For one New Jersey bettor, the Denver Broncos were a long shot too good to be true.
New Jersey bookmaker FanDuel declined to honor a $110 bet on the Broncos on Sunday that would have paid more than $82,000, due to an error in the oddsmaking process, the company said.
"The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system," a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement.
The bettor, who identified himself to News 12 New Jersey as Anthony Prince, placed the wager over the counter at the sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack with Denver trailing the Oakland Raiders 19-17 late in the fourth quarter.
After quarterback Case Keenum completed a pass down to the Oakland 18-yard line, putting the Broncos in comfortable field goal range, FanDuel attempted to update the live betting odds to reflect Denver as a -600 favorite. However, according to the company, an error in the live-odds feed caused the Broncos to be posted as 750-1 (+75,000) underdogs to win the game.
Prince went to the counter, bet on the Broncos at the erroneous 750-1 odds and received a ticket that showed a potential payout of $82,610. At the correct odds of -600, he would have won a net $18.35.
Denver kicker Brandon McManus hit the 36-yard winning field goal with 10 seconds to play, giving the Broncos a 20-17 win, but when Prince went to the counter, he was told the bet would not be paid out at the 750-1 odds.
FanDuel instead offered to pay him around $500 and give him tickets to three New York Giants games. Prince declined to take FanDuel's offer and told News 12 New Jersey that he planned to hire an attorney.
"They said their system had a glitch in it and they're not obligated to pay for glitches," Prince told the TV station.
"A small number of bets were made at the erroneous price over an 18 second period," FanDuel said. "We honored all such bets on the Broncos to win the game at the accurate market price in accordance with our house rules and industry practice, which specifically address such obvious pricing errors. We have reached out to all impacted customers and apologized for the error."
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is investigating the matter. The sports betting regulations that are in place in New Jersey state: "A wagering operator shall not unilaterally rescind any wager ... without the prior approval of the Division."
FanDuel's house rules, however, state that "where a blatant or palpable error is made in offers made, prices offered or bets accepted or in the transmission of any event on which we have purported to offer Live Betting, bets may be settled at the correct price at the time at which the bet was placed, as determined by FanDuel Sportsbook."
Other jurisdictions with legal betting handle the issue differently.
In Nevada, mistakes in the odds are not uncommon and can occur multiple times a month at sportsbooks. If a similar dispute happened in Nevada, the bookmaker would be required to contact the Gaming Control Board in order to investigate the matter.
Some Nevada books have paid off bets that were placed on bad odds but then refused to take action from the bettors who took advantage of the mistakes in the future.
In the United Kingdom, where FanDuel owner Paddy Power-Betfair has operated for decades, mistakes in the odds are called palpable errors or "palps" and generally result in voiding the bet.
New Jersey bookmaker FanDuel declined to honor a $110 bet on the Broncos on Sunday that would have paid more than $82,000, due to an error in the oddsmaking process, the company said.
"The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system," a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement.
The bettor, who identified himself to News 12 New Jersey as Anthony Prince, placed the wager over the counter at the sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack with Denver trailing the Oakland Raiders 19-17 late in the fourth quarter.
After quarterback Case Keenum completed a pass down to the Oakland 18-yard line, putting the Broncos in comfortable field goal range, FanDuel attempted to update the live betting odds to reflect Denver as a -600 favorite. However, according to the company, an error in the live-odds feed caused the Broncos to be posted as 750-1 (+75,000) underdogs to win the game.
Prince went to the counter, bet on the Broncos at the erroneous 750-1 odds and received a ticket that showed a potential payout of $82,610. At the correct odds of -600, he would have won a net $18.35.
Denver kicker Brandon McManus hit the 36-yard winning field goal with 10 seconds to play, giving the Broncos a 20-17 win, but when Prince went to the counter, he was told the bet would not be paid out at the 750-1 odds.
FanDuel instead offered to pay him around $500 and give him tickets to three New York Giants games. Prince declined to take FanDuel's offer and told News 12 New Jersey that he planned to hire an attorney.
"They said their system had a glitch in it and they're not obligated to pay for glitches," Prince told the TV station.
"A small number of bets were made at the erroneous price over an 18 second period," FanDuel said. "We honored all such bets on the Broncos to win the game at the accurate market price in accordance with our house rules and industry practice, which specifically address such obvious pricing errors. We have reached out to all impacted customers and apologized for the error."
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement is investigating the matter. The sports betting regulations that are in place in New Jersey state: "A wagering operator shall not unilaterally rescind any wager ... without the prior approval of the Division."
FanDuel's house rules, however, state that "where a blatant or palpable error is made in offers made, prices offered or bets accepted or in the transmission of any event on which we have purported to offer Live Betting, bets may be settled at the correct price at the time at which the bet was placed, as determined by FanDuel Sportsbook."
Other jurisdictions with legal betting handle the issue differently.
In Nevada, mistakes in the odds are not uncommon and can occur multiple times a month at sportsbooks. If a similar dispute happened in Nevada, the bookmaker would be required to contact the Gaming Control Board in order to investigate the matter.
Some Nevada books have paid off bets that were placed on bad odds but then refused to take action from the bettors who took advantage of the mistakes in the future.
In the United Kingdom, where FanDuel owner Paddy Power-Betfair has operated for decades, mistakes in the odds are called palpable errors or "palps" and generally result in voiding the bet.
I 100% agree with Hache Man in post #9. This wasn't done online and they can instantly cancel the bet or just cancel it when they want to. This was done live in person. The ticket writer could've have and should have questioned the odds but didn't. They wrote the ticket and took the bet. With about 80 seconds to go Denver had a 2nd and 10 on their own 31 yard line. They weren't in FG position at all at that point. There wasn't a guarantee they would score. Should the odds be +75000 probably not but they booked it and should honor it.
This is the kind of thing that will cause problems and bring even more oversite that we simply don't need. It's just a matter of some bozo politician saying I told you there would be problems and then things will go into flux.
Pay the man and eat the loss.
This is the kind of thing that will cause problems and bring even more oversite that we simply don't need. It's just a matter of some bozo politician saying I told you there would be problems and then things will go into flux.
Pay the man and eat the loss.
The ticket says all wagers are final. The price had to be displayed on the board and the guy bet it during the commercial break. How about if the guy knew nothing about sports and just bet it. Now the book says sorry. You had to realize it couldn't possibly pay this much. This isn't a slot machine malfunction. The guy inputing the price made an error. How about if game is supposed to be +7 and the line posted is -7 and someone bets it laying 7 points when he is actually supposed to get 7 points and loses his bet. Is the book going to give the person a refund.
Interesting story, my first reaction being an offshore player for a long time is this was a mistake/bad line the bet should be refunded. But because this happened in NJ where it is legal maybe this guy has a case. IF he bet thru and app FD has a better case but if he made the bet at a window and has a ticket they might have to honor it. Vegas guys what would happen in this case if this happened at South Point?
What are the ramifications if he does get paid though? Less live betting? No live betting? This seems to be a live betting issue significantly more than a regular betting issue. Putting these lines out quick and having to change them quick can be a problem. If you are going to hold them responsible for this you could see books change what they offer.
These books always void the bet if it was a wrong line, doesn't matter if it was win or loss and what the amount was bet. That is why i love pinnacle, cris, 5dimes etc.
Here the guy who made the bet doesn't seem to understand also the guy who worked at the window should be trained properly to interact with customers.
He however may have a case if he has a good lawyer because this is a live bet. Often the book rules for error are for no live bets.
In the live betting, odds vary a lot and this case yes its a big variation but there was only 1 minute left and differen tbooks would have had different range of odds, but probably +75000 only by mistake though.
The winning ticket
See, when Prince made his bet at the window, he was handed a FanDuel Sportsbook ticket that listed the Broncos as a 750/1 longshot to win. With a Denver victory, Prince was lined up to rake in $82,610 on his $110 bet. The problem: When Prince went to claim his winnings, FanDuel refused to pay him, allegedly telling Prince that the bet was void because of a glitch in their system. And Prince, understandably, is pissed.
The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) said Tuesday afternoon that the matter is under investigation. FanDuel issued the following statement Tuesday evening:
“The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system. Specifically, near the end of the Sunday afternoon game between the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, the odds for the Broncos (who had the ball and were trailing by two points at the time) to win were +340 (bet $100 to win $340). The next play, the Broncos completed a 26 yard pass to position themselves to attempt a 36 yard field goal to take the lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, clearly positioning the Broncos as the favorite to win. At that moment in the game, our system updated the odds and erroneously posted a price of +75,000 on the Broncos to win the game (bet $100 to win $75,000) when the correct odds for the Broncos to win the game at that point in time were -600 (i.e., bet $600 to win $100). A small number of bets were made at the erroneous price over an 18 second period. We honored all such bets on the Broncos to win the game at the accurate market price in accordance with our house rules and industry practice, which specifically address such obvious pricing errors. We have reached out to all impacted customers and apologized for the error.”
Putting aside the narrative about the bookmaker being in the wrong or about how it should settle a bet regardless if an alleged “glitch” occurred to create an incorrect line. For now, this space is dedicated to educating the bettor. Because, like it or not, when you place a bet, there is a contract that is agreed upon between bettor and bookmaker.
House rules
First and foremost: Each sportsbook in New Jersey (and, really, in any book in any state with regulated sports betting), is required to have “house rules” that, per the DGE, “shall be conspicuously displayed in the sports wagering lounge, posted on the operator’s Internet website, and included in the terms and conditions of the account wagering system, and copies shall be made readily available to patrons.”
Basically, these rules are everywhere. Within them, and, again, required by the DGE, are a number of items. For FanDuel Sportsbook, House Rule No. 6 is telling:
“Patrons should verify that all information on wagering tickets is accurate before leaving the betting window. Management is not responsible for errors or omissions made on a ticket once the patron has left the betting window.”
Sure, seems like a scapegoat. But 750/1 odds for a two-point game in which the underdog has possession and is driving with over a minute to go? Seems too good to be true. Which means it probably is.
And just so we’re clear: this does not absolve the sportsbook for handing Prince the ticket with those odds. After all, the algorithm determining the odds has to “glitch” and the ticket writer has to print off the wager.
Terms and conditions
As required by the DGE, FanDuel Sportsbook also features under its T&Cs for online wagers a section titled “Errors & Suspected Errors” that should draw the attention of future bettors.
After ensuring that the book “makes every effort” to avoid any errors (human and tech), the section indicates that they do occur. So the sportsbook set up a safety net of sorts:
“FanDuel Sportsbook reserves the right to correct any obvious errors and to void any bets placed where such errors have occurred.”
Basically a “whoops, yeah that should not have happened, so, no, we won’t pay.” Shady? Maybe. But it happens. It has happened.
Across the pond, this provision has been a mainstay in the UK sports betting industry. Wagers are voided legally as determined by gaming regulations. It’s no different than what happens in Nevada.
Not all is lost for bettors. Per the FanDuel Sportsbook terms and conditions, if “any blatant errors in prices transmitted (including for example where the price being displayed is materially different from those available in the general market and/or the price is clearly incorrect, depending on all of the circumstances), bets will be settled at the correct price at the time of acceptance. … If a bet is accepted by us on an event where offering a price on the event itself (rather than the price) was in error, the bet will be void and your stake will be returned.”
(Fun fact: Apparently FanDuel Sportsbook did offer Prince a consolation prize. The Newark man said an employee offered him $500 and skybox seats to three New York Giants games, but Prince refused.)
Just to be clear…
This is not to defend FanDuel Sportsbook. After all, the operation has had a couple whoopsy-daisies since opening in June.
In general, Prince’s tale of woe and justice-seeking provides a lesson for future customers. There is a contract agreed upon by bookmaker and bettor. And all of them, including FanDuel Sportsbook, end their terms and conditions (the contract) the same way:
“By using our Services, you understand that we reserve the right to change or remove any of these Services at any time.”
See, when Prince made his bet at the window, he was handed a FanDuel Sportsbook ticket that listed the Broncos as a 750/1 longshot to win. With a Denver victory, Prince was lined up to rake in $82,610 on his $110 bet. The problem: When Prince went to claim his winnings, FanDuel refused to pay him, allegedly telling Prince that the bet was void because of a glitch in their system. And Prince, understandably, is pissed.
The NJ Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) said Tuesday afternoon that the matter is under investigation. FanDuel issued the following statement Tuesday evening:
“The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system. Specifically, near the end of the Sunday afternoon game between the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders, the odds for the Broncos (who had the ball and were trailing by two points at the time) to win were +340 (bet $100 to win $340). The next play, the Broncos completed a 26 yard pass to position themselves to attempt a 36 yard field goal to take the lead in the final seconds of the fourth quarter, clearly positioning the Broncos as the favorite to win. At that moment in the game, our system updated the odds and erroneously posted a price of +75,000 on the Broncos to win the game (bet $100 to win $75,000) when the correct odds for the Broncos to win the game at that point in time were -600 (i.e., bet $600 to win $100). A small number of bets were made at the erroneous price over an 18 second period. We honored all such bets on the Broncos to win the game at the accurate market price in accordance with our house rules and industry practice, which specifically address such obvious pricing errors. We have reached out to all impacted customers and apologized for the error.”
Putting aside the narrative about the bookmaker being in the wrong or about how it should settle a bet regardless if an alleged “glitch” occurred to create an incorrect line. For now, this space is dedicated to educating the bettor. Because, like it or not, when you place a bet, there is a contract that is agreed upon between bettor and bookmaker.
House rules
First and foremost: Each sportsbook in New Jersey (and, really, in any book in any state with regulated sports betting), is required to have “house rules” that, per the DGE, “shall be conspicuously displayed in the sports wagering lounge, posted on the operator’s Internet website, and included in the terms and conditions of the account wagering system, and copies shall be made readily available to patrons.”
Basically, these rules are everywhere. Within them, and, again, required by the DGE, are a number of items. For FanDuel Sportsbook, House Rule No. 6 is telling:
“Patrons should verify that all information on wagering tickets is accurate before leaving the betting window. Management is not responsible for errors or omissions made on a ticket once the patron has left the betting window.”
Sure, seems like a scapegoat. But 750/1 odds for a two-point game in which the underdog has possession and is driving with over a minute to go? Seems too good to be true. Which means it probably is.
And just so we’re clear: this does not absolve the sportsbook for handing Prince the ticket with those odds. After all, the algorithm determining the odds has to “glitch” and the ticket writer has to print off the wager.
Terms and conditions
As required by the DGE, FanDuel Sportsbook also features under its T&Cs for online wagers a section titled “Errors & Suspected Errors” that should draw the attention of future bettors.
After ensuring that the book “makes every effort” to avoid any errors (human and tech), the section indicates that they do occur. So the sportsbook set up a safety net of sorts:
“FanDuel Sportsbook reserves the right to correct any obvious errors and to void any bets placed where such errors have occurred.”
Basically a “whoops, yeah that should not have happened, so, no, we won’t pay.” Shady? Maybe. But it happens. It has happened.
Across the pond, this provision has been a mainstay in the UK sports betting industry. Wagers are voided legally as determined by gaming regulations. It’s no different than what happens in Nevada.
Not all is lost for bettors. Per the FanDuel Sportsbook terms and conditions, if “any blatant errors in prices transmitted (including for example where the price being displayed is materially different from those available in the general market and/or the price is clearly incorrect, depending on all of the circumstances), bets will be settled at the correct price at the time of acceptance. … If a bet is accepted by us on an event where offering a price on the event itself (rather than the price) was in error, the bet will be void and your stake will be returned.”
(Fun fact: Apparently FanDuel Sportsbook did offer Prince a consolation prize. The Newark man said an employee offered him $500 and skybox seats to three New York Giants games, but Prince refused.)
Just to be clear…
This is not to defend FanDuel Sportsbook. After all, the operation has had a couple whoopsy-daisies since opening in June.
In general, Prince’s tale of woe and justice-seeking provides a lesson for future customers. There is a contract agreed upon by bookmaker and bettor. And all of them, including FanDuel Sportsbook, end their terms and conditions (the contract) the same way:
“By using our Services, you understand that we reserve the right to change or remove any of these Services at any time.”
I initially thought the guy was a newbie idiot and should have taken the deal. But maybe the fact that he has an actual printed ticket and the publicity this has generated will actual lead to him getting paid. I'd put it near 1-5% chance of getting paid where my initial reaction was he has 0% chance of ever getting paid. Fanduel/Draftkings make $$ hand over fist so maybe they'll eventually think the publicity from paying him will be worth it in the long run. I can't blame him if he's new and they're offering 3 game suite passes, I'd probably think maybe this has a shot at being paid out if they're offering me that kind of deal.
