What did I do wrong?

[randyrohm]

Last night I was shopping and playing steam when the Atl/Pitt total started moving up. I played the over at a low limit book and kept looking. At one of my outs, that I will not name, the line was still 10 -13 and I went to play it. I had entered 330 to win 300, but when the bet came back to be finalized it read 130 to win 1000, it had adjusted the bet to their $1000 limit. This appeared to be an obvious error, which I assumed should have been 10o130. I finalized the bet checked the feed and saw the number still climbing. At this point there were no more 10's out there, just 10'over or 11s. I thought I would only be allowed action for 130 to win 100 with my"bad line" bet so made a 125$ parlay of Pitt+129 and over10. After that wager which also showed a ridiculous payout of $2363. I called the book to tell them of the snafu. When the sportsbook mgr answered the phone and I told him my username he lamblasted me as a thief and an a$$. He said he was cancelling the 2 "bad line" wagers and the other bets I had made would be honored, but my account would be closed the next day. I told him he had to be joking, I know the lines are bad I just want the wager at the right #. He didn't believe me. Anyway I have not been able to sleep tonight and would like opinions if I could have done things differently. I could care less about whether the plays won or lost, just my reputation. At the time I called to discuss the plays the game was about 5 minutes old. Surely by now everyone knows that you don't get paid on such clearly badlines.

[JPet]

Randy - everyone's behavior is appropriate in this case. The mgr thought you we trying to "rob" them by betting an obvious bad line therefore he was upset. If that was not the case then your reputation is not tarnished by this incident. Therefore, everyone is RIGHT and nothing needs to be done. You BOTH need to move on with life and drop this subject.

[sportshobby]

rr, as you've described it there's NO WAY that this sportsbook manager's actions were appropriate. If you wanted to steal from them, you wouldn't be calling to point out the error to them. Instead, you would just wait and see if the system gave you these credits, then complain the next day if not.

This guy showed a lack of class.

Now my hunch is, that you've been sharp with your plays and beat them to a lot of numbers. This guy's probably been growling to himself about you (and others) for a long time. This was probably a (bad) excuse for giving you the boot.

We'd sure like to know which book it is, even if you wait until after you get your money.

[Fred]

Keen to hear which book too?

[This message has been edited by Fred (edited 06-14-2000).]

[yomonte]

Randy did the right thing, I wanted to make a wager on dale jr but the line read dale SR on one match up and dale sr (is small letters)on the other. The match up was supposed to be Jr and it was a bet I would have won. I called to make them aware of this because you don't win on their mistake. some times it helps but it never hurts. if you like a bet and you know its wrong, sometimes you have time to correct it and still win.

[bighands]

randy.......you must be winning with this clown. their error was also their way of throwing you out.you did the right thing. i would try to keep my account open with them and hammer them just to make his life miserable...they cry when they lose...good luck.

[Dukey]

Books that rip people and accuse them of being cheaters have little or no class/professionalism.

It is not the job of the bettor to ensure that all lines, times, dates, etc... are correct.

Sportsbooks have to realize the importance of putting up the proper lines, times, and dates.

"We put up so many lines", is not a valid excuse, but nonetheless is used by so many sportsbooks. Well, hire more staff, have a system in place to double-check everything, etc... Sportsbooks don't do enough to ensure
that these mistakes don't happen. Sure, there is always human error, but when the frequency of mistakes stays the same, or sometimes even gets worse, then obviously this is not an area of great concern to sportsbooks. They always "reserve the right to cancel wagers", and we all know about the Sportsfanatik fiasco.

The most unprofessional thing a sportsbook can do is harrass, and accuse bettors of trying to take advantage of their mistakes. First of all, there are bettors who honestly bet a game, not knowing that something was wrong with it. Secondly, the MISTAKE WAS THAT OF THE SPORTBOOK'S, so instead of ripping the bettor, they should be apologizing to the bettor for their mistake, and the inconvenience that it may have caused them. Gee, let me make a mistake, and then blame other people for it. That is exactly what the sportsbook was doing when they ripped into you, randyrohm.

Any sportsbook that treats me like that would receive an immediate request for withdrawal of all my funds, or I would try hard as hell to exact revenge by winning money from them.

I know of a sportsbook that will give you a free $50 parlay should you bet a bad line. This sportsbook realizes that THEY MADE THE MISTAKE, and because they had to cancel your bet, are willing to compensate you for it. They simply ask that should you see another bad line, that you inform them, and that they would give you another free parlay for doing so. That is a classy example of a sportsbook owning up to its mistakes.

What this sportsbook did to you Randyrohm is on the other end of the spectrum, and something that should not happen or be tolerated.

[This message has been edited by Dukey (edited 06-14-2000).]

[AussieVamp2]

no matter how many staff or checkers you have, mistakes are going to happen - so your management should have a plan for that - i.e. how to be nice