Luck O’ the Roulette
LANSING, Mich. - Another gamble by a woman who turned $50 into $3 million playing online roulette will help her lawsuit against BetMGM, which took away her winnings after determining the game malfunctioned.
Though she had lost in two lower courts, Jacqueline Davis kept appealing and on July 22, the Michigan Supreme Court determined those courts were wrong to have tossed her breach of contract claim and others.
Davis' lawyer, David Steingold of Farmington Hills, says he will now amend the complaint to add a new claim for conversion and hopes that will lead to triple the damages he is already seeking.
"This is a big win for consumers who now have a remedy if they believe they were cheated by certain online casinos," Steingold said.
"Aggrieved patrons need to check their user agreements to determine their avenue of relief. BetMGM's says Michigan courts. FanDuel says arbitration."
BetMGM had successfully argued gambling gripes belonged before the Michigan Gaming Control Board. But the Supreme Court said that's not the case, allowing her lawsuit to proceed in Wayne County Circuit Court.
The MGCB had found BetMGM violated state gaming laws in not finding and correcting the malfunction, but that was little help for Davis, who had thought she'd become a millionaire.
"The MGCB did not exercise its power to determine that plaintiff was not entitled to relief. More importantly, the (Lawful Internet Gaming Act) does not obligate the MGCB to take such action," Justice Brian Zahra wrote.
"Rather, the LIGA plainly states that the MGCB 'may' take action. Generally, 'the term ‘may’ is ‘permissive,’ so the MGCB has discretion whether to act.
"Plaintiff’s pursuit of her common-law claims in circuit court is not 'inconsistent' with a statutory scheme that confers on the MGCB discretion to take corrective action, particularly when the MGCB has expressly disclaimed any role in resolving the merits of disputes between patrons and gaming providers."
The saga started with a heater "of epic magnitude," Zahra wrote. Davis put $50 in a BetMGM account in March 2021 and lost her first spin on "Luck O' the Roulette" but kept going, winning $20,000 in one day.
Two days later, she played again, increasing her bets to as much as $5,000 per play. Money kept pouring in and by March 23, 2021, her balance was up to nearly $3.3 million.
She asked to withdraw $100,000 from her account, which BetMGM allowed. But the amount in her account led BetMGM to question how she had won so much in so little time, sending her an email that suspended her account.
The next month, BetMGM said its investigation showed a malfunction on "Luck O' the Roulette." Win amounts were multiplied when transferred from the onscreen balance to Davis' wallet.
For example, on her 28th turn, she won $12.25 but her account was awarded $45. Had these errors not occurred, Davis would have run out of money by her 368th turn, BetMGM said.
They took what she thought was hers, leading her to sue in June 2021 for fraud, conversion and breach of contract. Bernstein also submitted a grievance with the MGCB.
In the lawsuit proceedings, BetMGM said Michigan's online gaming law gave the MGCB the exclusive authority to handle her dispute. Lower courts agreed, though a dissenting opinion from Judge Kathleen Feeney of the Court of Appeals proved helpful for the Supreme Court.
Though the Legislature, when passing LIGA, gave MGCA power to fix online gaming disputes, there's no indication LIGA governs common-law claims like those made by Davis.
"The Legislature is also presumed to know of existing common-law claims that would apply with equal force just as in any other dispute over a lawful transaction," Zahra said.
"The LIGA does not speak to these common-law claims at all, nor does it speak in certain terms to abrogate these claims. The LIGA does not even mention the common law.
"Accordingly, we see no basis to conclude that the Legislature intended to abrogate plaintiff's common-law claims for fraud, conversion and breach of contract."
