Hello my friend, this is Professor MJ, sports betting expert and also university statistics
professor. This is going to be a special video where I’m going to tell you a true story
about an online sportsbook that literally tried to rip me off. You won’t believe this
story.
Hopefully, it will also teach you how to deal with these types of situations when they happen
to you. Trust me, if you wager online long enough, something like this is likely to occur
to you, eventually.
So buckle up and be ready to hear this jaw-dropping story about the big bookie trying to bully
a small player. Let’s do this!
Section number 1: The Issue
The story began on April 6th, 2021 when I bet Jacoby Jones from the Detroit Tigers,
in Major League Baseball, to record under 1.5 total bases. Just to make sure you guys
are all following me, here is how “total bases” work: a single is worth one base,
a double is worth two bases, a triple is worth three bases and a home run is worth four bases.
Recall that I bet under 1.5 total bases. In other words, I’m hoping for Jacoby Jones
to either record 0 or 1 total base, right?
The wager in question was placed with the online sportsbook called Betway, which has
a more-than-decent B+ rating on Sportsbookreview.com. We’re not talking about a shady bookie that
no one has ever heard about before.
On that day, Jones went 0-for-4 at the plate, so clearly this bet was a winner, right? When
I logged into my account, it was graded as a loss. At first, I didn’t worry too much
because incorrectly settled bets can happen from time to time. I figured I would just
need to spend a few minutes in the live chat, and the matter would be resolved. Oh man,
I was so naïve!
Section number two: The Live Chat Fight
Believe it or not, I spend an hour and a half in the live chat with a guy named Charles
from Betway’s customer service. Not only did the conversation last forever, but at
the end of it all, they still claimed the bet was a loss.
Here is what Charles told me: "Our traders have confirmed as there were no bases registered
the bet was correctly settled as a loss. In which the only case your bet could be settled
as a win is if Jones register 1 base only."
Are you kidding me? I told him that 0 is smaller than 1.5, so this bet was a winner. He added:
"The premise is that he had to at least get a single base for it to qualify to win. Ss
there were no bases, it was settled as a loss."
This makes no sense whatsoever! I asked him: "So basically if a player gets 0 base, then
people betting UNDER 1.5 bases lose, and people betting OVER 1.5 also lose?" He said yes!
Can you believe this?
Also, what if you bet a specific player to record under 0.5 total bases? So you are guaranteed
to lose since, in their opinion, “there has to be at least one base"? Again, just
ridiculous thinking on their part.
What's funny is I had bet Jon Berti from the Miami Marlins under 1.5 total bases the next
day with Betway, he also went 0-for-4 at the plate and they graded it as a win.
The truth is this was a small bet. It was far from being a crushing loss to me. But
this was just about making things right.
Section number three: The Email Fight
The conversation in the live chat ended when Charles told me that if I disagreed with the
decision I had to email a manager at manager@betway.com. That's what I did, and here is the response
I got from a woman called Candice:
“Thank you for contacting Betway Customer Care. We received a complaint from you whereby
you express your dissatisfaction regarding the settlement of your bet.
Upon review of the bet in question, we can confirm that you placed the following bet:
Jacoby Jones from Detroit under 1.5 total bases on April 6th. Based on the official
results of the match, Jones scored no Total Bases, therefore the bet has been correctly
settled as a loss.
Should you disagree with the above determination, please refer to the complaint procedure document
sent to you previously. Kind regards, Candice”
My gosh, they are completely incompetent. I could not believe this. She admits that
Jones got 0 base, and yet she still claims under 1.5 is a loss. Does she not know that
0 is smaller than 1.5?
Section number four: The Ultimate Fight
In the next step, I tried to hit them hard. I posted my story on Reddit, I also posted
it on Twitter, I filed a complaint on SportsbookReview.com and I filed a complaint with the Malta Gaming
Authority, which is the organization that gave them their gambling license.
The post on Reddit brought more than 100 comments from outraged sports bettors all supporting
me. I sent the link to Candice, the Betway manager I was in touch with, so that she could
see how much her sportsbook was getting blasted.
Finally, they graded the bet as a win without any explanations as to why they kept arguing
it was a loss in the first place. They also gave me a $10 free bet, which is nothing compared
to all the time I wasted on this super simple situation.
After that, I immediately withdrew $3000 and I was worried they would do everything to
delay it, but I’ve got to admit they proceeded to do it very quickly. They probably knew
they couldn’t mess up with me.
It's time for section number five called: A Recurring Problem?
You might be thinking that this could be an isolated story. After reading all the comments
on Reddit, many people have had to fight over incorrectly graded bets with Betway. One sports
bettor in particular shared an interesting story.
In hockey, he had bet Brayden Point over 0.5 powerplay points. In that game, he got an
assist on a powerplay goal scored by his teammate Victor Hedman. Betway counted it as a loss
because they could not understand that a goal AND an assist are both recorded as a point.
It took the gambler over an hour to get them to figure it out. And the worst part of his
story is that he says it happened more than 5 more times in the following months. He needed
to ask them to put a note in his account so that the crappy employees would not get confused
again.
Section number six: The Lessons
In summary, I believe there are two lessons to this story. Number one: stay away from
the Betway sportsbook because they are either super incompetent, or they purposely try to
screw their customers.
The second lesson is that the most powerful weapon at your disposal against such big organizations
is to share your story online. Once they realize their reputation is getting tarnished, they
magically figure things out, and it also speeds up the process.
I could add a third lesson by saying: don’t give up! I know it can be a pain, but don’t
let them get away with robbery, because that’s exactly what it is: robbery.
I hope you found this story entertaining and that you got something out of it. If you have
a similar story to share, I strongly encourage you to do it in the comments below! Let me
hear about sportsbooks that tried to rip you off, what you did about it, and how it ended.
I really want to read you, man! Thanks a lot for watching, this is Professor MJ saying
so long!