Bellagio Sportsbook Error On Chinese And Korean Baseball Costs Vegas Casino An Estimated $250,000
A quarter of a million dollars is estimated to have been lost when the sportsbook at the Bellagio allowed winning wagers to be placed well after the start time of several Korean and Chinese baseball games.
Since most U.S. sports have been shut down, both online and in-person sportsbooks have been relying on international sports to fuel their top lines. The unfamiliarity with the schedules overseas may have contributed to the errors at the Bellagio, which are being called “human error” according to the NY Post.
The error allowed bettors to place bets between 1am and 3am for games that had started at 1am and 2am – in other words, the bettors were allowed to wager more than an hour into some of the games, making it much easier to predict the winner. One winner alone brought home more than $137,000 on a $250 10-leg parlay.
Vegas bookmakers “couldn’t recall a larger loss” when asked, according to the Post.
Westgate sportsbook director John Murray said: “It’s happened to all of us. I think every sportsbook probably since the beginning of time has dealt with this at some point.”
Past-post bets, as they are called, are one of the more common errors that occur in the sports gambling world. They can happen as a result of a mix-up of schedules or human error in putting in the start time for games. The games are often times then monitored electronically to prevent new bettors. In this case, most bets were placed at self-serve kiosks.
Sportsbook directors said that players in these situations usually are given the offer of taking their winnings with a permanent bar from the casino or surrendering them and being able to come back any time.
The Nevada Gaming Control Board is currently looking into the matter and will determine whether or not the bookies must shell out the winnings. The NCGB has a history of siding with the bettors.
Robert Walker, USBookmaking director of sportsbook operations, said: “We had [the GCB] come out several times. We got ruled against most of the time.”
