Question of the Day - 01 August 2020

Editor's Note: We asked Blair Rodman, author of our upcoming book All About Sports Betting, to answer this question. Which he did.]

C0VID-19 has shaken up the world and the world of sports betting hasn’t been excluded.

Sports leagues are trying to get their seasons in, one way or another, and bets on single games have few betting issues. Futures bets, however, are a different story.

Futures bets can include division, conference, and championship winners, over/under regular-season wins, and season-long awards such as Most Valuable Player, etc. During normal times, most books post rules that cover futures bets. However, with the interruption, delay, or shortening of seasons, a lot of ambiguities  aren’t covered in the normal rules.

Some bettors are holding futures tickets that were made before the leagues were shut down due to the virus. For season-win totals for those bettors, it’s a simple solution to cancel the bets, as there’s a stipulated number of games that must be played for the bet to have action. It’s also no problem for futures on sporting events that were canceled, such as March Madness.

However, if you hold a pre-shutdown ticket on something such as Toronto Raptors to win their conference in the NBA, as I do, most books consider that bet to have action as long as a conference winner is crowned. I feel that these bets should be canceled, as the basic intention and spirit of the bet no longer apply.

Likewise with something such as a future on the Masters golf tournament, which was moved from April to November. I don’t know about all books, but at William Hill, my futures still have action. (I do have Bryson Dechambeau at 50-1, which I bet in February. He’s now 10-1, so I won’t complain too loudly.) Another issue with a golf future is that the bet usually has action whether the player plays or not. In the coronavirus era, I’m not sure how all books will handle a player withdrawal, especially if it's due to testing positive. I did have a future on Brooks Koepka in the recent Traveler’s Championship at the Westgate in Las Vegas, which I bet the day before it started. He had to withdraw because of the virus, and the Westgate refunded the bet, so kudos to Jay Kornegay and his staff.

As for bets made prior to a league, such as baseball, restarting its season, at most books, the rules on these shortened-season futures bets were stated. If the season is shortened further, bets such as season-win totals would be void, as most books state baseball teams must play at least 59 games. If titles are awarded for division, conference, and the World Series, I assume those bets have action, regardless of the number of games played. Likewise with awards such as the MVP, Cy Young, etc. However, the lack of standardized rules among books means you may get a grading that differs.

An instructive example of books reacting to the chaos of COVID-era sports is how books are handling listed pitchers in MLB. Due to concerns over pitchers being scratched due to the virus and the practice of several teams quickly pulling starters, the listed pitcher/action rule was changed at a significant number of books, to where all bets were action, locked in at the price at the time of the bet, regardless of the actual starting pitcher. After a few days of that experiment, many books reverted to the old rules.

As always, but especially during these strange days where many situations are in constant flux, be familiar with the rules at the sports book where you bet, so you don’t get any unwelcome surprises.