Bad line blues

[mls]

Recently a bettor found a soccer match quoted at +265 when it should have been -140.
In basketball that would be like the Lakers being listed at +6 rather than -2 1/2.

The bettor called the book to make sure the listed odds were right (not mentioning it was listed at -140 somewhere else) and, when assured it was, bet $20,000 in parlay/scalps (guaranteeing a $10,000 profit no matter who won).

This $10,000 no risk deal had a single flaw ... what if the book later decided to void the game for "obvious wrong line?"

Oops, just lost $20,000 in parlay bets ...

I believe that the books should have paid after the bettor called to confirm the line. In fact, a month ago I called Pelican Sports twice to tell them they had a line wrong - after twice being told it was right I pounded it for 5 dimes. Obvious error IMO but they paid because I twice called them about it.

Would I have bitched if Pelican had voided my bet ... of course, but with less than a clear conscience ...

A void bet is a risk you run when you pound an obvious bad line ...

[reno]

My take is that if you bet a "bad" line, you should immediately call the sportsbook to give them a chance to void the bet. If you call them and they tell you the bet is OK, it is unethical for them to then void the bet at a later time.

[auspice]

mls....I had a similar situation this year during baskets...I called WWTS (who in my opinion were then and still are the most solid book around) and received a line of Stanford-3....Stanford was ranked number one in the country and was hosting a tourament at home....their opponent was Northern New Hampshire...I asked the writer if they were sure the line was stanford-3 and received a positive confirmation...I then bet 4 dimes on Stanford and the writer confirmed the bet and read it back.....later in the day I called to make another bet and my available balance was off by the stanford bet....they had voided my bet....I was told by a supervisor they had made a mistake and that there was no number up on the game but for me to keep checking and if a number was put up on the game we would "negotiate" a line for the game. I asked what would happen if no number was put up and was told I could have the stanford-3.....I watched throughout the day and no number was put up for the game so I called back about an hour before tipoff. The night supervisor who was in charge now called the day supervisor that I had been talking to.....the night supervisor said that even though I was told I could have the bet at stanford-3 they would not honor what they had told me. Stanford won by 56 points. I never called the owner of WWTS because I knew then it was a bad number and I very much valued then as I do now the integrity of betting with an outfit like WWTS. The difficult part of having a sportsbook is making "rules" which are supposed to apply to all situations. You don't think of all the uncompromising situations these "rules" can put you. Was I wronged by WWTS...HELL NO....I had no risk whatsoever...I was trying to take advantage of somebodys mistakingly putting out the wrong line. Did I call up Billy the owner of WWTS and raise a stink....no way....I didn't want to endanger someone's job...someone who probably very much needed their job and had made a mistake by probably overstepping their authority....sometimes rules can get in the way of what's right and wrong...sometimes if you own a sportsbook you have to be a benevolent ruler and not worry about rules as much as what's right and wrong.