Bettors Furious Over Sportsbooks’ Handling of Rain-Shortened Pebble Beach Pro-Am
Posted on: February 5, 2024, 12:31h.
Last updated on: February 5, 2024, 12:31h.
Many sports bettors took to social media on Sunday to express their displeasure with certain sportsbooks voiding their bets on Wyndham Clark’s win at the rain-shortened AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
Clark was deemed the victor on Sunday after PGA Tour officials determined Pebble Beach to be unplayable.
The storm affecting the Monterey Peninsula throughout the day Sunday is forecast to continue into the early hours of Monday with very strong winds,” a Tour statement explained. “Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday. Therefore, in accordance with the PGA Tour Regulations, the tournament results will be final through the conclusion of 54 holes.”
The tournament’s abrupt ending made Clark, who shot a Pebble record of 60 on Saturday, the winner at -17. The victory gave Clark, last June’s US Open winner, his third win on Tour and elevated his world ranking to number six.
Bettors Berate Books
With severe weather in the forecast, many golf bettors placed big bets on Clark following the completion of the third round. Expecting a cancelation, many of those bettors assumed their wager had even better odds of winning than the book’s line because the weather could cancel the final round.
Many sportsbooks’ house rules, however, void such bets. Books like DraftKings state that futures bets made after the completion of one round before the start of another are voided if the subsequent round isn’t played.
“Bets stand once the player has teed off,” DraftKings explains of its futures markets.
One bettor on DraftKings made a $20 wager on the exact top 20 finish order, which the bettor picked based on the top 20 leaderboard as of Saturday night. The bet would have won over $755,000 should the fourth round have been played and the top 20 have remained unchanged.
While books voided bets made after the third round, the oddsmakers kept other pre-tournament action. Losers teed off on their books for seemingly having it both ways.
I was under the impression my top-10 bet at the AT&T was for a four round tournament… please refund @DKSportsbook
Thanks.— pgatour.bot (@peter_tweeter23) February 5, 2024
@HardRockBet are y’all giving bettors back all of our money for bets on AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am? Would clearly be the right thing to do since they’re not finishing the tournament. Gimme back my money so I can bet more with you guys next week!
— Nate Reeves (@NatorRTR45) February 5, 2024
@DraftKings the PGA AT&t pebble Beach tournament got canceled by the PGA.
All players should have there bets reimbursed, because it was an incomplete match
But DK tech support is not reimbursing its players for the canceled game.
— adriano (@2c_AD_Tweet) February 5, 2024
But, again, most house rules, including at DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, stipulate that a PGA Tour tournament is considered completed if the Tour cancels the event so long as at least 36 holes have been played.
In the event of a tournament being shortened or otherwise affected due to weather conditions, all bets other than those placed after the last completed round will stand provided at least 36 holes have been played and a trophy has been awarded,” BetMGM’s house golf rules read.
Clark Wins
Before the first round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Clark was at a distant 100/1 to win. Clark hadn’t been in good form heading into the event, as his previous top 15 finish came at last August’s BMW Championship where he finished third.
Clark’s win continued a streak of longshots winning on the PGA Tour.
Chris Kirk was 200/1 to win The Sentry, Grayson Murray was 400/1 to win the Sony Open, then-amateur Nick Dunlap was 300/1 to win The American Express, and Matthieu Pavon was 125/1 to win the Farmers Insurance Open.
Source: casino.org
