Almost a year ago Arizona legalized sports betting which I thought would be fun to gamble a little bit so I signed up for a few, including BetMGM. Not long after that, MGM revamped their rewards program and I was impressed. I take a few trips to Vegas each year and wanted to try to earn gold status with them so I could take advantage of the benefits on those trips. I don’t gamble much in Vegas, I was never a huge fan of anything outside of a little blackjack (I mostly go for the food). I never thought I’d be able to earn the status until I realize I was earning tier credits with MGM through the BetMGM app (I do have gold status now through matching with Hyatt, but that doesn’t get nearly any of the benefits that those who earn it do). Since I don’t live near an MGM property I thought this was my chance, so I started sports betting pretty heavily on the app. I am currently about 1/3 of the way to getting the gold status.
I am going to admit, I am not nearly as good of a sports better as I thought! As of now I am down close to $15,000 on BetMGM. I was hoping I’d make some of it back, if not in cash than in comps or using the status I was planning on earning. That was until today. I tried placing a bet on the Warriors moneyline. It was a smaller bet than I usually try to place, just $50. I had an error message come up saying I was trying to bet too much.
I initially didn’t think too much of it, thinking it was probably a mistake. I reached out to their support through Twitter to see what was going on. I must say, BetMGMs support is better than most other books out there, they have been much more helpful than I’ve experienced with other books. Their support surprised me though and said this was not a mistake. They did this on purpose and there would be no chance at getting it reversed.
So I’ve spent about $15,000, and quite a bit of time trying to earn this status, and now BetMGM is deciding that I will not be getting it. I just wish I knew what I did. I heard of sportsbooks banning people for winning too much, which is fair enough. This is not the case here though. At this point, I wish I would’ve tried to earn status with Wynn or Caesars sportsbooks (both also in Arizona), but I guess that will be where I will be moving my sportsbook play for now. hopefully there is enough time in the year to earn status with one of them.
I tried to stay loyal to MGM, but there is no chance I’ll be going in their properties again. I’m telling my friends to switch sportsbooks and writing this to warn others. Do not gamble with BetMGM. They do not treat their customers well and you will regret it. There are many other options to bet with, especially if you’re going for status.
Feel free to reach out with any questions, I’ll update this post when I find the new sportsbook that will be getting my business!
Jake Campoli
campolijw@gmail.com
