work with.

In February 2010, a man stood on the ledge of a building housing the store Forever 21 in San Francisco. People on the street noticed him, and many grabbed their phones and started their cameras. And then the cheering started for him to jump. He did not disappoint. He was declared dead by the paramedics who arrived.

This is referred to as groupthink, and one wonders if the DraftKings VIP Department does not suffer from it, figuratively cheering as a clearly sick player feeds more and more money into the DraftKings system.

In search of adults

I think it would be cool if, at the next G2E, AGA President Bill Miller had a fireside chat with Ms. D’Alessandro, and she could share with the assembled crowd and press how she and her children’s lives were damaged. Maybe Miller can then recite all of the statistics about her husband’s losses and explain to the crowd why no one intervened.

Maybe Mr. Miller could show the trophy that DraftKings gave to Ms. D’Alessandro’s husband.

There is one group of regulators in this country that I greatly respect, and these are the folks in Massachusetts. They were the only adults in the room when it came to the understanding that Steve Wynn was something that they did not want in their state. They also jumped into the fray on bet limiting and gave us great insight into the arrogance of an industry that thought it was cool to no-show a regulatory request.

I now hope they will provide insight on the other side of the banning and limiting discussion, which is the bankruptcy piece. 

Ah, yes, that “ban or bankrupt” thing.

I suggest the MGC invite DraftKings CEO Jason Robins to meet with them at an open meeting. After all, DraftKings is a Massachusetts company, and what allegedly happened to D’Alessandro’s family potentially seems relevant to his company and his personal license. 

Ask him about the statistics of Ms. D’Alessandro’s husband and why that was allowed to continue.

Ask what he has done to prevent more D’Alessandro families.

Ask him if the D’Alessandro situation represents the character and culture of his company. 

Ask him if he expects Ms. D’Alessandro to return the trophy they sent.

My best guess is he will want to hide and order his lawyers to find a reason. Let them go to a closed session. He will then try to send a talking head from legal or compliance. Robins is the head of the company and has cashed out hundreds of millions of dollars of stock, so let him lead.

Bad for the whole industry

Ask Jason if his celebrity endorsers like LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, and others want their legacies tarnished by having their names associated with a company that, according to the legal filing, did this to this family.

Ask Jason if these kinds of stories are good for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, and all of the others. Do these entities want their brands shaped by these kinds of stories? Is this what Adam Silver wanted when he visited with The Wall Street Journal about betting in 2018?

Whatever you do, MGC, stop with the fines. The company pays them, but they are silly and irrelevant. Jason Robins has taken home hundreds of millions of dollars for being the leader of DraftKings. Imposing a fine on his company is irrelevant.

You should ask these questions because this sort of inhuman and irresponsible behavior of crushing people has to stop. It is just like killing people with tobacco and continuing to do it because it is good for profits.

Also, nobody loves these stories more than the feds, and they want to get their paws on this industry. Stories like this make it easy to justify their taking it over. And you do not want the feds involved in this business.

In case I have confused anybody, this is not an anti-gambling discourse. It discusses an egregious set of statistics and the seemingly inhumane reactions to those statistics. It is a story of failure. If firms like DraftKings cannot stop business practices that lead to public accusations like this, they should not be in the business.

MGC, show them the way and hold leadership to account.

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Richard Schuetz entered the gaming industry working nights as a blackjack and dice dealer while attending college and has since served in many capacities within the industry, including operations, finance, and marketing. He has held senior executive positions up to and including CEO in jurisdictions across the United States, including the gaming markets of Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno/Tahoe, Laughlin, Minnesota, Mississippi, and Louisiana. In addition, he has consulted and taught around the globe and served as a member of the California Gambling Control Commission and executive director of the Bermuda Casino Gaming Commission. He also publishes extensively on gaming, gaming regulation, diversity, and gaming history. Schuetz is the CEO American Bettors’ Voice, a non-profit organization dedicated to giving sports bettors a seat at the table.