A 24-year-old Chicago man named Thomas McPeek claims that he won $800,000 in sports wagers, but Caesars Entertainment is refusing to pay him out.
McPeek’s story was shared by CBS News on Friday. McPeek lives with his parents in suburban Chicago and is trying to make a living betting on sports. He often utilizes parlays to win big sports bets, which is something he had done so last year. But he says Caesars, which is a gambling conglomerate, only refunded him his original $50,000 betting amount while refusing to pay out his $800,000 in winnings. Caesars allegedly cited their “house rules” in declining the payout.
McPeek says he wagered around $30,000 at Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, in August and won about $350,000.
Then in September, McPeek won around $450,000 in wagers placed at Isle Casino in Bettendorf, Iowa.
McPeek sat at a kiosk and placed his bets there to avoid detection rather than go to the window. He says he has used disguises or changed up his physical appearance in the past to try staying under-the-radar.
Both Horseshoe Casino in Indiana and Isle Casino in Iowa are owned by Caesars. When McPeek went to Horseshoe Casino in October to try collecting on some of his winning tickets, he says the tickets were voided. He was unable to cash his winning tickets at Isle Casino too when he went there in January.
Caesars apparently has told McPeek he violated their stated policies by placing bets in different states. The two issues that may have stemmed from McPeek’s wagers were: cross-state coordination, and betting in small amounts. McPeek placed several smaller bets rather than large ones because he was hoping to go unnoticed. Casinos are mandated to report transactions of amounts greater than $10,000.
McPeek says he was banned by Horseshoe Casino. That’s not the first time that has happened to him. He says he was also banned by Blue Chip Casino in Michigan City, Indiana, however, he says they paid him out $127,000 before banning him.
The Indiana Gaming Commission sided with Caesars when reviewing McPeek’s case. The Iowa gaming authority is reviewing the matter.
Some people believe Caesars has the right to deny a payout because McPeek violated their rules. Others feel that Caesars only chose to enforce the policy after McPeek won, and that they should have not allowed his wagers if they thought he was in violation.
