Gambler Sues DraftKings Over Claims They Voided Parlay That Would Have Paid $14 Million

An Iowa gambler is suing DraftKings over a bet he says the publicly traded sportsbook voided.  The payout would have been $4,651,571.26.

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Now anybody who has followed the Gambling911.com website for any period of time knows that DraftKings is not about to take a $1 million bet, let alone a $4 million wager.

Nicholas Bavas contends in a 39-page breach of contract lawsuit that he was able to place a $100 bet on a golf event that would have earned him a payout of $4,651,571.26.

Per the complaint:

On Thursday, February 1, 2024, the annual AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am got underway. The tournament was scheduled to run through February 4, across four rounds, with a champion emerging after 72 holes. This time, however, the weather turned bad on the third day, with forecasters predicting severe storms on the final day, which threatened to cut short the event.

Despite the substantial possibility that the closing round on Sunday would be canceled, DraftKings was still accepting bets on the tourney’s outcome late into the night on Saturday, February 3, according to Bavas’s complaint. So, it says, he consulted the current standings to see who was in the lead and, shortly after 10 p.m., used his mobile phone to plunk down a $100 wager on the final results.

Bavas, 37, opted for a so-called 20-leg parlay, usually an astronomical longshot. Yet, if the tourney were to get canceled, and the results were to stand, he would soon be significantly richer.

The complaint notes that Bavas picked golfer Wyndham Clark, who was at the top of the standings, to win the tournament.  He then went on to select another four leading players – Ludvig Aberg, Mark Hubbard, Matthieu Pavon, and Thomas Detry – to place among the top five finishers, five others to place in the top 10, and 10 more to place among the top 20.

The potential win grew from there.

At around 11:30 p.m. that same night, Bavas put $50 down on another 20-leg parlay, with each pick identical to the first, his complaint continues. This one would pay out $2,325,785.63, the complaint states. Less than 30 minutes later, the complaint says Bavas placed a third identical bet, wagering $100 for another shot at winning $4,651,571.26.

Finally, at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, February 4, 2024, Bavas bet another $50 on the same outcome, for a $2,325,785.63 payout.

Bavas also wagered $25 on a slightly different type of parlay, picking who he thought would be the top 20 finishers in the tournament, in no particular order, according to the complaint. If correct, this bet would pay Bavas $250,067.99, the complaint states.

In all, it says, Bavas stood to rake in a total of $14,204,781.77 on a mere $325 outlay.

The event would ultimately be postponed.

“Although conditions are forecast to improve through the morning Monday, after consultation with Monterey County emergency authorities, who have implemented a Shelter in Place order until early tomorrow morning for the greater Pebble Beach community, and out of an abundance of caution for the safety of all constituents, there will be no play on Monday,” tournament organizers said in a statement at the time. “Therefore, in accordance with the PGA TOUR Regulations the tournament results will be final through the conclusion of 54 holes.”

The complaint reads: “The leaderboard of the top 20 golfers at the conclusion of play in the Tournament is not in dispute,” his complaint argues. “All of Bavas’s [b]ets… were therefore winners.”

DraftKings saw things differently and went on to void his wagers.

Bavas’s complaint maintains that the rules on “futures bets” cited by DraftKings in nullifying his wagers do not apply to parlays, and claims that even if certain individual aspects of his bets could have been legitimately excluded on technical grounds, the parlays themselves should have remained valid and the odds recalculated.

After Bavas raised his objections, DraftKings updated its rules to state, “[I]n the event there is a reduction in scheduled rounds played, bets placed on any market will be void if... the bet(s) are placed after the final shot of the most recently completed round,” according to Lynch, who provided The Independent with before-and-after screenshots of the change.

Attorney Darren Kaplan, who is representing Bavas, told The Independent that DraftKings “didn’t really give an explanation” for canceling his client’s bets. Instead, according to the Kaplan, “they just told him the bet would not be honored.”

“When bettors place bets, they don’t do it purely for entertainment,” Kaplan said, referencing the tremendous profit Bavas stood to make. “They assume that if they win, it’ll be paid out.”