Live data from Hacker News

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

espn.com

171–180 of 232 posts

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

#171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

It seems like a bit of a stretch to assume the idioms someone uses can reliably indicate their moral character. As with anything, granting people the most charitable interpretation of their actions can go a long way. Is the person using the term gyping actually showing their hatred for the gypsies? It's not impossible, but that's not a very charitable interpretation of their actions

damn I looked at your profile!

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

#172

Yeah, a quick read of the relevant regs tells me Fanduel is gonna lose this one (Unless i've missed something)[1,2] The law on this is pretty clear, and they can't unilaterally decide not to apply the gaming regulations of the state, or change them through their contracts. (They can decide not to do business in states they don't like the regulations of course) BTW, somewhat hilariously, the part they "..."'d is just…

I wouldn't trust a surface reading of one section of the regulations, unless you're a lawyer with specific expertise in New Jersey gambling law and precedent.

There could easily be other offsetting law, regulation, or precedent. There might have been a prior decision which effectively gave "written approval" to void future egregious odds/payout errors. There may have been "prior written approval" of the house rules allowing recision.

Regulators & the industry have a converging interest in a predictable business, without "gotchas", and with precedents that protect against other potential larger future errors.

I would bet even-money that Mr. Price, the bettor, is never paid the full $82,610, either as a private settlement or at the direction of any regulator or court.

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

#173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I worked for a betting company for a bit, and they actually liked people who were great at betting. They get flagged along with the sport/league they are good at, and the traders used these people to adjust their lines. If someone bets and wins often on a specific sport/league, and they make a big bet for it that doesn't really make sense, maybe the line is wrong or that person knows something everyone else doesn't.

That's why I'm very suspicious of Paddy Power's ownership of betfair. They won't ban people there because their angle is as a broker working earning commission but they do potentially gain insider knowledge that they can then apply in their conventional business.

"Insider knowledge" isn't illegal and they couldn't care less what the outcome is. They make money by attracting customers who aren't sophisticated. If they want to know what the "right" price is, they just look at the Asian books (they don't employ people to help predict outcomes either).

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

#175
post #6

Owned by Paddy Power. Not surprised they are welching on the bet, they make a great play on what good sports they are in their advertising but will ban you if you show signs of not being a complete mug.

That is the business model. How do you think they make money?If you want to bet in volume at better prices, use exchanges or an Asian book. But their business model is to spend a lot on marketing to attract unsophisticated customers and make it back on bad prices.

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

#176
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, because as has happened before, the developers just go "oops, we made a mistake in the smart contract" and nullify the gains of anybody who profited off of it.

That was only possible because the miners have united. It's not going to be that easy in the future or on a larger chain (e.g. Bitcoin).

"non centralized block chains" and other hilarious jokes you can tell yourself

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

#177

Surprised at most of the comments here. If the line error had been for $82,000,000 would you have expected them to honor it as well? Whenever there's doubt side with the customer but this was such an obvious error that any reasonable better would have realized it. Had the better lost the money I'm pretty confident they would have refunded the bet as well (since the bets were voided).

Yes. How is it different from the software error that led to $440 million loss for Knight Capital Group (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_Capital_Group#2012_stoc...)? I bet they would love to cancel the trades they executed and get a refund as well.

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

#178
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The price sticker is an advertisement, not a binding contract. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invitation_to_treat

A lot of places have consumer protection laws about price signage and labeling which take precedence over contract law.

I was under the impression that this was the case in America and Australia as well, but it's possible it is only true for the UK.

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

#179
post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most adults are fine with hearing, "hey that word comes from a bigoted place" and replying, "oh I had no idea, I'll try to use a different word in the future."

That sounds like a very odd conversation between two adults to me. Sounds more like a mother teaching her child. The word welch is fine, the fact that it has historical origins makes the word even more interesting. It's survived until now and we're no more enlightened than previous generations who also used it. In fact thinking we are, as we do, is one of the conceits every period seems to have.

There are many ethnic and racial slurs that were used in previous generations - that doesn't mean they are acceptable today. Surely you don't use some of the examples drfuchs gave even though they were once common place.

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

#180

Surprised at most of the comments here. If the line error had been for $82,000,000 would you have expected them to honor it as well? Whenever there's doubt side with the customer but this was such an obvious error that any reasonable better would have realized it. Had the better lost the money I'm pretty confident they would have refunded the bet as well (since the bets were voided).

> Whenever there's doubt side with the customer but this was such an obvious error that any reasonable better would have realized it.

But, essentially every bet is exactly the bettor assessing that the odds represent an assessment of the likelihood of an event that is wrong; from the bettor’s position gross errors of the market (the other bettors whose actions are the input to odds-setting) that they should mercilessly exploit are indistinguishable from gross errors of the aggregation system which you suggest they should not.

Especially with a human-in-the-loop system for taking bets, the protection for the oddsmaker should be that their agent refuse to accept bets when there is such an “obvious(ly attributable to the odds-setting mechanism) error”.

Post reply on HN