Connor Allen found himself in a pickle a few weeks back. The day before the NBA draft, Allen, a football analyst for 4for4 Football, heard rumors that the Chicago Bulls would pick Patrick Williams of Florida State for their fourth pick. Williams was +3000 on DraftKings, according to a report on the USBets website.
“I figured at 30/1, it’s worth a shot,” Allen said. “So I put down $250, which would’ve profited $7,500.”
But DraftKings only accepted $29.50 of the wager, and said the rest had to be approved. A quarter hour later, DraftKings said no and the odds dropped, closing at +200, according to USBets.
This kind of waffling happened to Allen before, but this time an even larger bet on Williams was accepted moments before he attempted his. When questioned, DraftKings said “We understand any frustrations. All wagers must be approved before final submissions on all user accounts. This is the time when our traders will review this for acceptance. In the future, we would suggest trying to lower the amount wagered.”
Telling customers to bet less money makes no sense when your own house rules allow for bets up to $20,000 on wagers like these.
DraftKings, which also says it has the right to limit bets anytime, wants to have it both ways it seems. So do other sportsbooks.
“I hear you, and I agree, it feels somewhat un-American to not let everyone bet the same amount,” said Adam Levitan, the co-founder of EstablishTheRun.com, a DFS site that also doubles as a place for Levitan to write about his player prop bets. “This guy can bet $10,000 because we have him marked as an unsophisticated player and this guy can only bet $30 because we have him marked as a successful sports bettor.”
In Pennsylvania, Levitan discovered few problems with FanDuel or DraftKings, but BetRivers wouldn’t let him get down more than $100 on NFL sides early in the week. Sure, these books are a private enterprise, but it’s still annoying.
Sportsbooks should be very clear with each individual bettor as to what their limits are. Some books are better than others in this regard: FOX Bet, for instance, offers you a chance to find out what your max bet is for any wager. FOX Bet knows how much they’re going to allow to wager. So why aren’t the other books more up front with their limits? Why make the limits process so opaque? (And why send bets to the traders on odds that are posted?)
Perhaps all the books should take a page from the new kids on the block, Circa. You walk into a Circa sportsbook, there are printed sheets detailing the limits.
“We understand the hard work a lot of players put in making numbers and pricing things, and we want to be able to provide fair limits that make it worth people’s time to bet at our shops,” said Jeffrey Benson, the operations manager for Circa Sportsbook. “We might not have the biggest menu, but we’re very committed to every single thing we put up on the board. We’re committed to being tremendously transparent, honest, up front with the people that walk in our doors. We want to be as customer friendly as possible.”
