Post Time error and the right thing to do.....

[freak]

Well here it is 130 am edt, and the lines are up for overnight baseball.

I checked with Post Time and they have the following game posted.

Arizona -113 Oakland + 103....

Which is the same line for Colorado/Anaheim

I tried calling them and got no answer, so I did the best next thing, I e-mailed them.

This is a book that has never returned any of my e-mails on bad lines etc etc....

Perhaps this time......

Nope I won't bet it, I am not a thief....

Will advise if they respond for once .....

Let's see how many people try to beat them on that posted #.....

FREAK

[Segundo]

How do you know it is a bad number? What if there are people out there that have no idea what the market is on that game? Should they be punished for betting it? You and I know that it is a bad number, but does Post Time know that we know, or are they going to think for us and say, "he should have known, let's give him the boot". Are there really no square players out there any more that books expect all of their players to know what the market is on a game? You did the right thing buddy, but what about the player who had no idea, should he be crucified like these so many incompetant bookmakers would like?

[freewilly]

freak: i also e-mailed post time at 11:30 last nite re: bad line (+103)on a's. no reply, but i notice the current line is -150.

what percentage of people use only one book? certainly everyone has access to "market" price. carib & olympic, for example, linked from here have overnite lines to compare.

i believe the sportbook must assume that the player "knows" it's a bad line.

this line was off by 53c. but what about a line that's off 15c, is that "obvious"?

in my opinion, that is the "gray area". when does a discrepancy become "obvious"?

freewilly

[AussieVamp2]

15c can't possibly be obvious with how baseball numbers move

[Post Time Marketing]

We would like to thank all of our customers who notified us that the line posted last night was posted wrong.

Most of our customers don't take advantage of an obvious error but allow us the opportunity to correct it. We appreciate that honesty and have found that the majority of our players are aware of what the line should be in any given event. With all of the information available to customers and the fact that many people do have multiple accounts the average customer is aware of what a line should be within a small range.

All of the emails have been answered at this time. It was a human error that we apologize for and ask for your understanding in this matter.

Many thanks,

Post Time Customer Service

[Chillin-the-Most]

Segundo,
How is a player being crucified by being given "NO ACTION" on a bad line bet?
Rich

[reno]

That line was not off by much. Last time I looked, Oakland was -170 at Belize. What's 73 cents?

[Chillin-the-Most]

Yeah Reno,
You can't even get long distance for that.

[freewilly]

the player gets crucified when he has bet the other side elsewhere, providing a scalping opportunity, then is notified that the one side ia a "no bet". now he's naked on the other side in a bet he had ONLY because of the opportunity to scalp.

for example in this case you like the a's. you see that they're +103??? at one book and -150 at another. instead of betting a's at +103 and having the bet cancelled because of the mistake, you bet on arizona at +140 creating a "no lose" situation until your a's bet is voided. now you're stuck with a bet on az when you really like the oak.


again the question is - what is "obvious"?
is it the customer's responsibility to "know" what the "value" is?

if you go into a department store, supermarket, etc. and they have the wrong price marked on the merchandise, 9 times out of 10 they honor the wrong price.

the books have a responsibility to make sure the events are "priced" correctly. someone had suggested paying a clerk $5/hr to "proofread" the prices and "compare" them to the competition for reasonableness. i think that is a reasonable solution. mistakes do happen. that can't be stopped. but who should bear the responsibility for those mistakes - the seller or the consumer?

[Chillin-the-Most]

Freewilly,
You gave me the exact response I was looking for.(would've preffered it came from Segundo) The only way a guy gets crucified is if he is scalping, in which case he knows what the price should be. He doesn't need Don Best at $500.00 a month to know it either. Now, on to your point. Who's responsible? NO ONE. Everybody is going to make mistakes and no $5.00/hr clerk is going to stop them. If you are going to arbitrage then you must do it responsible. The rules are posted at every book, and almost without exception they all state that human error constitutes "NO ACTION." Now, what is obvious is determined by me the BM. If you do not trust your BM to be fair regarding the posting of bad lines, how can you trust him with your money. Especially if you are scalping which means you probably have at least ten dimes with this guy. The rule is not written to aid the BM. It is written to protect the BM from fraud.
Rich

[This message has been edited by Chillin-the-Most (edited 07-07-2000).]

[This message has been edited by Chillin-the-Most (edited 07-07-2000).]

[SLAM DUNK]

Chillin, what happens if the player bets the game, goes to bed, goes to work the next day, finds out the game won and he logs on and sees NO ACTION. Not to fair is it? Not every player has a Dons Best screen(though now that is free, they certainly should), not every player is sophisticated enough to recognize an obvious error. I understand that the rule is to protect the book from obvious fraud, (Player who bets a dollar a game, suddenly bets a dime) but there is some very grey area in between. Why don't the books have an employee check their lines relative to the competition on DON'S BEST. What does it take, a MINUTE?. Take SOME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN ACTIONS.

[Railbird]

60 cents discrepency equals 3pts in football,no doubt it is not even close post time should honor the line.

[Dot Mix]

Slam dunk and Willy

Agree with you 100% on this one. Excellent point Willy. The only people that are totally insulated from a disaster is the sportsbook----the very person who puts up the "bad line" . All he needs to do is say..."No action------line error", and he doesn't even have to do that til he's good and ready.

"Post Time" comes in and thanks ALL the loyal people who notified them of their obvious error and blows smoke up the players butts acknowledging how well educated and smart we are today, and we're aware of most everything going on and how nice it was to pick up their error and that most everyone really knows when it's a mistake because we're so highly sophisticated. Yeah sure ----puff up and feel good about that wonderful compliment that pays tribute to not our astuteness, but to our egos and ultimately our own stupidity. I don't think any player out here should be playing linesmaker for the bookies unless it's an ass-backwards line. Other than that let them be accountable. Why should we get involved with correcting what might not even originally been considered a wrong number by the linesmaker who posted it.

Dot

[freak]

I received a tidy little e-mail same as the one posted here. Here's my take....

Yes I have multiple multiple outs, last night I was tired I checked Post Time first, I thought Oak + 103 at home too good to be true...... Hit the button to place the bet and thought... no way this is right let me go check elsewhere....

Saw it was -150 to -160 elsewhere, I never thought to place the bet. I did what I thought was right by calling and say hey....

No answer so I e-mailed them, although my e-mail was a litle bitchy over previous non responses.

I have a nice sum of money there so what if I did bet it, and it was a normal play not some high bombing bet... and I didnt check elsewhere, I come home and see your account is closed with us.....

I would have no recourse, so I did what I felt was right.... Please note they said "MOST" players do the right thing....

Perhaps I am nieve but it is obvious some bet it, and what happened to those bets....

What if noone contacts PT about bad lines anymore ????

As stated earlier we are not the BM cover all, but damn do they have us in a box....

In the old days you call the guy on the corner he gives you that line, you bet it, at closing time for him... HE sin't calling you telling you hey sorry I F'D up your line should be..... They ate it and hoped you lost... After all for example it cost them $3 on the win side for you and cost them $50-60 on the loss side.......on a $100 bet

Maybe it's just me but the nonchalant attitude rubbed me wrong.....

Opinions ?

[chestrockwells]

You see Freak, this is what I don't understand about you. After I saw your post last night I was trying to figure out what the purpose of your post was. Clearly you must have realized that by posting a number of things would happen.
1. They would automatically cancel all bets on Oakland in the morning.
2. A number of people would e-mail them looking for some favor/reward.
3. More people than usual would try to take advantage of the number.
So I don't get it. Was the whole point here to show everyone that Post-time hadn't replied to e-mails from you? So now you feel a bit unsatisfied by there response. What did you expect? Do you realize how much extra work and bs you caused them by posting in a public forum?
Has this happenned before at Post-Time. Sure, in fact a couple of times earlier this season. Were all bets automatically cancelled? Nope. Did they honor bets even though it was clearly off and for the 2K overnight limit. Maybe yes maybe no. Unlike Freak, I don't need to put the book into an indefensible position. Despite what many people may think, there isn't that much overnight betting. So the book has the choice to accept or reject the small number of plays in the morning........on a case by case basis. By posting in a public forum, Freak artificially increased their risk and exposure and at the same time focused unnecessary attention on their mistake. Why? I have no idea.