Hannah12
Posted by Hannah12
Apr 24, 2016

Bovada Rip Off

Hey Guys And Gals,

Been with Bovada for years now, before the Cyber Sportsbook days, and all-in-all it has been a good relationship. Recently their customer service has taken a turn for the worse however, and not just for the following reason. I had a good week last week, cashed in about $1,100, but there was one wager they refused to pay. Newcastle getting 0.5 at +215. $200 dollar wager paying $430. They claim to have thrown an erroneous spread up and basically told me to deal with it. See explanation below:

We're contacting you from Bovada Sports Customer Service regarding the settlement of your bet 660288480. Your wager was checked by our Book Managers and they've mentioned that when the game was in the 87th Minute, score was 1-1, the Pick was +215 and +0.5 -650. If we had offered +0.5 at +215, at this point in the match it would be an obvious line error and would have got voided anyway. Our Customer Service Team is available by e-mail at sports@bovada.lv 24/7 to help if you need anything else. Thanks, Bovada Customer Service sports@bovada.lv
Apr 22, 2016
Your bovada.lv Withdrawal Request
RE: Withdrawal Reference Number 80204855 Thank you for your recent withdrawal request dated Fri, Apr 22, 2016 for the amount of US$ 1087.02.


Their job is to throw up lines, mine is to try to pick winners. In this case they failed and I succeeded. Should be a simple winner. I'm having a hard time understanding this, but part of the problem is several other people had this same wager and they stood to lose quite a bit of money. Bottom line for me, if Bovada says they made an error and the line should have been voided, you have no recourse of action. Just take it and like it. That's pretty hard to digest.

Comments

SOOPOO
SOOPOO Apr 24, 2016

Lets say the line posted was + 9.5 goals. Do you think Bovada should have to honor that line? As little as I know about mid game soccer betting, I would surmise you would have to lay at least 10 to 1 to get a half goal on a tie game with 3 minutes to go. So you getting 2 to 1, not laying anything, is an obvious error, and you knew it.



All that being said, if you would have lost the bet in the last 3 minutes, would they have refunded your bet? If I believed the answer was yes, then I would say they are being 'fair' in stiffing you. Since it is your money, is there anything in their 'terms and conditions' that addresses a clearly erroneous line?

odiousgambit
odiousgambit Apr 28, 2016

It sounds like you made a bet while the game was in progress. That invites this kind of squabble. I sympathize, but I'd say if you don't like getting screwed then eliminate the possibility that someone can claim your bet came in late.

mgvegas87
mgvegas87 Apr 28, 2016

They're a sports book and they always have the advantage.If they post a line and it's incorrect in their opinion.They should have caught that before it was posted.If they excepted your wager for the line that was posted,which they did.Then they should pay off the wager period.If your in a brick and mortar sports book and after you leave the window you discover the ticket writer misheard you and gave you the wrong wager and you didn't catch it before you left the window.Then you would be stuck with it regardless.They should have to pay it IMO and i think that if it had lost they wouldn't have given a refund IMO.

Wizardofnothing
Wizardofnothing Apr 28, 2016

You would have more replies posting this in a thread instead of on the blog side

IK
IK Oct 01, 2016

Bovada running algorithms? I feel for you. I have my own issues with Bovada.



I play video poker, Jacks or Better exclusively. I've played with Bovada now for a couple years. I had a lot of early success using the Wizards strategy to narrow the odds. However it seems that the longer you play the odds widen. The data suggests (I do save data) that Bovada is using artificial intelligence to construct algorithms based upon your strategy. A good example is the fill ratio on inside straights. Since I NEVER draw to an inside straight, I find the NEXT card dealt consistently would have filled the inside straight. Flushes, same problem. I will always toss the low pair in favor of four to a suit. Guess how frequently the next card is same as tossed pair. The odds are 1/23. It occurs however 1/7. Outrageous! The list of anomalies s long. I'm still getting all the data crunched.



Best advice is don't play too long with Bovada. Spread your money around. Change your user id's frequently and the cc you use to fund. It's unfortunate considering the odds always favor the house, but apparently they prefer to sweeten the odds with cheating algorithms.