Home Forums The Asylum Shoot The Breeze Draftkings has lost their minds!

Starting on January 1, 2025 Draftkings is going to put a gaming tax surcharge on each winning bet ticket.

The list of states that will initially have this done are, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Vermont.

Some backdrop to this is that these states charge Draftkings a very high amount of tax based on their overall state winnings.

NY charges a whopping 51%
Pennsylvania 36%
Vermont 31%
Illinois anywhere from 20-40% based on how much they win.

The charges to the bettor will vary from state to state and is undetermined at this time.

At this time Draftkings is the only state legalized book to come out with this plan.

I would never ever ever bet at any sportsbook that would impose a tax on a winning wager. The whole purpose of this tax is two fold. To attempt to offset some of the tax they pay these individual states and to improve their profits.

This is a sick and twisted way to screw bettors. In essence it will take the % needed to be considered a winning player higher and increase the odds of what you really placed your bet at.

This move will backfire and if other operators go this route, it will kill the legal betting system we have in place currently. Offshore will thrive even more than they are today.

I thought I saw and heard of everything when it comes to bookmaking but this takes things to a whole new level of stupid. This industry is going backwards with this move not forward.

You can blame the greed of the states involved and the operators equally.

Insane indeed. It's hard enough to hit 52.4% on -110 wagers. Why would anyone bother? Some of the states finally get legalized gambling and then they try and extort the player. Just dumb and anyone with half a brain will drop them like a lead weight. I'm in one of the holdout states, but I'm fine using offshore books and will continue If they legalize gambling with this type of surcharge.

I say all of this a DKNG shareholder. Their plan in my eyes is super bad. They dominate the legal market in the states along with Fan Duel.

I also own Caesars stock and it would be a boon for operators like CZR and MGM.

The thought process behind this is merely profit margins and to satisfy shareholders along with the institutions that cover them.

If I had to take a guess they will likely start small and see what the fallout is. If it’s not as bad as they think it will be then they will raise it up until a point where they hemorrhage too much.

If they don’t lose a lot then there’s no doubt that Fan Duel will follow immediately. I can’t see MGM or CZR following suit because of their brick and mortar operations. They have other ways to grow the business whether it’s through F&B or room rate/room occupancy.

The amount of rooms in Vegas is slowly sinking due to Trop and now Mirage closing.

People have to go somewhere else for now and they both benefit from it. It may take awhile to recognize it but they will.

So I can’t see them seriously looking at doing this.

I would have loved to be in the meeting room when this decision was made. Do they think sportsbettors are stupid, un sophisticated and simply loyal lap dogs? They are sadly mistaken.

This should be an epic fail and I hope they stop the insanity.

I own a business and import a fair amount of product. Every month UPS sends me a rate increase on ocean containers coming from overseas effective in 30 days. If the other carriers follow the lead it stays in place. If no one else follows on day 30 I get an email canceling the increase. Within an hour I get an email announcing a rate increase in 30 days. This has been going on since the beginning of 2021. If I remember from college it is an oligopolistic pricing model. It happens when you don't have a free market. My suspicion is that Draft Kings is following the same approach. If others follow it will stay in place otherwise they will suck it up. Eventually driven my greed most will end up following. It may take a few years but they will follow. Look at legal horse racing. Between greedy operators and even more greedy taxing authorities they have pretty much destroyed the industry. No one ever considers that if they would offer players more of an opportunity to win they would grow their revenue. I do believe that there will be at some point a resurgence in off shore as the legality of betting is introducing more to the hobby. These new players will eventually be driven off shore by the BS that comes with legal betting..

I agree totally and you're spot on with the horse racing. The only "sport" that doesn't have one legal body running the show. There's absolutely no conformity among them at all. The takeouts are high and they push the exotics for a higher hold. Just like parlays in sports, a high hold.

Greed Greed Greed

This insane idea has been scrapped. You can thank FanDuel for this because they came out and said they weren’t doing it. Since DK didn’t get a buy in from their biggest rival it was clear no one would follow their lead.

Whoever came up with the idea to begin with and those that approved it should have there heads examined and let go. It’s clear they don’t know how to manage a sportsbook properly.

Hey Freak, it's been awhile since I have dropped in.

Due to a recent 'win' of a opportunity in poker, I was talking with of the guys I work with, who has an interest in sports betting.

He is like 30 years younger than me, different generation... And I was telling stories of when I first got into poker, and sports betting.

That conversation evolved into me talking about you, and the forum. More on you, and how early in the online sports book days, how you impressed me, with how you always tried to help people out who had been maybe having issues.

Got me talking about Bad Man, and what a great contest it is and he asked why Iam still not in it.lol, great question, but I will change that for next year, as it is too late now.

Just popped on to see how Bad Man was looking, and then came to the shoot the breeze, and saw this topic, and it reminded me of those reasons why I first joined this forum and wanted to be part of it. I know this is probably slightly different, but still what I see as your style, which I had always liked. Sorry, a little rambling, but looking forward to following the forum again!