bet365 users were given the option to cancel their bets or take significantly worse odds on a player prop for Evan Mobley to hit one or more 3-pointers in Thursday's Magic vs. Cavaliers game.
On Tuesday, Action Network contributor Joe Dellera bet Mobley to make at least one 3-pointer at +235 odds at bet365 for Thursday night's game, a wager tailed by dozens of fellow bettors. He even noted the line was way off compared to the market when he placed the bet. Soon afterward, bet365 sent messages to some of those who tailed the bet, stating that the sportsbook would reduce their existing bets from +235 to +125, a nearly 47% decrease in value. Bettors were also given the option to instead cancel their bets for their original stake.
"The trading team set the odds to be +235. That was the obvious error," one of the messages from a support team member read. "Therefore, they changed the odds to +125 to rectify the error. Since we have changed the odds after you placed the bet, we allow customers to be able to void their bets."
For reference, the best market odds as of Wednesday afternoon is with ESPN BET at +130. The best under price on Mobley's 3-point prop is at DraftKings at -150.
Sportsbooks typically invoke their right to void "obvious errors" for egregious differences, like if the odds on 1+ 3-pointers were +2000 for example, but the difference between +235 and +125 is marginal, at least for operators.
These types of mispriced lines happen constantly, especially in the player prop markets, without voiding bets. One factor here may be that these misprices typically occur on games that happen the same day — or even with a few minutes to spare. It gives sportsbooks less time to act, and it becomes not worth it for them to expend social capital on a void that amounts to small value.
Here, however, the game was two days out. NBA player props are ordinarily only released within 24 hours of the game, which allows sportsbooks to price props relative to the rest of the market. With the NBA's extended break due to All-Star weekend, bet365 hung a bad line a few days out.
Some users in New Jersey — which has strong protections for bettors — reported not having their wagers changed. Others in Kentucky received the aforementioned messages. A request for comment made to a bet365 press representative went unanswered.
