Written by :
Thomas Somach
Published on :
FanDuel sportsbook violated its own official sports betting rules last week when it voided proposition bets on an NBA player who played minimally in a game, but did not do so for another player in a similar situation.
On Wednesday of last week, Los Angeles Lakers star Antonio Davis, who had been out for almost six weeks with a foot injury, came off the bench and scored 21 points in the Lakers 113 to 104 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
FanDuel voided prop bets on Davis though because he didn’t start the game and played only about eight minutes.
Then, a night later, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic exited the game about three minutes into the first quarter of the Mavs' 99-95 win over the Phoenix Suns with an ankle injury and did not return.
Proposition bets involving Doncic were not voided by FanDuel, despite the fact that he did not play long enough to achieve any of his props.
The seemingly inconsistent way in which FanDuel handled the respective players’ proposition bets had some sports bettors fuming on social media, with one even starting an online petition to rectify the matter.
As it turns out, FanDuel violated its own policy concerning player proposition bets.
On the FanDuel website, FanDuel.com, there’s a list of rules and regulations governing all aspects of sports betting at FanDuel.
The byzantine list encompasses 42,958 words.
Under the section titled “Player Props—NBA, NCAA and WNBA Basketball,” FanDuel explains its policy on basketball player proposition wagers.
The section reads as follows: “Player Performance Markets: All bets stand once a player takes the court, irrespective of game time played. All totals are inclusive of overtime. Should a player not take any part, all bets will be void.”
So there it is in black and white and clear concise language: All bets stand once a player takes the court, irrespective of game time played.
That means that proposition bets on both Davis and Doncic should not have been voided, as per FanDuel‘s own published guidelines.
Gambling 911 contacted FanDuel for a comment on why it does not follow its own set policy, but after several days had still not heard back from the bookmaker.
If and when we do, we will let you know its response.
Meanwhile, Gambling 911 contacted about a dozen other licensed sports books and inquired about their policies concerning voided proposition bets.
Only one book, PointsBet (PointsBet.com), immediately responded.
A spokesperson said: “We handle the voiding of proposition bets when a player plays a minimal amount in the game on a case-by-case basis.”
That’s what FanDuel does too, except FanDuel lies about it.
By Tom Somach,
Gambling 911 Chief Correspondent,
