DraftKings and another gambling company were fined a total of $22,500 by the state of Connecticut for operating an online slot machine game that failed to pay any winners on more than 20,600 spins over one week in August 2023.
The game, Deal or No Deal Banker’s Bonanza, was advertised to pay out almost 95 cents for every dollar wagered on the game.
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But from Aug. 15 through Aug. 21 last year, a total of 522 people in Connecticut who wagered nearly $24,000 on the game over more than 20,659 spins received no wins, according to a report by Connecticut’s Department of Consumer Protection.
“Effectively, it was impossible for any Connecticut patron to achieve a win on the game for a period of 7 days, while live on the gaming platform,” according to the report, which was first detailed by the CT Insider news outlet on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the DCP said, “It was the first incident [in the state] where an online slot machine was not paying out as advertised.”
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The report found that neither DraftKings and the game’s producer, White Hat Gaming, notified Consumer Protection of the problem until the department requested information from the companies on Aug. 31 last year.
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That was more than a week after customers complained about the situation, and after an internal investigation by White Hat Gaming determined the cause of the problem in paying out as advertised.
A file in the game’s software had not been loaded properly, according to the Consumer Protection probe. The game was relaunched on Aug. 22 after a fix was implemented.
Nearly a week earlier, on Aug. 16, a player told DraftKings in an online complaint that they had played “a couple hundred spins” of bets of 20 cents apiece, “and not had one single winning spin or partial win,” according to a summary of complaints reviewed in the probe.
“I believe that RTP is incorrect,” wrote the customer, using the gambling acronym “Return to Player.”
A DraftKings representative wrote the customer in response on Aug. 17, suggesting there was no problem.
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“I understand how frustrating it can be when you haven’t hit a win,” the rep wrote. “However, all casino games are random, regardless of the player or length of time you’ve been playing.”
Another company rep, in response to a second customer’s complaint about many spins without seeing a payout, assured the player that the casino platform was regulated by the Consumer Protection Department and “are monitored on a regular basis to ensure fairness.”
The rep also told the player that there was an option to “self-regulate your play” but setting limits on wagers on the platform.
Another customer on Aug. 20 wrote DraftKings that he had played the game with more than 100 spins without a payout.
“I believe this is a problem as I have never played a slot game where I haven’t won a single cent in over 100 spins,” the player wrote.
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In a response to that complaint, a DraftKings rep wrote, “I understand it can be frustrating to have a bit of a cold streak, but I can assure you that there is nothing wrong with the game itself.”
That response came three days after DraftKings had informed White Hat of three patron complaints about the game not paying out and after White Hat’s business intelligence team discovered an issue with the RTP settings on the game, according to the Consumer Protection Probe.
On Aug. 29, a full week after White Hat identified the glitch and fixed it the game, “all patrons were eventually refunded” on their play during the affected week “without any notification from Draft Kings” about the reason for the refund, the DCP said in its report.
In January, White Hat agreed to pay the DCP $3,500 in fines to settle allegations that the game operated for a week with a 0% Return to Player in violation of state regulations and that the company failed to comply with reporting obligations.
In April, DraftKings agreed to pay the department $19,000 to settle the same allegations.
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Kaitlyn Krasselt, the spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Protection, told CNBC that although “White Hat responded swiftly to inquiries from DCP investigators … The response from DraftKings to the consumer complaints was not satisfactory.”
“And as a result of the DCP investigation, [DraftKings] was instructed to implement greater internal controls for their products, submit regular reports for new games to DCP, and make improvements to their consumer complaints process,” Krasselt said.
She also said the incident with the slots game last year “is a great example of something that, if we were not there to intervene, may not have been taken seriously until our investigators got involved.”
A DraftKings spokesperson, in a statement to CNBC, said, “Our customers’ satisfaction and the integrity of our products are central to our success.”
“We have robust measures to monitor potential payout issues, and we investigate any concerns promptly. In the event of a game not functioning as intended, we ensure impacted customers are appropriately refunded,” the spokesperson said.
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“The issue in Connecticut arose from an error on the game developer’s side. We identified a possible issue within 48 hours of launch and immediately escalated it for investigation. All impacted customers were fully refunded within days of concluding there was an issue, and we have not encountered any similar issues with this vendor.”
White Hat Studios, a division of White Hat Gaming, in a statement to CNBC, said, “Delivering a fun, fair and transparent gaming experience is a top priority at White Hat Studios.”
“Regarding the technical fault concerning one of our games live with DraftKings in Connecticut in 2023, we took immediate action as soon as we became aware of the situation,” the company said. “It was a one-off incident and all affected players were fully refunded by DraftKings.”
“We take player protection very seriously and worked closely with the regulator and DraftKings to resolve the issue.”
Have you still seen a lot of mini-liquor bottles, littering the streets in Connecticut?
Members of one environmental group said they still see them, and believe a ban is the best way to solve a multi-tiered problem.
State data shows in the past 12 months, ending September 30, there were more than 93 million mini-liquor bottles sold in our state.
The group supporting local bans says it’s not just the litter, but also the fact mini-liquor bottles are easy to conceal and consume on the job, in the car, or at school.
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The group “Connecticut Towns Nixing the Nip” met this week, working on strategies to get a legislative hearing on the issue in the upcoming 2026 session.
Right now, stores collect a 5-cent surcharge for every mini-liquor bottle sold, resulting in about $5 million annually for town and city environmental cleanup efforts.
Town funding from nip sales
Average revenue per year 2021 to 2025.
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“Having talked to a number of towns, well a few towns, they like the money, said Tom Metzner, a member of the group. “It’s fairly broad in how it can be used. It’s environmental. It doesn’t have to be used for cleaning up nips. And so the towns have become somewhat silent on the issue of banning nips.”
The group cited Chelsea, Massachusetts, where minis are banned, both litter and alcohol related EMS calls decreased.
The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of Connecticut, which devised the “nickel per nip” program, said banning the mini-liquor bottles would be unprecedented.
Instead, it said the environmental group should be challenging municipalities to prove they actually use the money for cleanup.
Legislative leaders suggested several years ago the way to really do this is to have a redemption program for mini liquor bottles, and now, that could be possible.
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At least one state with the Clynk bottle collection program has redeemed mini-liquor bottles for cash.
The company just announced a major expansion in our state, but it told us it is not aware of a redemption program for mini-liquor bottles here any time soon.
National trust in the federal government is at some of its lowest levels in nearly seven decades, and many Connecticut residents fall in line with that belief, a survey found.
New data from the Pew Research Center found only 17% of Americans believe that what the government does is right either “just about always” or “most of the time,” hitting one of the lowest points Pew has seen since first asking this question in 1958. And according to a DataHaven survey, Connecticut residents trust the federal government less than state or local institutions.
While these are some of the lowest polling numbers seen in American history, national trust in the federal government has been on the decline for decades. Public trust initially dropped in the 1960s and ’70s during the Vietnam War from a near 80% but began rising again in the 1980s into the early ’90s. Trust peaked again after 9/11 before falling.
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The DataHaven survey found that of all Connecticut residents surveyed, only 9% trust the federal government “a great deal” to look out for the best interests of them and their family. About 28% trust the federal government “a fair amount.”
Federal government trust among Connecticut residents was at its highest in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the federal stimulus programs and child tax credit were active.
The DataHaven survey also asked about trust in local and state government. Connecticut residents generally trust these institutions more than they trust the federal government, the survey found.
Trust in the local governments was higher than trust in both state and federal, with 67% of residents surveyed trusting their local government “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
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And when it came to state government, 61% of residents trust the state “a great deal” or “a fair amount.”
However, across the board, white residents are more likely to trust local and state government than are residents of color. Black residents had higher levels of trust in government than Latino and Puerto Rican residents, but less than white residents.
As of early 2025, the Connecticut State Police was facing a staffing shortage of roughly 300 troopers compared to the more than 1,200 troopers the department had in its ranks over a decade ago. This is due largely to retirements, resignations and a shrinking applicant pool.
Recent academy classes are helping slowly rebuild staffing, but Gov. Ned Lamont and police leadership say Connecticut still needs substantially more troopers to meet public safety demands. More recently, news outlets reported the department had 938 troopers.
This spring, troopers negotiated a 4.5% wage hike with state officials. Troopers’ base pay is on average about $116,000 per year, but that rises to $175,000 per year once overtime is included.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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CT Mirror partners with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims.
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Reginald David is the Community Engagement Reporter for CT Mirror. He builds relationships across Connecticut to elevate community voices and deepen public dialogue around local issues. Previously, he was a producer at KCUR 89.3, Kansas City’s NPR station, where he created community-centered programming, led live event coverage for major events like the NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade, and Royals Opening Day, and launched KC Soundcheck, a music series spotlighting local and national artists. Reginald has also hosted special segments, including an in-depth interview with civil rights leader Alvin Brooks and live community coverage on issues like racial segregation and neighborhood development. He began his public media career as an ‘Integrity in News’ intern at WNPR in Hartford.
