FanDuel Should Be Responsible for Paying Out on Glitches

FanDuel is refusing to pay out a bet for over $80,000 because they are saying there was a glitch in their system, a man named Anthony Prince tells New Jersey affiliate News 12. If Prince’s story is accurate, FanDuel should have to pay him out in full.

Prince says that he made a bet of $110 on the Broncos to beat the Raiders when they were down 19-17 with 1:10 left in the fourth quarter at odds of +75,000. This means that he should’ve been owed $82,610. But:

"“They said their system had a glitch in it and they’re not obligated to pay for glitches,” Prince says. Prince says that instead he was offered $500 and skybox seats for three Giants games. But Prince says that he declined. “The other guy said, ‘You should take what we give you because we don’t have to give you [anything] at all.’ I said, ‘Wow, for real?’” Prince says. A spokesperson for FanDuel says that the company is currently investigating the matter."

Switch these positions around: Let’s say Prince had a finger glitch and accidentally made an $80,000 mobile bet on something that he didn’t mean to. Do you think he’d be getting his money back?

With gambling legalized in various states, there needs to be consumer trust that these systems are on the level. if FanDuel made a programming error here, they should bear the responsibility for it.

We’ve made the same argument when people bought tickets on StubHub and sellers reneged — if you’re in an online marketplace and you make a transaction, it should be incumbent on the host of that marketplace to ensure that the transaction is consummated.

Prince said that he will get an attorney involved and bring the matter to New Jersey gambling authorities.