A ProPublica investigation found that DraftKings rewarded reckless, addiction-style betting with VIP perks instead of shutting the account down — bad news for gamblers, and a problem for an industry that depends on them.

• A reporter deliberately chased losses with $20,000 of borrowed money and was invited into the VIP program within a day.
• The app pushed bigger one-tap deposit buttons and a constant stream of promotions, which kept coming even after he set his own spending limits.
• He never triggered a manual review despite putting $21,000 in over eight weeks; the company won't say how many accounts it actually cuts off.
• Roughly 3% of customers generate nearly half the profits at these companies, so cutting off addicts would break the business model.
• Regulators in Massachusetts called the practice comparable to normal retail marketing and have taken no action.

Outlook: Expect more exposés and pressure on state gambling regulators, but little real restraint from the sportsbooks as long as heavy losers fund the industry.