Sports Betting Ticket
In 2018, the American Gaming Assn. Projected the four major North American sports leagues could make as much as $4.2 billion per year from sports betting, including $1.1 billion per year for MLB. Mar 22, 2020 Sports Betting Posted By Juan Carlos Blanco on March 22, 2020 - Last Updated on March 26, 2020 By its very definition, the impact of a pandemic is extremely pervasive.
By its very definition, the impact of a pandemic is extremely pervasive.
Naturally, the most critical area it touches is individual health. But there’s a virtually endless domino effect such a scenario has on countless aspects of everyday life. As we’ve seen over the last 24 hours, that certainly includes favorite pastimes. And the money some like to stake on them.
And while it’s rightfully considered trivial to those dealing with life/death circumstances, there are potentially deep financial ramifications in the sports betting world as a result of the increasing amount of cancellations/suspensions of regular-season and tournament play.
Futures bettors left in limbo
With the immediate future of no less than the NBA regular season in question due to the coronavirus outbreak – as well as that of multiple major college basketball tournaments, including March Madness, the pause on the NHL season and the reported imminent postponement of the start of MLB campaign – the many bettors holding futures tickets for these events certainly can’t help but wonder what happens to their open wagers.
TheLines.com reached out to several major sportsbooks Thursday regarding their plan of action for these contingencies. Unsurprisingly, on a day when the cavalcade of cancellations that began with the NBA’s Wednesday night announcement of its suspension of play is still in full force, sportsbooks are still evaluating how they’ll handle the situation.
Representatives from both FanDuel Sportsbook and PointsBet confirmed they were in wait-and-see mode and wouldn’t yet speculate on what they consider truly unprecedented territory.
DraftKings Sportsbook was also contacted for comment, which was pending at the time of this writing.
No direct precedent for coronavirus-related disruption
The most recent and perhaps closest comparative situation – albeit on a considerably smaller scale –could be last year’s Alliance of American Football’s (AAF) truncated inaugural season.
Sports Betting Ticket Redemption
The AAF famously and abruptly suspended operations after eight weeks last season when majority owner Tom Dundon pulled the plug. Both FanDuel and PointsBet paid out any AAF Championship futures bets that had been placed on the Orlando Apollos, since Steve Spurrier’s team had the league’s best record at the time. Tickets on all other teams were refunded.
Needless to say, AAF handle is dwarfed by that regularly seen on the games run by leagues and conferences that have paused/canceled events over the last 24 hours. Therefore, such a solution is fiscally impossible.
Sportsbooks do have general guidelines for handling what could be considered a case of “force majeure”, defined, in part, as “natural and unavoidable catastrophes that interrupt the expected course of events and restrict participants from fulfilling obligations.”
Sportsbooks could take a number of different routes
Typically, in the cases of cancellations of individual sporting events – or even a block of games such as those of the canceled NCAA tournaments – tickets, be they single-game or futures, are typically refunded since the event never transpires. The potential wiping out of a season also impacts futures bets, however, and doesn’t necessarily offer as clear of a solution.
Take the case of over/under bets on regular-season win totals for paused leagues.
Over wagers on teams that already are locked into falling short of the projected win total even if a league resumed a full schedule of play could potentially be graded as losers immediately. However, given that futures wagers are typically contingent on a full league schedule being played, sportsbooks may simply have to wait to see what transpires, as a matter of following their own terms and conditions.
And, even in the unlikely event the NBA and NHL actually complete their entire regular-season schedules in delayed fashion, operators could still opt to refund what would have been losing tickets in a nod to customer goodwill.
Naturally, the same contingency could be in play for over/under futures tickets that are technically still “alive”. While a truncated schedule would technically free sportsbooks from the obligation of paying out on an Under win total bet that hits in a shortened regular season, they may make the decision to deem such tickets winners.
Sports Betting Online
It’s also important to keep in mind that bettors may not necessarily see a uniform, across-the-board response from the increasing number of regulated sportsbooks. Each operator will undoubtedly utilize individual discretion on certain decisions, depending on how circumstances with each league/event plays out.
As the rapidly unfolding chain of events stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak show, measures and solutions at the local, state and federal levels are being arrived upon in spontaneous and continuously evolving fashion.
Sportsbooks are no different when dealing with the impact on their industry, but bettors should progressively gain additional clarity on their open tickets as sports leagues eventually announce their plans of action.
Introduction
Free Picks Sbr
When you make a bet in a Nevada casino you will be given a flimsy piece of paper to present if the ticket wins. It is not unusual for players to lose tickets, or forget about them until after they expire. The sports books are not required to honor either type of these kinds of problem tickets, but they almost always do.
If you lose a ticket, you should report it as soon as possible. You will be asked to fill out a form, asking for as much detail as possible to identify your exact bet in the system. If the bet is located in the system, then it will be 'locked out.' Then, if anyone tries to cash it, the machines will not accept it. If somebody else already found and cashed your ticket, you are out of luck. If you find it eventually, bring it in, and be prepared to prove your identity, and they should unlock the bet and pay you. If you never find it, and nobody else did, then after the expiration period the sports book will honor the bet.
According to Nevada Gaming Regulation 22.080, a spots bet can expire in as little as 30 days after the date of the event. If you find yourself with an expired ticket, the vast majority of the time the sports book will honor it anyway if you mail it in, per the instructions on the back of the ticket. They will have to verify that the bet really did win, because it will no longer be in the system. They may also check it against a list of lost tickets paid. In the unlikely event that the accounting department denies the ticket, I would suggest going through the chain of command in the casino, and politely ask them to honor the bet anyway. Based on personal experience, I would recommend against presenting an expired ticket in person. I think you are more likely to be denied that way.
If you do get denied, all is not lost. You might file a dispute with the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and try to get them on any technicality you can. For example, regulation 22.150 says, 'Each book shall adopt, conspicuously display at its licensed premises, and adhere to written, comprehensive house rules governing wagering transactions with patrons.' Many sports books have their rules in a small font on a sign too high to read. The Wynn's sign is a good example. I would think if the expiration period in the posted rules was not in plain view, then it wouldn't be valid. Another idea would be to find a valued patron of the casino and ask him/her to use their status as a good customer to have the expiration date overlooked. I've never heard of a valued customer being denied an expired ticket.
You should not be lazy about letting a ticket expire, counting on the casino's good faith to pay it anyway. They have to do extra paperwork for every expired ticket they pay.
The following list of sports ticket expiration policies is grouped by sports book family. If you are not sure which family a particular casino belongs to, please check my sports betting appendix 3.
Sports Ticket Expirations
| Group | Sports Ticket Expiration |
|---|---|
| Boyd/Coast | 60 days |
| Cantor | 120 days |
| Golden Nugget | 120 days |
| Harrah's | 1 year |
| Hilton | 120 days |
| Jerry's Nugget | 30 days |
| M | 120 days |
| MGM-Mirage | 120 days |
| Poker Palace | 30 days |
| South Point | 120 days |
| Station Casinos | 120 days |
| Stratosphere2 | 120 days |
| Terrible's | 120 days |
| Treasure Island | 120 days |
| William Hill | 120 days |
| Wynn | 120 days |