Jade Roper Tolbert (JRT) was living on a cloud. Not only was she seen by millions of people as she appeared as a contestant on the reality TV show The Bachelor, but she went on to, controversially, win $1 million participating in the Millionaire Maker, a fantasy sports contest held by DraftKings. However, as much as Tolbert thought she was riding a wave of incredibly good luck, it appears the wave broke sooner than expected and she’s not going to receive her cash, after all.
Questions almost immediately surfaced after Tolbert realized that she had won the Millionaire Maker tournament, thanks – in no small part – to a tweet she posted. She and husband Tanner had both participated in the contest, and she alluded to the fact that the two had discussed their options while making their choices when she tweeted after her name appeared as the winner, “Hahaha that’s me! And Tanner told me I shouldn’t play DK Metcalf.” This didn’t sit well with the fantasy sports community.
Nor did it sit well with DraftKings. According to the rules of the contest, collusion is prohibited. When social media started seeing chatter of possible fantasy sports pillow talk between husband and wife Tolbert, the sports gambling operator chimed in and announced that it would look into the situation further. Not surprising, especially with $1 million on the line.
DraftKings has wrapped up its investigation and has decided that the Tolberts were a little too talkative during the contest and won’t be giving JRT her expected payout. The company explained in a tweet on Saturday, “DraftKings has decided to update the standings for several contests. All customers affected by the updated standings will be notified directly. It is our general policy not to comment further on such matters.”
— DraftKings News (@DraftKingsNews) January 25, 2020
While the response may be somewhat vague and less than fulfilling to some fantasy sports fans, it at least provides a little bit of closure to the ordeal and confirms that DraftKings is keeping the reins pulled tightly on its gambling contests. What remains unclear now is whether or not JRT received some sort of compensation in order to let the ordeal subside, or if she’ll try to fight the company in court.
As far as the Millionaire Maker goes, the new winner has already been put into the public eye. Alan Milstein, an attorney who reportedly represents the winner, confirmed on Twitter that his client was the real winner, stating, “Thrilled to announce my client has been declared the winner of the DraftKings Millionaire Maker Contest. I have had my share of interesting cases but never conceived this would be one of therm [sic].”
Thrilled to announce my client has been declared the winner of the DraftKIngs Millionaire Maker Contest. I have had my share of interesting cases but never conceived this would be one of therm.
— Alan Milstein (@amilst44) January 25, 2020
