Published at 01:29h, March 17, 2023
Last update: March 17, 2023 at 04:47h.
FanDuel has told Casino.org that it didn’t make most of the parlay wagers an Illinois lobbyist and gaming industry analyst played as part of an experiment he recently conducted.
Over the last few weeks, Steve Brubaker played 50 same-game parlays featured on the front page of FanDuel’s wagering app. He won only one of the 50 $1 bets and lost more that $37. He then played 50 $1 lottery scratch off tickets. He won eight times on those, including a $300 winner, but the other seven were worth $22.
Same-game parlays, as the name implies, are a series of wagers connected to one event. These parlays can be tied to one event or a team of players, or both. For example, two or more players scoring a certain number of points. As with all parlays, each leg has to be successful for the bet to win.
Brubaker told Casino.org he decided to check out what FanDuel was doing after reading comments from the operator regarding the revenue it makes off its front page. Brubaker realized they weren’t great bets but he still believed he could do better than his 1-for-50 performance.
Brubaker made his wagers from the top section of its home page. Other parlays FanDuel advertised on rotating banners at the top of its homepage screen were also posted by Brubaker, who tagged FanDuel in tweets. However, he claimed that he has never heard back from them. FanDuel’s premade parlays were one of his main concerns during the nearly two-month-long experiment. FanDuel also failed to reset the counter showing how many people played the wager when the odds or legs changed. FAILED. 1 for 48 !!!! Tomorrow, see you.
— Steve Brubaker (@SteveBrubaker)
How FanDuel Promotes Parlays@FDSportsbookThere’s no debate that FanDuel and other operators promote parlays, same-game or otherwise, including placing them in high-profile spots on their apps.pic.twitter.com/P4ngvU7G5M
All operators have seen growth in that segment of the sports betting market. FanDuel stated that parlays account for more than 60% of all bets placed on its platform during a presentation to investors in November. Thanks in part to more player production markets being offered, FanDuel bettors are playing parlays with more legs.March 11, 2023
In response to Brubaker’s work, a FanDuel representative told
Casino.org
that the section where Brubaker selected most of his wagers highlights popular same-game parlays made by bettors. In other words, they weren’t created by anyone employed by the sportsbook.
FanDuel’s sportsbook staff looks across the sports offered on the company’s app and finds the same-game parlays that have been bet the most. There are also some contingencies. FanDuel displays parlays with odds not higher than 20-1. If another parlay receives more wagers, it will be the top parlay in the section. If the liability is greater than the threshold, the trading team can remove the bet from its front page. An individual could still place that wager by going to the specific game and creating it themselves.Brubaker provided a list of his bets and the odds he received. His odds of winning on six of his bets were over 20-1. They ranged from +2017 to +1754. The average odds for Brubaker placing parlays from January 20 to March 13 were +1087. That means a $1 winning wager would have brought him $10.87..
FanDuel has other parlay wagers and also offers same-game parlays. These parlays are usually given a title or based on a theme. The representative said top trading executives urge their content teams to create wagers they would bet on a high-profile game.
FanDuel traders cannot make bets through the company’s platform.
Brubaker Wants Changes
Brubaker told
Casino.org
that he has no problem with bettors choosing their parlay selections. He also requested that the odds for each leg be posted by FanDuel. He said that would show bettors if a particular selection within the wager has substantially higher odds than the other legs.
Odds are irrelevant if the SGPs are made or selected to lose,”
he told
Casino.org.He also wants regulators to study data and see if parlays promoted on the front page have a significantly different win rate than those created by bettors.
Brubaker ended his experiment this past week and now focuses on his day job. He noted that his work on this experiment was more time-consuming than some may realize, but still, he prides himself on exposing what he thinks are bad practices in the industry.
“I’m always going to look for something that doesn’t feel right,” he said.