Why Bettors Are Mad, Sportsbooks May Need To Change NFL House Rules

TheLines senior writer Mo Nuwwarah reported on the many, complicated NFL sportsbook house rules revolving around Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bills futures, win totals and season-long props last week. Confusion and frustration still abounds on some sportsbooks not paying out some bets that would have won, regardless of whether the Bills at Bengals Week 17 game was canceled. Some sportsbook house rules require all 17 games to be played in order for bets to stand.

Bettors Frustrated With Several Sportsbooks

Some of the notable sportsbooks with house rules that required all 17 games to be played on win total bets are BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, Circa and Superbook. But at some places like DraftKings Sportsbook, season-long props like Most Touchdown Passes still paid out Patrick Mahomes tickets and graded Josh Allen and Joe Burrow tickets as losers.

Adding to the confusion, bettors might have different rules depending on what state you are in. Bengals division futures were paid out in Nevada at MGM properties, but on the BetMGM app, the rules state: “team(s) must play in all of their scheduled regular season games for bets to have action.”

Reaction has been strong on Twitter. Here’s just a sample of some of what TheLines’ Zach Tilley found:

And now @CircaSports will no action season win total bets for people who had already believed they won on overs for bengals and bills. While people who had under tickets, likely already threw them out.

Books like @FDSportsbook @DKSportsbook will likely use marketing to pay out.

— Ianbtc371 (@ianbtc371) January 6, 2023

some books says ' 17 games must be played ' for win totals . others have already payed out . but if have an actually ticket u could be screwed . i hear few spots in vegas are planning on voiding all bengal win total bets DESPITE FACT they have already gone over . cold .

— Gabriel Morency (@sportsrage) January 5, 2023

1/ Per @WynnBET, even without the Bills-Bengals game having a result, both teams already cleared their season win total. Bills total was 11.5, Bengals was 9.5.

So WynnBet will grade those as Overs. However, that grading won't be official until regular season ends Sunday night.

— Patrick Everson (@PatrickE_Vegas) January 6, 2023

I agree with Circas stance on telling the failed prop crowd to fuck off but tlnot grading season win total overs that already went over is low form. #nutlow https://t.co/McEvWviFvS

— Geoff Fienberg (@gfienberg17) January 7, 2023

• Join TheLines free sports betting Discord channel.

Will Sportsbook Change House Rules?

The sports betting industry seems like it could benefit from revisions to its NFL sportsbook rules for more clarity across all types of NFL season-long betting markets. Even if sportsbooks’ house rules are going to vary and have no legal requirement to have uniformity across companies, shouldn’t they at least have the same games-played rules across all NFL season-long markets?

Obviously, what happened with Damar Hamlin and the cancellation of the game was totally unforeseen and unlikely to happen again, but it did expose an area that has led to a terrible customer experience for many sports bettors.