Before Wednesday, the BetLucky Sportsbook Twitter account had a total of four tweets. Now it has 20.
It spent most of the morning responding to questions about the status of three of West Virginia sportsbooks.
Sports bettors are eager to understand why the WV mobile sports betting app ceased sports betting operations abruptly late last week, along with its casino partners, Mardi Gras Casino and Wheeling Island.
Unfortunately, while BetLucky was trying to reassure its customers, the lack of information was anything but comforting.
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BetLucky responds to customers about WV sports betting closure
On March 9, BetLucky composed its fifth tweet:
Radio silence ensued until Wednesday morning when the mobile sportsbook started replying to its customers. The responses included typical company-speak such as:
- “We wish we had a solid answer for you and some good news.”
- “There are people working ’round the clock to try and come to a resolution.”
- “We know this is an inconvenience and sincerely apologize.”
BetLucky, unfortunately, did not answer the main questions:
- “Why did this happen?”
- “When will the mobile app be back?”
Instead, it kept its responses general and tried to assure customers that it is honoring bets and working to rectify the situation. Primarily, BetLucky is trying something that has been lacking from the company from the beginning: communication.
“We understand you want answers. And frankly, you deserve them. We just don’t have answers to give at this point. Sharing faulty information would be even worse than waiting to be sure we have a solution. We are trying to do better about communicating and appreciate your patience.”
BetLucky going forward with modified March Madness plans
To add to the confusion, one sports bettor announced that BetLucky app would be fixed by the weekend. The assumption came as a result of the March Madness advertising that is still running in WV.
It didn’t take long for BetLucky to squash that rumor.
“We are still doing the live show (at Wheeling Casino). We had a lot of fun things planned in the bar area and will keep those going no matter what. Lots of food and drink specials ($2 beers, $1 dogs, etc.) and a bracket challenge that is separate from the sportsbook.
“Our other option was just to pull the plug on everything else we had planned and didn’t think that was cool either. So we are doing the best with what we’ve got, currently. I understand your frustration, however.”
To be clear, the planned March Madness festivities will go on but will not include sports betting.
That is a small consolation prize as we head into one of the most popular sports betting events of the year. We are just days away from Selection Sunday and a week away from the first March Madness games.
To say sports bettors are frustrated is probably an understatement. To one customer who only wants a place to bet, BetLucky responded:
“I hear ya. It’s just a bit more complicated than that … and way more complicated than we can explain on Twitter. I promise you that we are exploring every possible option to get open as soon as possible.”