DENVER — A Denver man said he’s been restricted on how much money he can bet on sportsbooks because he won too much.
Cody Sudmeier said in a six-week stretch between December and January, he made over $50,000 on various sportsbooks.
That’s when he started noticing something strange.
“I was getting up to where I was placing $1,000 bets on a game, $2,000 bets,” said Sudmeier. “And then I go to make the same bet and it says, ‘Oh, you’ve been restricted to $100.’”
Sudmeier said he thought there had been a mistake, so he emailed customer support.
“At first I thought this can’t be right, you’d think the casinos are typically trying to get you to bet more,” said Sudmeier. “So, I email customer support, and you get canned responses. You can tell this is something they get a lot, and this is common practice for these guys.”
In one instance, Sudmeier says he’s been limited to a maximum bet of $15.60 on the Fanatics Sportsbook. Fanatics did not immediately respond to a request for comment from 9NEWS.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Revenue said the practice is completely legal because each sportsbook is tied to a brick-and-mortar casino.
“Casinos are private companies and have the right to ask gamblers to leave, or change the limits of bets at any time,” wrote Dan Carr via email. “Every sports book in Colorado is tied to a brick and mortar casino, so the same rules would apply for the app-based sports books as well.”
Sudmeier said that doesn’t feel fair and plans to ask legislators to investigate the situation.
Records show Colorado sportsbooks profited a record amount in January, with more than $53.4 million in Gross Gaming Revenue.
“I don’t think it’s fair at all. It’s a regulated industry, and at its core, there’s an assumption that if you’re gambling, there is the possibility that you can win,” said Sudmeier. “Casinos draw in customers by saying you can win here. So, I think it’s important they allow people to win.”
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