Man claims sports site's double-your-money promise just a fantasy, so he drafts a lawsuit

A Brockton man who claims Boston-based DraftKings deceived him into starting an account with $10 has filed a lawsuit that seeks more than $5 million in recompense for DraftKings users across the country.

In his lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, James Gardner's lawyers allege Gardner was enticed into signing up for a "double your cash" bonus that he says should have given him $20 to spend on bets on games on the site. Instead, the suit alleges, DraftKing only dribbles out the bonus as a customer plays, which means Gardner would have had to plow another $240 into DraftKing's coffers to get that extra $10. For somebody who started with $600, that would have meant spending $14,000 to receive the promised "100% first-time deposit bonus," the suit alleges.

The suit charges this violates not only federal and state law, but the "ethical guidelines" of the Direct Marketing Association.

The suit also wants a court to toss the site's terms of use for allegedly being written in such a way that the average consumer cannot possibly make heads or tails of it.

The suit asks that Gardner be made lead plaintiff for all DraftKings customers who signed up under the same conditions.

Complete copy of the complaint.