Illinois regulators uphold BetMGM’s decision to void $389,000 in bets over odds error

Illinois gaming regulators have ruled that BetMGM acted within its rights when it voided four bets placed by a local man that would have paid out nearly $389,000, citing an “obvious error of incorrect or inflated odds.”

The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) dismissed a complaint filed by Mark Aiello, a military veteran from Roselle, Illinois, who claimed he was wrongfully denied winnings from wagers he placed during the March 2 NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and the Indiana Pacers.

Aiello placed four $500 single-game parlays on player prop bets involving rebounds and assists, with odds listed as high as +35,000. BetMGM later corrected those odds to between +1,860 and +3,600 and voided the wagers 11 minutes before tipoff, returning the original stakes to Aiello’s account.

“In this case, the evidence demonstrates that a human error led to BetMGM making the pricing available to patrons at a level that significantly diverged from the intended pricing,” the IGB wrote in its June 3 order.

“The incorrect pricing was not a question of poor judgment by BetMGM in its assessments of likely statistical outcomes, but instead was the result of a specific, identifiable failure by BetMGM staff to follow the necessary and established procedures for pricing updates,” the regulator said. 

Aiello, whose story went viral in March, said he had planned to use the money for his daughter’s college tuition. He questioned how the "obvious error" got past BetMGM traders, who he said reviewed and accepted at least one of his bets.

“I figured that they would be honored; and, you know, them making a mistake, I feel like I should be owed something,” Aiello said. Asked whether he would accept payment based on the corrected odds — which could have amounted to around $40,000 — he said, “That’s the least they could do.”

BetMGM, which is licensed to operate in Illinois through a partnership with Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino, did not respond to CBS News questions about whether it would consider a goodwill payout based on corrected odds.

Gaming consultant and attorney Elihu Feustel said BetMGM’s actions were in line with industry standards. “MGM caught the mistake, and they canceled it before the game was played, which is a big deal,” he said.

“Let’s say I send a $200 deposit to my bank, and they credit me with $20,000 because of a typo. That’s a human error and under gaming law and under contract law, when there’s an obvious mistake, the transaction is voidable,” Feustel added.