Posted on: October 22, 2024, 05:19h.
Last updated on: October 22, 2024, 05:19h.
A Las Vegas sports bettor thought he was flush with cash when he backed outsider Joel Moscatel Nachshon to win the first round of the 2023 Australian PGA Championship via William Hill.
Now he claims he was shortchanged by nearly $40K by the Caesars Entertainment-owned sportsbook, The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The gambler, whose name has not been made public, placed $200 on Moscatel to win at odds of +20,000. The little-known Spanish golfer was ranked 1,162nd in the world at the time, but for that day only he played like the number one.
Moscatel went on a tear to shoot a course record-equaling round of 62 on the opening day of the championship. The 25-year-old nailed eight birdies in his bogey-free round, matching Jed Morgan’s title winning record performance of the prior year.
Moscatel finished the tournament in seventh place with an 11-under-par score, but his day 1 performance had made the gambler $40,000 richer – or so he thought.
Odds Slashed
When he tried to claim his winnings, he was told the odds of +20,000 had been posted in error and that the real odds were +400, leaving the gambler with just $800 in winnings.
It’s not clear why William Hill would have offered such short odds on a player ranked 1,162nd in the world, even less so why anyone would have taken such a bet. But the aggrieved sports bettor wants to find out.
The gambler has taken the case to the Nevada Gaming Control Board, which heard arguments from both parties at a hearing last week. The board will make its recommendation to the Nevada Gaming Commission which will decide on the matter at a later date.
The sports bettor claimed that the winning $40,200 ticket (winnings plus stake) was in his William Hill account for five days before the company switched it for the lower ticket without explanation.
Small Print
William Hill’s terms and conditions state: “We reserve the right, pending regulatory approval, to correct any obvious error made on a wager placed in one of our betting Live markets and settle at the correct odds or terms, which were available with William Hill Sportsbook (absent the obvious error) at the time the wager was struck. … Where the incorrect odds or terms are less advantageous than those available with William Hill Sportsbook, the odds or terms will be amended to the correct odds or terms available.”
In September 2022, the Nevada Gaming Commission fined William Hill $100K after a glitch in its systems duplicated roughly 55K bets, shortchanging customers by around $1.3 million.
