OPINION: Legal Sports Betting Sites Shouldn’t Ban Cash Out

• Sportsbooks fail to regulate a common list of rules and take each bettor on a case-by-case basis.
• This means sportsbooks can restrict one bettor for something many other bettors are doing.
• Taking away the cash out feature for some shows favoritism toward the unsuccessful bettor.
• Despite the sports betting legalization goal of adding consumer protection, it seems to have failed the players thus far.

NEW YORK – It has become very clear to successful sports bettors that being too good comes with its own set of problems. While winning is not the issue, it appears sportsbooks are more inclined to further limit their winners in hopes to build their “square” player base.

Sportsbooks’ ability to ban certain features from certain players is a developing issue in the sports betting industry. In this case, it’s the cash out option, in which some receive a message as such.

Without any oversight from state gaming agencies, legal online sportsbooks can add these betting restrictions. While players may have the ability to appeal, it is often not met with a reversal.

They also get the “option” in some cases. Keep the ability to cash out early but lose all sports betting bonuses and promotions moving forward.

How Gaming Agencies See This

Gaming agencies came with the goal of making legal sports betting regulations with a few goals in mind.

• Help bettors gamble responsibly
• Provide customer protection
• Increase state tax revenue

But in actuality, only the amount bet on sports in the US seems to matter, and the dollars that follow it.

Very easily seen, a cash out option benefits not only a responsible gambling habit but customer protection. By giving players the ability to secure a payout, their ability to win money isn’t affected by their original bet’s success or failure.

With this, state gaming agencies seem to allow more protection to the sportsbooks, rather than the player. And this makes sense, as the state gaming agencies only exist based on the success of the legal sportsbooks.

To our knowledge, none of the sports betting bills or gaming agencies have talked on the matter of sportsbook restrictions. Aside from operator restrictions on sports betting ads or official data use, the agencies don’t seem to care about the successful bettor.

Most sportsbooks have a line in their terms and conditions that give them the ultimate power.

Sportsbook	Rule	Description
FanDuel	Terms of Use: 8.21 Placing Sports Bets	“We reserve the right to refuse or limit any Bets or bonuses (for example by setting minimum and maximum amounts which will be set out in the Sportsbook Rules, or by setting wagering requirements), or change such limits, at our sole discretion for any reason whatsoever without any obligation to provide you with notice.”
FanDuel	House Rules: 20. Cash Out	“FanDuel Sportsbook reserves the right to suspend or disable the Cash Out feature at any time.”
Bet365	Terms and Conditions: 4.2 Suspension and Closure	“bet365 reserves the right to close or suspend your account at any time and for any reason. Without limiting the preceding sentence, bet365 shall be entitled to close or suspend your account if…”
BetMGM	Terms and Conditions: 20. FORFEITURE & ACCOUNT CLOSURE	“We reserve the right, in Our unfettered discretion and in relation to Your account, any related ESP account (as that term is defined in Section 8), any accounts You may have with other sites, casinos or services owned or operated by or on behalf of the Group and, in the case of Your use of the Services, any Services that share the shared game/table platform, to terminate these agreements, withhold Your account balance, suspend Your account, and recover from Your account the amount of any affected pay-outs, bonuses and winnings, if…”

So, when is too much power, too much? Without proper oversight, should sportsbook be able to treat each player individually rather than having a set of blanket rules? But more importantly, when does consumer protection for legal sports betting begin?

News tags: AGA | bet365 | BetMGM | FanDuel