New Jersey regulators chose bettor over book this week by requiring FanDuel Sportsbook to pay out on another pricing error.

FanDuel Sportsbook again found major media attention after a pricing issue, which was first reported by ESPN. And again, just like in 2018, one of the country’s biggest sportsbook operators has to pay up on a mistake.

In a statement issued on Friday, FanDuel said: “Today, the Division of Gaming Enforcement ruled that a total of 10 online customers and one retail customer who placed wagers on erroneous soccer markets should be paid out after an investigation into a new bet type that was installed by a vendor incorrectly resulted in erroneous lines being. (k) No wagering ticket shall be voided after the start of the wagering event on which a wager has been placed Another reason the could not have voided it. Essentially the best argument they have is that it's a house rule under 13:69N2-2. This only works if their internal controls were approved by the division. FanDuel says its system should have calculated his odds at 1-6, meaning a bettor would have to wager $600 in order to win $100. Prince bet $110 on the Broncos but was stopped when he went to collect from FanDuel's betting window at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) provided a statement about its rules Friday:

“DGE’s general policy is to not automatically void wagers when errors occur on the part of sports wagering operators. Although operators are free to request that those wagers be voided after patrons have placed bests, DGE treats those requests on a case-by-case basis.

“This practice encourages operators to have appropriate controls in place to avoid offering erroneous sports wagers, and they reinforce the integrity of sports wagering in New Jersey and confidence in the industry by the public.”

FanDuel pins error on third party

Fanduel Voided Bet Odds

FanDuel issued a statement to the media following the NJ sports betting decision:

“Today, the [Division of Gaming Enforcement] ruled that a total of 10 online customers and one retail customer who placed wagers on erroneous soccer markets should be paid out after an investigation into a new bet type that was installed by a vendor incorrectly resulted in erroneous lines being made available to customers.

“FanDuel Sportsbook appreciates the DGE looking into this matter on our behalf. We regret that this error happened, believe it is important for customers to know that there is a review process for these issues, and thank the DGE for their collaboration in the matter.

“Customers impacted will receive their winnings in their online accounts immediately and our retail customer has been contacted to come into the Meadowlands to receive his winnings.”

The statement covers new ground in blaming the error on an outside vendor. That appears to differ from the 2018 situation.

Recapping FanDuel Sportsbook palp

The palpable error, a term used in Europe for an obvious pricing mistake, occurred a month ago with an MLS game, although soccer games from numerous leagues were in question.

FanDuel listed FC Cincinnati at +5 goals (-134) against Atlanta United. It remains unclear if the pricing error should have been shorter on the spread or the odds.

But the timing of this mistake was a bit different than the 2018 pricing mistake, which involved NFL betting. The 2018 mistake was up for mere seconds while this time, the line was listed for about a day, according to sources.

According to ESPN, the bets on the incorrect line would pay out more than $100,000.

No forced payouts in Indiana

New Jersey isn’t the only state where FanDuel Sportsbook took action on the incorrect line. But it is the only state where it’s being forced to pay the bets.

The Indiana Gaming Commission allows sportsbook operators to cancel bets on obvious pricing mistakes. According to Indiana’s sports wagering statute:

A certificate holder or vendor may not cancel a wager that has been accepted, except in the event of obvious error, at the certificate holder’s or vendor’s discretion.

But while the bets were successfully canceled, that doesn’t mean the issue is over. The Indiana Gaming Commission’s compliance committee is investigating the issue for potential action, Executive Director Sara Gonso Tait said.

Did FanDuel bring this on themselves?

Paying out on this New Jersey sports betting mistake might be FanDuel’s fault in the first place.

Back in 2018, FanDuel wasn’t necessarily forced to pay out on its mistake. It was after calls with the DGE – and a bunch of bad PR – that FanDuel paid on the bets.

FanDuel’s statement at the time suggested the sportsbook would work to educate bettors on palps in case it happened again:

“We want FanDuel to be a sportsbook for all bettors, and we want sports betting to be fun. So, this one’s on the house. We are paying out these erroneous tickets and wish the lucky customers well. Going forward, we are working with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement to improve our processes and procedures. We will also work with others in the industry on educating bettors on these and similar instances and how they work.”

Most bets you place online will follow the standard process and pass without fuss; however, from time to time something out of the ordinary may happen that could leave you puzzled as to how your bet will settle or why it has been calculated a certain way. Bets can be voided for a range of reasons and we look at what some of those could be and how this affects any bets you’ve placed, especially accumulators or multiples.

First, however, let us simply explain what a void bet is. A void bet is one that is essentially cancelled, made null and void as if it had never been placed in the first place, and whilst you don’t win anything, you don’t lose anything either, with your stake being returned in full to your account.

One exception to this may be when the initial bet has been placed using bonus funds or is a free bet. Technically you may lose the free bet if it is a void, although contact the bookmaker and they may well reinstate your bonus or freebie. Similarly, void bets will not count as a qualifying bet in order to earn a free bet, nor as part of the wagering for bonuses that have such terms.

Why Might a Bet be Void?

As said, bets can be voided for a range of reasons and whilst the list below isn’t exhaustive it certainly covers the vast majority of possible scenarios.

• Match/Event Postponed – whether it’s football, golf or horse racing, there is always an outside chance the event you bet on could be postponed to a later date. The most likely cause of this is bad weather, with waterlogged or frozen tracks, pitches and courses a particular problem in winter.
• Event Abandoned – this scenario is less likely but similar, with a contest starting but not reaching its conclusion. Weather is again a common culprit, but other possible explanations include crowd problems or a team having too many players injured or dismissed for the event to play on.
• Non-runner/Injured – especially in horse racing, if your selection withdraws before the race starts it will be a non-runner and the bet is usually voided, whilst injuries in sports such as golf, tennis, and boxing could lead to a void bet. In football, bets placed on the first scorer market are void if your player starts on the bench and comes on after the first goal has been scored, or doesn’t come on at all.
• Rules – bookies may void a bet within their own rules if an event is changed in a certain way. The event/match may still go ahead, but bets may no longer stand if, for example, a cricket match is reduced in overs, a tennis match takes place on a different surface or there is a change of pitcher in baseball. These rules will be clearly detailed by the bookmaker in the rules section for the given sport.
• Error – occasionally a betting site may leave a market “live” when it has already started or make some other obvious error and the law and their rules allow them to void such bets.

Could Bets on a Void Event Still Stand?

It’s worth noting that there are lots of further “ifs” and “buts” attached to the above, such that the events outlined previously will not always lead to a void bet. For example, in tennis, betting sites have different rules regarding player injury, with some sites treating a bet as live as soon as a ball is served but others only if the match is completed and yet others depending on how many games or sets have been played. As such, if a player retires in the second set and you have bet on him to win the match, depending on the rules of the bookie that bet could be void, meaning you get your stake back, or you could lose, as the other player is deemed to have won.

Similarly, whilst certain bets may be void, usually a bookmaker will allow bets that have effectively already settled to stand, even if the overall game/match is abandoned/made void. In our tennis example above, for example, bets on who will win the first set might stand, whilst bets on the match could be voided. Another example like this might include a football match that is abandoned after 40 minutes, with bets that have already settled, such as first goalscorer (if there has been a goal) standing, whilst other bets such as last scorer, half time markets and full time markets, will be void.

With regards abandonments and postponements, it’s also worth being aware that these will not always be classed as void bets. Bookies will have different terms and conditions so always check with whichever site you placed your bet, but usually if a game or event is re-played or re-scheduled within a certain timeframe, original bets will stand. This is often 72 hours, meaning that more often than not bets are indeed void but occasionally bets will stand on the re-organised contest.

What Happens If a Bet Is Void in an Accumulator?

In the case of singles it’s clear that a void bet is a void bet and you’ll get your stake back, but what happens when a void selection forms part of a larger acca or multiple bet? Usually the void selection is just disregarded, such that a fourfold acca with one void leg simply becomes a treble, a treble becomes a double and a double just stands as a single.

Fanduel Voided Bet Poker

This, as with a single void bet, is quite straightforward and the only grey area concerns accumulators placed on special enhanced odds markets, for example if you bet on a “trebles and up” coupon and your initial treble then becomes a double. In this instance you will normally be paid at the standard odds for your double but as with any query, if in doubt, just contact the bookie for an explanation.

Finally, with regards bets placed on Lucky 15s, Lucky 31s and Lucky 63s, these will be handled in the same was as an accumulator. As such, a Lucky 31 with one void leg effectively becomes a Lucky 15, with the single stake and all associated multiple stakes returned to your account.

Void Bets & Accumulator Offers

The main way in which you could be negatively affected by a void bet is where you placed an accumulator in conjunction with some kind of offer such as acca insurance were you’re given a refund of your stake (usually as a free bet or bonus funds) if only one of your bets loses in an accumulator.

Usually these insurance offers require a minimum number of legs to qualify for the promotion – so you might need to place an accumulator with five or more legs to be eligible. In this scenario a voided bet will reduce the number of legs in your acca – so a five fold with one void leg becomes a four fold, and as such is no longer eligible for the promotion.

There’s little that can be done after the fact about this, and you will just have to accept that if three legs win out of your fivefold, one leg has been made void and one is settled as a loss then you will not receive the insurance.

Fanduel Voided Betting

With this in mind, if you think there’s a strong chance that a leg of your acca could be called off due to poor weather, or be otherwise voided, then either don’t include it in the accumulator, or also include an additional leg that you’re fairly confident of winning to give you a bit of extra insurance on your insurance!