The NFL season is here, well sort of. Last week we had our first NFL preseason game between the Chicago Bears and the Houston Texans. The Bears won the Hall of Fame Game 21-17 over the Texans. It seems pretty cut and dry doesn't it? But, for sports bettors and sports books it was a nightmare of a game.
While we all should be talking about the performance of Brett Rypien, who filled in as starting QB for this early pre-season matchup, where he threw three touchdown passes, that all meant very little to some bettors across the country who were left confused and angry.
The game was called early because of lightning and heavy rain. The game was stopped with 3:31 left in the third quarter and after a 36 minute rain delay and then subsequently called off. This left bettors who were not familiar with the house rules upset and angry at the results.
In most cases sports books deem a full game to be 55 minutes of play for the game to be graded correctly. That means that anyone who took the Bears + 2 1/2 or on the moneyline at +135 would not be cashing their tickets, instead the game was voided and graded as if the game wasn't played. Chicago ticket holders might be able to console themselves and figure that anything could happen in the 4th quarter and while not cashing the ticket stings, it's not something to get angry about.
That can not be said for most over bettors. The game total went over well before the rain came and over bettors were counting their money, but they, just like Bears backers, received a void bet and only got their money back.
This is rare and it does not come into play often, but it's a stark reminder to everyone to make sure you read and recognize the house rules before placing a bet. Jeffrey Benson, Circa Sportsbook operations manager, wrote on X "Game was called due to weather. Given it didn’t go 55 mins per our House Rules;It will be a refund on full game ml, side, and total plus the same for 2h. Don’t shoot the messenger, I don’t control the weather." and then followed that up with "I didn’t have arguing football House Rules on Aug 1 on my bingo card, but here we are,"as he was inundated with comments and arguments about cashing over tickets.
Whether you are a seasoned pro or a recreational bettor, read the house rules and understand them before this season begins, there are some unique things that can come up, and you want to make sure you are prepared for it.