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New Italian rules on palpable errors in sports betting odds should reduce the amount of disputes arising between gambling operators and players.
In the wake of the numerous disputes that have affected the world of gaming – and more specifically sports betting – in recent years, the Italian Gambling Authority (ADM) has established precise modalities and procedures for the recognition of palpable errors in odds.
Errors in odds occurs when the quota associated with a particular outcome of a sport event is incorrect compared to the actual probability of that outcome and the odd that the operator wanted to allocate to that bet. As addressed in a previous article, the position held by Italian gaming authority had taken so far the stance that operators were liable for errors in the odds as part of their business risk. In several instances, courts had taken a different view, but this official position from ADM led to the flourishing of cases where players were challenging the cancelation by operators of the bet.
To ensure fair and transparent treatment for all involved, ADM has now defined detailed rules for handling this type of situation. Odds errors have been defined as the
material error of indication of the odds in the acceptance program prepared by the operator, objectively detectable by the player and recognizable, at the time of the fixed-odds bet, as an error on the basis of the comparison between the odds offered and the relative average market value for pre-match collection or as an error on the basis of the comparison between the odds offered by the same concessionaire for live collection.
The Italian Palpable Error in Sports Betting Odds Recognition Process
The recognition by ADM of a palpable error in odds error can be requested following a request for quota error verification using a dedicated application provided by ADM.
This request must be sent within three days of the last date reported in the system of the Italian gambling authority dedicated to verify the proper offering of games for the event in question. The request must include detailed information about the event, the type of bet and the specific outcome for which the odds error recognition is being requested.
If this deadline is missed, it does not mean that the operator will have to pay the odd. It will not be able to rely on the process set out by ADM to quickly solve this kind of disputes, and shall deal with the matter before courts. There is no doubt though that courts might consider the lack of filing of this request as an argument against the operator in the dispute.
The Italian Process of Detection of the Palpable Error in Sports Betting Odds
According to the rules just published by ADM, the authority will use a specific methodology to detect palpable errors in odds, which varies depending on whether the error occurs either before the beginning of the event (pre-match collection) or during the course of the event (live collection).
In addition, for bet types composed of a number of outcomes less than 20, ADM operates by comparing the threshold value, indicated and established by ADM based on its own parameters, at the “erroneous” quota communicated by the operator and the weighted average value. ADM certifies the existence of the quota error if the weighted average value is less than or equal to the threshold value.
Conversely, on the other hand, for bet types composed of a number of outcomes greater than or equal to 20, ADM certifies the existence of the quota error if the incorrect quota communicated by the operator is greater than or equal to the weighted average value multiplied by 4.00. This process involves comparing the odds provided by the operator with the weighted average value of the odds recorded by other licensed operators in the ADM system. There are percentages of error that can be defined as “excusable” and for which the error is not to be considered obvious and recognizable, and in such circumstances it will not be possible to refer to the quota error discipline.
Is the End of Italian Disputes on Palpable Errors in Odds?
The burden will be on operators to provide documentary evidence of the error. More specifically, the documentary evidence must give evidence of the date, hour, minute and second when the event that generated the quota error occurred and the date, hour, minute and second when the dealer became aware of the error. In the absence of valid documentary evidence, the request for recognition of the quota error shall be inadmissible.
This type of evidence shall be provided in any case for disputes before courts which are still possible. However, the benefit of the process outlined above is that it is meant to quickly sort the dispute avoiding the costs and the long duration of trials.
This process is unlikely to sort any sports betting related dispute between operators and players since there are scenarios which cannot be addressed by the new rules that want to reduce the level of discretion between the parties involved. They are a good sign though towards the creation of a better environment of fairness and transparency in the sports betting industry and the criteria set out by ADM are likely to be used as a benchmark for disputes in other jurisdictions as well.
We will discuss about this topic and much more at the DLA Piper’s webinar that will take place on the 16th of April whose details are available HERE.
