Dew-Becker v. Wu

178 N.E.3d 1034, 2020 WL 1880804 (2020)

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Dew-Becker v. Wu

Illinois Supreme Court
178 N.E.3d 1034, 2020 WL 1880804 (2020)

  • Written by Abby Roughton, JD

Facts

Colin Dew-Becker (plaintiff) lost $100 to Andrew Wu (defendant) in a daily fantasy-sports (DFS) contest on the website FanDuel.com. Dew-Becker then sued Wu in Illinois state court, alleging that the DFS contest constituted illegal gambling under Illinois law. Dew-Becker sought to recover his lost $100 under Illinois Criminal Code § 28-8(a), which allowed the loser of an illegal bet to seek recovery from the winner. At a bench trial, Dew-Becker testified that he and Wu had paid $109 each to participate in a head-to-head DFS contest on FanDuel. Dew-Becker and Wu had each created a fantasy roster of nine National Basketball Association (NBA) players and earned points based on their players’ performances in real-world NBA games on a given day. Wu had outscored Dew-Becker and, as the winner, had received $200 (i.e., both participants’ entry fees, less $18 retained by FanDuel). The trial court entered judgment for Wu, and the appellate court affirmed. The appellate court explained that § 28-8(a) allowed recovery of gambling losses only if there was a direct connection between the people involved in the wager. The court concluded that because of FanDuel’s involvement as a third-party intermediary, there was no direct connection between Dew-Becker and Wu. Dew-Becker appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Burke, C.J.)

Dissent (Karmeier, J.)

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