Can sportsbooks void a winning bet after the match is over?

[SportbetOne]

I was reading through some sportsbook rules regarding "Palpable Errors" and something seems a bit unfair.

If a bettor enters the wrong stake or clicks the wrong team by mistake, customer support will simply tell you: "All bets are final once confirmed."

Yet many sportsbooks reserve the right to cancel bets even after the event has finished if they claim the odds were incorrect.

I understand if someone gets odds of 20.0 instead of 2.00. That's obviously a mistake.

But what happens when the odds are just slightly off the market — say 2.20 instead of 1.95? Different sportsbooks offer different odds all the time.

And more importantly, has anyone ever seen a bookmaker void a "palpable error" bet that ended up losing? Or does the mistake only get noticed when the player wins?

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

[Charles-Tim]

With such little odd difference, that is not a mistake but a odd difference from other betting site. If it is a mistake, that is the expected value bet that some bettors are looking for. If won, there is nothing the betting site can do. The odd difference from other bookies is very little and not what will affect the bookie in any way if it is a reputed bookie.

[Sanitough]

There's one story I saw Bet voided after a loss where a losing bet was voided because of wrong odds, but that was from a big licensed casino. For crypto casinos here, I haven't seen a similar case like that, mostly when a gambler wins and there's an odds error, the bet will not be paid. I think fiat casinos and crypto casinos are just different.

the bookie was betMGM ( but this was 5 years ago).

[NewRevelation]

And more importantly, has anyone ever seen a bookmaker void a "palpable error" bet that ended up losing? Or does the mistake only get noticed when the player wins?

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

I haven't seen any of such. But it will be totally unfair if it only happens when the game is finally won. But on a second thought, of what use will it be if there is actually a mistake in the presented odds and the person eventually losses. There would be no need to talk about it if the game is already lost.

About the wrong odds, if there is a very big difference in the odds, then they can slaah and no the right payment to be made. It's somehow understandable. But I think if such mistakes happen, it shouldn't be the bettor that would bear the risk of loosing. I think the company should bear the loss since it's there fault. Just imagine staking $200 and then later @$1000, and then, after confirming your wimln, the company is now saying that it's an error in the odd and your soposed winning should be something below $500. A total nonsense. I think they should bear there loss and be more careful next time.

[danherbias07]

This has not yet happened to me since I used Stake.com years ago, and still counting. All my "Void" bets came from a game that was suspended due to weather issues, and some were because of events that happened in the place where the game would be played.
A void from a mistake by the sports bookies is very rare, and if ever they do, they should stop it before the game even starts. Not at the end. If they miss it, then I believe they should accept the consequences of either paying the players who bet on it or giving them something that will help avoid unnecessary rants and rage.

[stadus]

With such little odd difference, that is not a mistake but a odd difference from other betting site. If it is a mistake, that is the expected value bet that some bettors are looking for. If won, there is nothing the betting site can do. The odd difference from other bookies is very little and not what will affect the bookie in any way if it is a reputed bookie.

it does not fall under palpable errors, as a palpable error means an obvious mistake, so if the odds are just a little different it should not count since differences do exist, especially since not all bookies have the same odds in the market, that's why arbitrage betting exists.

However if you are a regular gambler you would notice if it's an obvious mistake or not, like if the odds are supposed to be 2x and they offer 10x, that is an obvious mistake, but if you still take it then it's not against the rules, though they should refund the bet whether it wins or loses. That's a fair casino for me.


These 2 casinos though have paid gamblers despite mistakes on odds.

• FanDuel – Paid $82,610 despite incorrect odds (2018)
• BetMGM – Paid $214,000 despite an odds error (2023)

[Sticky Bomb]

I have not experienced this, but I've heard it happens. The sportsbook should take responsibility for its shortcomings of putting out the wrong odd and not put it on the gambler. It always happens one-sided, if the gambler looses the bet they might not void it, but record it as a loss but when you win, they return your capital and avoid paying your wins. It is really an unfair practice.

In most cases I've encountered change of odds, the sportsbook doesn't even allow me to place the bet, they always notify me odds have changed and I accept the new odds to proceed.

[Mrbluntzy]

Someone have shared the same experiencing as what Sanitough mentioned, his bet was voided because of the sports book error which I think was related to odds miscalculation. I have not experienced it myself in any casino or bookie, be it crypto offshore casinos or physical bookies. If there's such error, I don't think the casino should void the game, it's their error and they should take responsibility for it and reward the player, because they were the ones that allowed the person to stake in the game without detecting any error.

[Doan9269]

If a bettor enters the wrong stake or clicks the wrong team by mistake, customer support will simply tell you: "All bets are final once confirmed."

Yet many sportsbooks reserve the right to cancel bets even after the event has finished if they claim the odds were incorrect.

I think the way we all interpret fairness in gambling matters hear, if the mistake is coming from the casino then I see no reason why they should cancel the birth after winning, there are other abnormal or let me see strange odd we can see there's a result of their bookies malfunction in or let me say error, and I don't think this is something that has to do with the gamblers fault and such birds should not be canceled, I only see a few gamblers having similar experience when they are being suspected for betting against the rules.

[SportbetOne]

These 2 casinos though have paid gamblers despite mistakes on odds.

FanDuel and BetMGM only paid because state regulators stepped in and the PR backlash was too big. They didn't do it out of goodwill.

For crypto casinos here, I haven't seen a similar case like that... I think fiat casinos and crypto casinos are just different.

Exactly the difference. With offshore crypto books, there's no gaming board to appeal to.
If your bad-odds bet loses, they stay quiet and keep your money. If it hits, they pull the "palpable error" card, refund the stake, and call it a day. Pure one-way street.

[Anayochukwu]

Many have experienced this unfair treatment from sportsbook and lost their money even though it isn't their fault, sports book has always failed to take responsibility for their errors and sadly there is no way to report this, I remember having this same experience a long time ago and I never got my winnings and I know that they intentionally do this to rob gamblers because I have seen someone with the same error too but they lost and the same sports book recorded it as loss so if it was a win it would have been void..

[mirakal]

There are some accusations posted here in the forum about that  "Palpable Errors"

• FortuneJack Refuses to Pay My Winning $6,100 Tennis Bet
• Stake stole $30400 from my account
• Crypto sportsbook provider Betby is big scam?!
• RAINBET.COM SCAM ME AND OTHER PLAYERS !!
• Sportsbet.io Scam Me

I know bettors and we as a community don't like that because it's their error and they should absorb the loss, but if we check the TOS, it's clearly written there for sure, otherwise sportsbooks would have no protection if there was really a bug or incorrect odds. And the reason we don't see sportsbooks returning bets due to incorrect odds being discussed here is because people don't usually post when they are satisfied, they post when they have complaints or feel cheated.

[Pandu Geddon]

I have never paid attention to the sportsbook voiding bets before or after the match ended. I usually place bets and just leave them be. But some matches in parlay bets that I placed were declared void. As a result, there was of course a recalculation of the odds and adjustment of payments for winning bets. So I never knew whether the sportsbook voided bets before the match started or after the bets were completed.

[YOSHIE]

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

Once, I once bet on sports betting after the match ended, the bet was cancelled, but I didn't mind it, I knew there was a technical error, a change in conditions on the match field, but my balance remained intact and was returned to my gambling site account.

For this reason, if that is your question, it is quite clear that the dealer can cancel a winning bet in the middle of the game or the match ends, Of course, situations like this can happen if you experience problems or special situations that make the terms and conditions abnormal, like in other bets, the obstacles are very varied.

In essence, every bet that is canceled usually has a rational and reasonable reason that can be accepted by both the bookie and the bettor, but if you get your winning bet canceled unilaterally without a clear reason, That's a different story, you can submit a claim/complaint to the bookie based on existing mechanisms and procedures based on applicable legal requirements.

[mak013]

I was reading through some sportsbook rules regarding "Palpable Errors" and something seems a bit unfair.

If a bettor enters the wrong stake or clicks the wrong team by mistake, customer support will simply tell you: "All bets are final once confirmed."

Yet many sportsbooks reserve the right to cancel bets even after the event has finished if they claim the odds were incorrect.

I understand if someone gets odds of 20.0 instead of 2.00. That's obviously a mistake.

But what happens when the odds are just slightly off the market — say 2.20 instead of 1.95? Different sportsbooks offer different odds all the time.

And more importantly, has anyone ever seen a bookmaker void a "palpable error" bet that ended up losing? Or does the mistake only get noticed when the player wins?

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

Casinos make the rules
I get bets cancelled pretty often. About half the time, I get a KYC request afterwards. A few times, one bookie decided it was a fixed match and another one paid out on it.
And yeah, I never got my stake back if the bet lost, even if there was a “palpable error” in the match.

[ZeroVinsonN]

With such little odd difference, that is not a mistake but a odd difference from other betting site. If it is a mistake, that is the expected value bet that some bettors are looking for. If won, there is nothing the betting site can do. The odd difference from other bookies is very little and not what will affect the bookie in any way if it is a reputed bookie.

But this does raise the question, what if the odds were significantly different like the one OP pointed out, 20.0 instead of 2.20, people will see that odd and still place a bet on it even though they already know it was most likely an error and then expect the bookie to pay for the 20.0
I will say that instead of voiding the winning it will better to pay for what the odd was originally supposed to be, give them their winning for the original 2.20 odd then that of the 20.0 error, but we also know that bettors won't accept this since it wasn't the odd the saw when they placed their bet.

[Alex077]

...
Yet many sportsbooks reserve the right to cancel bets even after the event has finished if they claim the odds were incorrect.
I understand if someone gets odds of 20.0 instead of 2.00. That's obviously a mistake.
But what happens when the odds are just slightly off the market — say 2.20 instead of 1.95? Different sportsbooks offer different odds all the time.
And more importantly, has anyone ever seen a bookmaker void a "palpable error" bet that ended up losing? Or does the mistake only get noticed when the player wins?
...

I think there really is a certain amount of unfairness toward gamblers here. Basically, if a gambler makes a mistake, that's entirely their problem, but if the bookmaker makes a mistake, they can simply point to their terms and conditions and void the bet. And sometimes they can even do that after the match is over and the result is already known.

If it's entirely up to the bookmaker, then they have far too much room to interpret the situation in their own favor. Especially when we're talking about a big win that the operator simply doesn't want to pay out. Otherwise, we end up in a situation where players are responsible for every mistake they make, while bookmakers always leave themselves the option to correct their own mistakes, even after the match result is already known.

[Rashlyowl]

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

I have extensive experience with sports betting, yet I have never encountered or even heard of a palpable error. So, this is something new for me. Neither I nor any of my broski have ever had anything but a smooth experience with sports betting, so I wasn’t even aware that something like a void due to a site-side error could happen. But if such a thing truly exists, it certainly is not fair to the users. After all, haven’t we ourselves made mistakes, only for the site to treat everything as final?

[Coyster]

I expect sportsbooks to reserve that right, just in case they make a very obvious mistake and gamblers take advantage of it. Anyway, such mistakes do not happen often, so they may not have to trigger that right. They would also handle this on a case-by-case basis despite reserving this right, if voiding those bets would ruin their reputation and make them lose customers, they'd just pay up.

[Zigabel]

And more importantly, has anyone ever seen a bookmaker void a "palpable error" bet that ended up losing? Or does the mistake only get noticed when the player wins?

Have you ever had a settled, winning bet cancelled retroactively under this rule?

I have never seen a lost bet been voided for this reason, most often, you will find it rear that a casino is taking responsibility when a bet is lost, it is only when they see that gamblers won, they begin to look at the games over and over again to be sure the gambler was at any point deserving of such win or they have broken a rule placing the bet. i once experienced a game been voided due to a glitch but fortunately for me, when the glitch was corrected, they paid up the balance, Not all casinos will do this though. some casinos will stay put if you don't lay  a complain in an event of such happening, but if you lay a complain, then they may consider looking into it and then want to see if they will refund or look for a way to fault you.