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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

#151
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Care to clarify?

They're old racist terms against Welsh and Romani people

Oh! I never knew that. But it seems obvious now that you point this out.

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

#152
post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more like - dealer sold you the car for $19.95, then came after you and demanded the rest $19k because of the error.

Reminds me of the story from SparkFun's founder where a nightly currency conversion batch process failed and set all prices to $0. If you had ever bought anything from them before I believe they honoured the purchase and sent out the order for free. If you were a first timer I guess you were S.O.L.

Seems reasonable to keep good faith customers happy while rejecting those who wanted to pile on.

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

#153
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.

There is no consumer protection there. No method to deal with contracts that are already mistaken.

Moreover, the best way I can think of to deal with mistakes in a smart-contract is escrow in something like a 2 out of 3 multi-signature wallet. This essentially elevates the third-party handling escrow to an arbiter. It seems like the kind of thing we'd want to be run by actual courts. Yet, having smart-contracts with build in ability of courts to revert seems to defeat most of the purpose.

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

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if there was another zero on there? How about 8 more zeroes? Still think they should need to honor the bet? They offered him $500 and tickets to a game, I think he is getting greedy.

What if the situation were reversed, and I bought a wager only due to the fat fingering of my calculator, or I mistook one team for another or just had a brain fart. Wouldn't it then be reasonable for them to give a refund?

A part to consider is whether the other party knew or should have known of a mistake.

It's not reasonable for FanDuel to assume a mistake there. However, if a customer purchased a bet on a game that had already happened it would be reasonable to assume a mistake had been made.

Mistakes happen and the law of contracts deals with them.

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

#155
post #80

You might want to reconsider using “welching” in this context. And don’t change it to “gyping”, either.

I'm fine with welching, thanks, been using it since long before anyone suggested to me it might have origins such as you infer. In fact since you're the first person I've known to be offended by it, then unless you're Welsh, I suggest you take a break from virtue signalling, it's really boring. Never heard the term gyping until you mentioned it though.

Sure, back when I was a kid, both were in common usage, and I used them freely and unknowingly into adulthood. So, I was quite taken aback to belatedly learn of their etymology three decades ago.

I'm happy to hear your data point that "gyp" may already have fallen into disuse; or did you mean that you now intend to start using it now to signal your non-PC-ness? If so, others that I recall hearing in childhood but not lately, which you might also consider adopting, include: "indian-giver" (one who reneges), "jewing down" (bargaining excessively), "n....r work" (which seemed to mean "hanging around and not working" back in the day, but now Urban Dictionary has it as "easy, repetitive work").

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

#156

It's a nice reminder to stay away from the gambling industry. Any company that doesn't play by the same rules as you, doesn't deserve your business. Try voiding a bet you made due to your algorithm error once. I'm sure they would just laugh.

I had my account closed by a major betting site shortly after winning (and withdrawing) a few hundred euro, multiplying the original stake by around 10x in a series of bets.

These companies operate completely arbitrarily, and they really hate winners of course.

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

#158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hedge funds seem to automate things in an environment where certain bugs are existentially threatening. They hire doctors of math and get their code correct. It's not impossible, just expensive.

Right. If you make system creation more expensive, the house needs to collect more juice. I think most sports betting consumers here prefer the current, lower cost, more diverse system with a slightly higher error rate. I'd reckon most people complaining here don't even bet on sports, but want to grandstand against bookies. I can understand that I guess.

I'm not going to comment on moral or legal responsibilities of bookies and gambling companies, because I am uneducated on both subjects, but I found your use of the term "collect more juice" really interesting. It seems odd to relate pulling revenue from fruit to pulling revenue from people's incorrect bets. Is that an industry term?

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

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm fine with welching, thanks, been using it since long before anyone suggested to me it might have origins such as you infer. In fact since you're the first person I've known to be offended by it, then unless you're Welsh, I suggest you take a break from virtue signalling, it's really boring. Never heard the term gyping until you mentioned it though.

Sure, back when I was a kid, both were in common usage, and I used them freely and unknowingly into adulthood. So, I was quite taken aback to belatedly learn of their etymology three decades ago. I'm happy to hear your data point that "gyp" may already have fallen into disuse; or did you mean that you now intend to start using it now to signal your non-PC-ness? If so, others that I recall hearing in childhood but not…

One thing we can be sure of is that trying to direct the language people use is a sure fire way to provoke a reaction. That goes for your ridiculous request for me to not use the word welch in the sense that i used it. If it had an association with the Welsh people that's long since been lost and I say that as someone who's lived on the border with Wales.
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