FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Kris Benton questions if he’ll ever bet on sports again after an online error that left his family disheartened and devastated.
The Fairfax County teacher placed bets for a total wager of more than $3,000 on the Netherlands vs. Vietnam match in the Women’s World Cup through the BetMGM app on Monday. After placing wagers on three separate single game parlays at 66 to 1 odds, the app said he won $214,500.
However, he never pocketed any of the money after BetMGM began to cancel the winnings due to an “obvious error with odds.”
He started to initiate a withdrawal for $100,000, the maximum amount allowed, on Tuesday morning. Benton received an email from the company confirming the withdrawal process, but by 2:30 p.m. on the same day, the bets that said “WON” were now “CANCELED.” Once the withdrawal was also canceled, his stake money was credited back into the account.
“This was going to be a life-changing moment for us, and then in an instant, it was all taken away without any notification whatsoever,” Benton told WUSA9. “I was completely devastated. My wife and I had already started discussing what we were going to do with the money.”
Benton received an email from the company’s Online Gaming Operations Team, which said they “sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”
The team called what happened an “Obvious Error,” meaning it voided the wagers because the odds were “clearly incorrect.”
"There was an issue that caused the corners market to have inflated the odds, but they were not supposed to be offered at that price,” the email to Benton said. “Therefore, we are not able to find out what the correct odds would have been, that is why the wager was voided.”
“They said because of their mistake they can do whatever they wanted to do with my account balance and on top of that, the mistake they claimed happened, they can't back that up with any evidence,” he said.
BetMGM PR Coordinator Nick Lovera said it could not comment further but referred to WUSA9 to the relevant terms and conditions outlined in the email sent to Benton.
Dr. Patrick Rishe, sports business analyst at Washington Univ-St. Louis, said there may be fine print that can protect a betting company and allowing them take back winnings.
“It’s extremely, extremely rare for this to happen,” Rishe said. “That doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen because there could be last minute things that cause the odds to swing.”
According to the email to Benton, BetMGM said it offered a $100 bonus bet due to the inconvenience. Benton said it was a worthless offer.
If you or a loved one has a problem with gambling, the National Problem Gambling Helpline Network can be reached at 1-800-522-4700. The network is a single national access point to local resources for those seeking help for a gambling problem. Help is available 24/7 and is 100% confidential.