Circles Off - iGaming Ontario Dispute

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hagrinBPR Review Date: 2024-06-25 04:19:45
Rating: 6.50

Notes:
Bias - Followed the case, read all the posted docs, know the result/outcome. I call him Count Chocula because of the old avatar & that's what Rothwell used to call him.

4:05 - PlusEV section starts. 2022 NFL RSW bets made at Caesars. Damar Hamlin incident, game gets postponed then canceled. Matt had Bills and Bengals futures. CIN to win exactly 13 games, would have paid 40:1. (Bengals were 6.5 point favorites live at time of Hamlin incident). All bets said "must play 17 games for action", says it in house rules. Matt expects all bets to get voided. Caesars grades live bet as a void, all other bets as losses on other tickets that were dead. Contacts Customer Service, CS decides to grade the known outcome futures, voids anything uncertain. "Why isn't it angle shooting?" 1) House uses the rules against you all the time, should go both ways. 2) 12 & 13 would have graded as a void in exact RSW total, but this way of grading is a windfall/freeroll+.

13:30 - Contact iGaming Ontario. They eventually speak to Caesars and they say they are happy with how it was resolved. Matt asks for a rationale. iGaming says no, go to Caesars. They point to another rule about "55 minutes having played" which is a single event rule, but they applied it to the season. Matt makes point that the more specific rule generally overrides the more general one - the 17 game rule should be more specific. "Contract of Adhesion", ambiguities should favor the non-drafting party. Rob states that he confirmed that of the sportsbooks he talked to, no one else graded exact RSW totals in this manner. Total amount in question is $2,250.

26:25 - "A lot of people would have let it go at this point and in hindsight this is what I should have done, but I was pretty mad - it was more the injustice." Sues them in small claims court. No lawyer needed, just a filing fee. Interestingly enough, as this case approaches, Matt thinks someone is going to read this and he's likely to win. Caesar responds by hiring a top tier law firm.

(This is the most important part of the podcast. There's no way I'm going to tell someone to just let something go - I still bring up a 2009 Rashard Mendenhall for McNabb and Donald Driver trade in a group chat like once a month because I am an unwell person. Sometimes, even though the battle is very dumb, sometimes you just have to fight because that's what you need even if you know you're going to lose and, just like Gloria says in White Men Can't Jump, sometimes when you win, you really lose. The rational person would have and should have let this go because there's almost no path to a real victory here as many sharps pointed out on Twitter as this progressed, but I'm not going to tell someone they shouldn't fight. This story is an important one because you can learn a lot of life lessons from this not just sports betting related.)

31:40 - Caesar's files a motion to dismiss. Three points, the third point is that he's doing this for content/clicks. Judge grants the motion and the case was dismissed. States that some friends said he could appeal and likely win (not familiar with Canada law, but appeals are super expensive in the US especially for $2250).

40:00 - "Did I want to be part of the story? Yes I did." Mentions he stated somewhere that if they offered to settle but required an NDA he wouldn't settle that he regrets. Judge did use it against him in the ruling. (Clear case of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. You have a pending legal matter? Talk through your attorneys or keep your mouth shut #NotThatTricky.) 48:30 - "Talking about it publicly didn't help my chances." Correct.

55:00 - The MA Sports Betting Hearing on Limiting - Long discussion on all of the same old talking points nothing new here.

1:17:00 - Johnny brings up building the F1 car again like he's Harry Hogge in his barn saying "I'mma shape you like a bullet". This is Kramer saying he could build the levels in his apartment, but just choosing not to do it. 1:18:25 - "You've said much worse things before." Perfect ending.