FanDuel Addresses Recent Concerns over Same-Game Parlay Wagers, Attributes to User-Enabled Bets
FanDuel says it didn't create most of the parlay wagers played by an Illinois lobbyist and gaming analyst who conducted an experiment. For over a few weeks, Steve Brubaker placed 50 $1 wagers on the front page of FanDuel's app, with only one win and a total loss of over $37. He then played 50 $1 lottery scratch-off tickets, where he won 8 times, including a $300 winner, but lost $22 on the other seven.
Same-game parlays are a set of wagers connected to one event, such as two or more players scoring a certain amount of points in a game, and each leg must be successful for the bet to win. Brubaker wanted to check out FanDuel's bets after noticing comments regarding the revenue the operator makes from front page offerings.
Brubaker's wagers consisted mostly of the top offering on a home page section and parlays FanDuel promoted on rotating banners on the home screen. He shared his results on Twitter daily but didn't receive any response from FanDuel. His main concerns were FanDuel not resetting the counter for bettors who played the same wager as odds or legs changed.
Brubaker's tweet on March 11 read, "48th day of@FDSportsbook pregame SGP test. FAILED. 1 for 48!!!"
How FanDuel Promotes Parlays
FanDuel, along with other operators, promotes parlays, including same-game parlays. The growth in this segment has attracted the attention of sports betting stakeholders. FanDuel stated during a November investor presentation that over 60% of its bets come from parlays. With more player production markets available, FanDuel bettors are playing parlays with more legs.
FanDuel spokesperson noted that the section where Brubaker made most of his wagers highlights popular same-game parlays made by bettors. This means they weren't made by any FanDuel employee.
The sportsbook staff at FanDuel searches across all sports offered on its platform and finds the same-game parlays with the most wagers. These are then displayed on the front page, with the counter showing the number of bettors who have wagered on that precise parlay regardless of the odds.
FanDuel has certain contingencies for these parlays; they only display parlays with odds less than 20-1 and remove them from the front page if the liability surpasses the threshold. While Brubaker's odds were higher than 20-1 for six parlays, his average odds were +1087, meaning a $1 winning bet would have netted him $10.87.
However, the implied probability of those odds is 8.4%, which is more than four times Brubaker's win rate.
The FanDuel rep didn't know the exact odds of Brubaker's bets but said he may have experienced a run of bad luck during that period.
FanDuel does create some same-game and other parlay wagers, usually given titles or based on a theme. The representative said top trading executives urge their content teams to create wagers they would bet on during high-profile games.
FanDuel traders cannot make bets through the company's platform.
Brubaker Wants Changes
Brubaker has no issue with bettors creating their parlay selections but believes that even if FanDuel promotes some premade wagers, the counter showing the number of people who have placed that wager induces bettors to make the same bet.
He also wants the odds to be posted for each leg of the parlay to help bettors understand if a specific selection within the wager has significantly higher odds than the others.
"Odds are irrelevant if the SGPs are made or selected to lose," he told.
Brubaker concluded his study last week and now concentrates on his routine work. He mentioned that his work on this project was more laborious than many may perceive, yet he’s proud of unveiling what he considers to be questionable practices in the sector.
"I'm constantly keeping an eye out for things that aren't quite right," he stated.
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