Bettor loses $25,000 on Kalshi despite sportsbook ban

A bettor self-excluded from DraftKings & FanDuel still found a way to lose big, according to NPR.

The hit

A Pennsylvania man who banned himself from DraftKings & FanDuel after bankruptcy found he could still bet on Kalshi, according to NPR. He lost more than $25,000 on the prediction market platform before the company agreed to close his account.

Why it matters

Prediction markets like Kalshi have not sought state approval, so they do not follow state-mandated protections for people with gambling addictions, NPR reports. That means a self-exclusion registered with one operator does not stop someone from betting elsewhere, leaving people with gambling problems exposed to products advertised nationwide, including in states where online sports gambling is illegal.

The record

Debt from bankruptcy filing	around $75,000 in credit card & personal loan debt (the bettor, filed late 2023)
Losses from sportsbooks before ban	more than $50,000 (the bettor)
Kalshi monthly wagers	nearly $60bn, up from $2.8bn a year earlier (TickerTracker)
Kalshi’s response	self-exclusion is “irreversible” by design, firm told the bettor (automated chat log); spokeswoman Dani Lever called it “a cherry-picked case”

What happens next

Watch for state regulators or lawmakers to examine whether prediction markets should fall under the same self-exclusion rules as licensed sportsbooks.

Sources: After bankruptcy, he was banned from sports betting sites. Then he discovered Kalshi

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