By Dan Ross
Former horse racing gambler Ryan Dickey has filed a class action lawsuit against several entities related to wagering platforms offered to Computer Assisted Wagering (CAW) players under the under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) and under state law, alleging they have “organized and participated in the corruption of the betting system to the detriment of the class.”
The lawsuit was filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. The dependents comprise The Stronach Group (TSG), Churchill Downs, the New York Racing Association (NYRA), AmTote International, United Tote and Elite Turf Club.
The debate around CAW players typically surrounds the edge they wield over regular gamblers thanks to their use of sophisticated technologies that allow them to precisely read the markets and to place massive wagers across many pools in the final seconds of betting, as well as the attractive rates and rebates offered to them which are unavailable to the average punter.
Thanks to the advancement of these sophisticated algorithmic and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, “a privileged group of insider 'bettors' (the 'Insider Betting Group) who control vast sums of money' have conspired with the defendants “to rig the United States betting pools in their favor to divert money from the betting pools to the Insider Betting Group to the defendants and away from the nonprivileged or average bettor,” the lawsuit claims.
As a result of this scheme, the betting pools are not being operated lawfully as pari-mutuel wagering and have become illegal gambling operations. And the 'odds' presented to the average bettor at the time a bet is placed are false as a result of the manipulation of the bettors' pool described below,” the lawsuit adds.
Furthermore, “Because of the unfair advantages provided to members of the Insider Betting Group they receive an inordinate share of the pools, taking profits that should rightfully should have been the property of Class Members. Members of the RICO enterprise have admitted in filings with certain regulations that the scheme benefits the Insider Betting Group at the expense of public bettors,” the lawsuit alleges.
According to the lawsuit, until about 18 months ago, Dickey wagered about $100 per weeks on racing, primarily through the Advance Deposit Wagering (ADW) platform, TwinSpires, which is owned by Churchill Downs, Inc.
“Plaintiff expected that when he placed bets, he was to receive any payout based on the odds one would expect from a betting system free from any agreement or scheme that rigged payouts to favor certain groups, i.e., members of the Insider Betting Group,” the lawsuit claims. “When he became aware of the problems with the manipulation of the betting pools, he stopped betting on horse racing.”
TDN has reached out to the defendants for comment. An attorney link to the class action webpage can be found here.
The three CAW wagering platforms in question are Elite Turf Club, which is 80% owned by Stronach Group and 20% owned by NYRA; Velocity Wagering which is owned by Churchill Downs; and Racing & Gaming Services, a CAW registered in St. Kitts and Nevis.
AmTote is the dominant totalizator service provider for North American racetracks, described in the lawsuit as the “clearing house of U.S. pari-mutuel wagering.”
United Tote is the other major U.S.-based totalizator provider, majority-owned by Churchill Downs, which “sold a minority (49%) position to Defendant NYRA on April 8, 2024,” according to the lawsuit.
The class action lawsuit alleges four different counts, the first two of which hinge around what the plaintiff coins a “Pool Rigging Enterprise,” the purpose of which was to conduct an “illegal gaming business and to manipulate the betting pools of horse racing tracks throughout the United States in order to allow Computer Assisted Wagering teams to profit at the expense of Plaintiff and the other Class members.”
The third count alleges that the defendants received financial rewards via this enterprise–through takeout, rebates, breakage, fees, spreads, and profits–and that these financial gains should be returned to the plaintiff and others in the class action.
The fourth count alleges the defendants “formed and operated a conspiracy and committed wrongful act or acts done pursuant to this conspiracy, which caused damage to Plaintiff and the Class.”
Aside from monetary relief, the plaintiff requests a jury trial.
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