PointsBet's decision to void winning bets due to a pricing 'error' is a terrible look
Part of being a good bettor is knowing how to identify a bargain, and bettors did that Thursday when they found 16-1 odds at PointsBet Sportsbook for Memphis Grizzlies guard Tyus Jones to record a double-double.
Typically a backup, Jones was getting a start in place of Ja Morant against the New Orleans Pelicans, and bettors pounced on the value of his odds at PB because they were only about 3-1 at other sportsbooks.
Sure enough, Jones finished with 13 points and 12 assists, but instead of paying double-double bettors what they rightfully earned, PointsBet voided the bets altogether. In a statement Friday, the sportsbook claimed an “error” resulted in the market being priced incorrectly.
“At PointsBet, our NBA double-double market requires three inputs to calculate: a player’s points line, their expected rebounds, and their expected assists.
On this occasion, an error resulted in this double-double being priced using only Jones’ points and rebounds line. Tyus Jones’ assists line (7) did not feed into the double-double calculation, generating an incorrect price of +1600 for a selection that was generally available around +350 across the industry.
To further illustrate the context of this error, we can share that Tyus Jones’ double-double price with PointsBet was +200 against Orlando on March 28th and +300 against the Mavericks on March 20th.
The incorrect price remained on site for nine minutes before being removed. Additionally, PointsBet removed all double-double and triple-double markets from the NBA offering on Thursday evening in order to update the data query.” – PointsBet spokesperson
This was a bad look for PointsBet, and these are all the reasons this was a bogus decision: