Penn National Requests Massachusettes Void 257 Bets Amounting to $47.8K at Barstool Sportsbook

Call it tone deaf or something else.  Barstool Sportsbook is about to transition into ESPN Bet but that's not stopping parent company Penn National from building some incredibly bad will with existing and future customers.

The Barstool Sportsbook brand currently operates in only a handful of US states, Massachusetts among them.

A number of Barstool Sportsbook and theScore Bet customers had their live bets on the Giants-Cardinals game Sunday voided after initially being counted as wins. 

Live player props for Giants vs. Cardinals did not change from their closing numbers in what appeared to be a software error.

Some states where the site operates appear to allow for Penn to void bets without prior notice (Indiana apparently), Massachusetts does not.

Covers.com reporter Geoff Zochodne tweeted out the letter to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission.  The issue affects more gamblers than initially believed as these numbers pertain specifically to the commonwealth of Massachusetts.

"Sheesh, Penn Sports Interactive (the operator of Barstool Sportsbook and the future ESPN Bet) is asking the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to void 257 wagers amounting to $47,759.94 on player prop markets for the already-concluded NY Giants-Arizona Cardinals NFL game last weekend. PSI is saying a "technical data breakdown issue" with an odds provider is the main reason why that happened. Also, a lot of wagering. TBD if MGC approves request."

Sheesh, Penn Sports Interactive (the operator of Barstool Sportsbook and the future ESPN Bet) is asking the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to void 257 wagers amounting to $47,759.94 on player prop markets for the already-concluded NY Giants-Arizona Cardinals NFL game last… pic.twitter.com/L4QucYRGMd

— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) September 21, 2023

The actual statement:

"Penn Sports Interactive ("PSI") has submitted a request to void wagers after becoming aware of wagers placed on markets on outcomes that had already concluded.  A total of 257 wagers were placed on these impacted markets by a total of 59 customers for a grand total of $47,759.94.

On September 19, 2023, at approximately 11:20 ET, PSI informed the Sports Wagering Division of the incident and provided a full detailed report and the request to void on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, at approximately 11:00 ET."

We need to stop for a moment and let that sink in.  Penn notified Massachusetts officials a full three days after the "error" occurred that they would like to void bets?

The statement continues: "Discussion: On Sunday, September 17, 2023, at approximately 19:00 ET, PSI became aware of wagers that had been placed on NFL player prop markets on outcomes that had already concluded in the New York Giants vs. Arizona Cardinals NFL game.  A total of 10 different market types with a total of 14 different market names were left open for approximately 90 minutes after the outcome had already concluded."

And whose fault was that?

There is one slight problem with Penn National's request:  Their software is supposed to have passed excruciating testing to show it is compliant.  Software that is screwing up during games is hardly compliant.

Void the bets, void Penn National's license maybe.  The idea that this software is allowed to be licensed in the first place is the real issue here. 

Last month the Virginia Lottery ruled favorably in pressuring BetMGM to pay a Special Ed teacher whose bets they cancelled eight hours after an event had concluded.  The parlay bets were graded as a $215,000 win.  BetMGM had failed to notify the Lottery and they were unaware of the brewing controversy until Gambling911.com notified them.

Massachusetts commissioners have sided with Penn National in this case but warned they won't be as sympathetic to the company should they continue offering these types of props and such an incident were to reoccur.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com