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FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

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Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#111
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, smart contracts give no recourse when there is an error. Whether or not that is good here, in general it is an issue. That is a large reason why we have courts.

You can program space for mistakes into your smart contract, though (e.g. no payout without final approval). Everyone would know exactly what is going to happen when.

In that case what’s the point of the smart contract in the first place?

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#112
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you bought it online you bet they would come after you.

Which is completely different than a digit falling off a window, right?

No, it isn't. It's still a mistake. A programmer could have dropped a digit just as easily as a person failed to properly tape a digit to a window.

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#113
post #55

Surely there's insurance for such errors?

Yeah this was my first thought too. My sincere hope is that the law's response is "Pay up, this is how your business works. If this kind of thing is going to be a problem for you, buy insurance for it."

If a small business was out 82k because of human error as a result of a faulty product (the algorithm in this case) that's exactly what the court would say.

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#115

And yet, you can bet that they'd collect if the error were in their favor. And they probably have. Absolutely disgusting.

I mildly disagree in the sense that what constitutes a "palpable" error is just too broad of a grey area. It would be encouraging to see FanDuel just cough up the erroneous wager (which is surely cheaper than a lawsuit) and tighten down the definition of errors in spreads to something more specific such as anything outside like 2 standard deviations within the scope of a game* *I'm not a gambler just someone who beli…

If it can be mathematically defined, then they can add that code to make that check in their system.

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#116

And yet, you can bet that they'd collect if the error were in their favor. And they probably have. Absolutely disgusting.

Disgusting? So if you see a sign on a car for sale that says $19,95 because a digit fell off, the dealer is obligated to sell it to you at that price? People and systems make mistakes, that doesn't mean it's "disgusting" that they protect themselves financially from those mistakes.

The bet was already made, the details agreed upon. In your scenario if the dealer said "Yerp, whatever's on the window is whatever you're paying" and you hand over your $20 and they accept it as payment then yes, I would expect them to honor it.

Would FanDuel void your bet if you misread the odds?

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#118

This will just add to the (necessary - don't get me wrong) tax on society that is our legal system. It's pretty obvious what should happen here because, as humans, we understand and allow for the possibilities of mistakes. Fan Duel should send him some tickets to a game, try to create a positive interaction for him, and let's move on.

> as humans, we understand and allow for the possibilities of mistakes. Yes, but corporations aren't humans. If the mistake went the other way, it likely wouldn't matter. The human would have to deal with it. I say give him the $80k+ and learn to deal with your mistakes.

> Yes, but corporations aren't humans.

Mitt Romney gave your opponents their line: "Corporations are people, my friend"

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#119

In this case the punter must have known it was an error, so it doesn't seem moral to pick up the 82k. Somehow everyone else seems to think otherwise, so maybe I'm just a sucker.

>In this case the punter must have known it was an error, so it doesn't seem moral to pick up the 82k.

If we lived in a world where companies did their best to be reasonable and fair to customers, particularly when mistakes occur, I would agree. However, considering most companies are quite hostile and willing to use any advantage they may have to maximize profits or minimize costs at the expense of customers I believe we need to act the same. If companies are going to hold us accountable and punish us for mistakes or errors to the fullest extent then we should do the same

Re: FanDuel not honoring bet that would have paid over $82,000 due to line error

#120
post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never written a bug in a system designed to earn me money and then denied responsibility for the consequences of the bug, no. That is, my argument is about how you decide responsibility, not about technical excellence.

So now it only matters in finance? No one lost anything here. It's ridiculous to expect a payout due to an error like this. You wouldn't get one at a casino if e.g. a slot machine malfunctioned. What if the payout was $500M? Should they have to pay that as well?

Actually you won't get a payout if the slot machine malfunctioned: https://vegasclick.com/games/slots/malfunctions
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