Luka Prop Bet Controversy: “New PrizePicks Crybabies”?

In recent days there's been plenty of talk within the sports betting community over a gimmick offered up by those primarily in the U.S. regulated market: Offering refunds on player props, often when a player suffers an injury.

The problem, of course, is that customers grow to expect the refunds given out on a regular and consistent basis.

To the best of our knowledge, FanDuel, DraftKings and others do not incorporate the "player prop bet refunds" policy into their rules or as a stipulation at the time the bets are placed (more on that in a moment as there has been little mention of this type of language being present and we can't confirm either way).  The betting public - at least those affected and speaking out publicly - would have us believing refunds are not being doled out even-handedly.

There are some good examples of the later found at BetOnline.

This all came to light after Luka Doncic exited early in a game against the Phoenix Suns with an injury and FanDuel refused to refund his prop bets despite doing so for another player who participated in much of another game.

In his return to the Lakers, Antonio Davis had 21 points, 12 rebounds, one assist, one steal and four blocks.  FanDuel opted to refund Davis prop bets nonetheless.  Davis did not start in that game and was listed as "probable" to play against Boston Saturday night, suggesting the injury is still an issue despite the stellar play his return back.

We want to emphasize that, just because Gambling911.com is unaware of these bet stipulations provided at the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings, etc., does not necessarily mean they aren't presented at the time of the wager.  Was Davis "required to start" for there to be action?  Inquiring minds want to know.  As of Saturday morning, FanDuel had yet to address the matter.

For example, BetOnline currently features a fun prop bet on the prior U.S. President Donald Trump to tweet "Biden" in his return to Twitter once his account is reactivated.

Trump's Twitter account has been reactivated for weeks now without a peep out of the former President.  Without specific language contained as a stipulation for the bet we might already have folks demanding payment claiming Trump has yet to tweet anything about the current President Joe Biden.

But BetOnline's prop wager is specific.  First, it stipulates the Donald Trump in question is "Senior" or "Sr".  This may seem like an obvious, but there are plenty of individuals who will point to a tweet made by his son, Donald Jr., after the re-activation took place.  They will say "look, Donald Trump tweeted about Biden after the re-activation".  It's a technicality but one many a gambler will take advantage of.

And while the prop bet is specifically worded as "To Tweet 'Biden' in Return Tweet", that alone will would suggest Trump can tweet about the current President any time for eternity and that's easy money.  The bet language, which could be considered a form of fine print or conditions that must be met, further stipulates it is to occur in "Donald Trump Sr's first tweet after it is reactivated". 

Say Trump Sr. makes his first tweet January 2, 2024, the bet is still good.  That's because the former President's Twitter account had been activated prior to December 31, 2023 as stipulated in the fine print.  There is no mention of any deadline as to when the actual tweet could take place.

Gambling911 was not privy to any fine print contained within either the Luka Doncic or Antonio Davis prop wagers, assuming any such language existed. 

Some sports bettors have taken to Reddit to call those frustrated over FanDuel's decision not to refund Luka Doncic prop bets as "PrizePicks Cry Babies".  The jab is in regard to a new hybrid daily fantasy sports site that many see as a sort of poor man's type of sportsbook.  PrizePicks itself claims to offer a "contest" model, not one involving sports betting per se.

Long time sports bettors have taken to Twitter to pronounce "you reap what you sow".  FanDuel and similar sites offering these types of marketing gimmicks are now dealing with the consequences.

A petition has been put out demanding the Luka prop bets be refunded, though as of Saturday morning, the signature count is having a tough time betting over the 250 hump.

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com