Iowa man sues DraftKings for refusing to pay out $14.2m on the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am
An Iowa man is taking on sports betting giant DraftKings sportsbook in court, claiming he’s owed $14.2m after “winning several wagers” on the 2024 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
A few casual bets have since spiralled into a potentially landmark legal battle, surrounding weather, rules and regulations.
Why the Iowa bettor is suing DraftKings
After watching and studying weather forecasts, and placing bets, on a potentially rain-shortened golf tournament, Nicholas Bravas had five punts – with sufficient reasoning – on last year’s AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.
The Dallas County resident claims that DraftKings unfairly voided the bets he placed on the tournament, as rain and wind threatened to cut short play after 54 holes.
Several bettors – Bavas included – put their money on competitors who had taken the lead as the defendants were still accepting bets on the tournament’s outcome.
His lawsuit claims that DraftKings displays “a dizzying array of interlocking sets of rules that may or may not govern each bet depending on the type of wager placed, the specific event and the particular sport…
“When DraftKings makes an error or accepts a bet it should not have, or when unforeseen events occur that require an unanticipated large pay out by DraftKings, then it seems different rules apply.”
As a result of Bavas’ bets, he is suing both the website DraftKings and Crown IA Gaming, its subordinate company.
Both are licensed by Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission to conduct sports wagering within the 26th largest and 31st most populous American state.
According to the lawsuit, Mr Bavas placed five bets on the outcome of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament in the late hours of February 3 2024, with both wind and rain threatening to suspend play and bring the tournament to an earlier close than initially planned.
After 10pm, the first bet was placed which was accepted by DraftKings – a ’20 picks’ parlay in which the punter selects multiple competitors to place as designated for the bet to pay out.
Bavas chose Wyndham Clark, leading at the time, as the tournament winner. Besides Clark winning, his other selections for the top places all finished in the rankings that he believed they would.
How much was bet?
The payout on that $100 20-pick parlay bet, which saw every one of Bavas’ selections come up, after DraftKings had accepted it, was a cool $4,651,571.
Sensing an opportunity to make money, a further four bets followed.
- Bet 2: At 10:18pm, Bavas put another bet on which he picked the top 20 finishers – in no particular order – for a potential payout of $250,068 from a $25 stake.
- Bet 3: A third bet, identical to his first, was placed at 11:22pm which paid out $2,325,786 from a $50 stake.
- Bet 4: At 11:59, again he repeated the process by copying the first bet of $100 with a potential payout of $4,651,571.
- Bet 5: His fifth and final bet – placed just after midnight – was identical to his third bet, with a $50 stake returning $2,325,786.
The exact total of all of these bets comes to an eye-watering $14,204,782.
On February 4, PGA Tour referees delayed the start of the final tournament round due to the horrendous weather conditions.
After the rain and wind showed no signs of stopping, at 9:15pm the PGA Tour’s rules committees announced that play had been suspended.
Therefore, the tournament’s results would be concluded after the 54 holes just played and – Bavas’ lawsuit claims – the potential payout of $14.2m has arisen due to all five of his bets being “winners”.
