Massachusetts orders DraftKings to pay $934K after it botched MLB parlay bets

Core Viewpoint - DraftKings faces a financial liability of nearly $1 million due to a regulatory ruling on payouts linked to a betting error during the MLB's 2025 American League Championship Series [1][5]. Group 1: Incident Overview - A Massachusetts customer placed a total of $12,950 across 27 multi-leg parlays on player Nathan Lukes, exploiting a configuration error that allowed stacking of multiple bets [2][7]. - The bets were based on a misclassification that labeled Lukes as a "non-participant," disabling safeguards against correlated outcomes [3][13]. Group 2: Regulatory Response - The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously rejected DraftKings' attempt to void the payouts, emphasizing that the responsibility lies with the operator to maintain market integrity [1][10]. - Commissioner Eileen O'Brien criticized DraftKings for alleging unethical conduct by the bettor, stating that the situation stemmed from the company's internal failures [10][13]. Group 3: Outcome of the Bets - Of the 27 parlays placed, 24 were successful, with Lukes achieving nine hits in the series, thus meeting all thresholds for the bets [7]. - DraftKings acknowledged the internal configuration failure as the root cause of the issue and has since implemented corrective measures [14].