Can a bookie change odds for your bet after you have placed it?

Question

I placed a bet online for a treble. One hour before the first event was due to start the bookie emailed me to say there had been a mistake with the odds on one of my selections and they were changing them. They gave me the option to take the new odds and keep the treble or cancel the whole bet. Can they do this?

Answer 1

Terms and conditions vary from online bookie to online bookie, BUT all have a certain clause in there that basically states that they can cancel and wager at any time for any reason.  Generally, most sites will cancel a wager due to a "Bad" line.  This is usually an error on their part and it was not bad that they offered you a choice, but they should have also given you the option of only voiding that one selection of your three.  They have not done anything that should alarm you, it's just the way it goes.  I've had bookies cancel wagers after they were played.  Some sites will let you go depending on your wagering history.  I've been allowed to have my wager restored because they could tell from my wagering history that I was not trying to take advantage of the line by betting more than my usual wager amount.

Answer 2

It depends on what you are betting, and their rules and applicable laws.

For example, I was at an off track horse betting place in Virginia this week.  You can place a bet on any of dozens of races from dozens of tracks all over the country.  But the odds change constantly right up until the race starts.  You might bet on a great long shot of 30-1 half an hour before the race, but if lots of people bet on that horse his odds might be 5-1 by the time the race starts.

It seems wildly unfair that you can't lock in a price on a bet when you make it.  But it's not how it works.

But certainly at the horse track I am talking about, if I don't like my bet I can always cancel it before the race starts.  So if I don't think my bet is good value any more I can just cancel the ticket and take a refund.

Answer 3

Can a guy breaking the law, go back on his word?  in a word, Yeah.

Have you ever been to a race track?  The odds change all the time, right up until post time.

Answer 4

I'm sure they are not allowed to. It's like buying a car and have the garage call you  after a year saying the price went up so cough up the extra cash.

The odds change but not for your settled wager.

Answer 5

You have to read the clause with your bookie, but basically people bet with bookies for the simple reason that you know your odds, so my suggestion is that you find another bookie as this one is a scammer. The only way to make money gambling is to find  bookies that make mistakes and give over the odds, so basically if your ticket wins demand your original amount and ignore the e-mail, it's not your duty to read their e-mails they are tricking you into cancelling your ticket