Every year football games are canceled, rescheduled, or relocated due to extreme weather or other circumstances. Teams have protocols for long delays, and contracts are written to prepare for possible cancelations.
What happens to a bet when a game relocates or reschedules?
The short answer: it depends on the sportsbook.
Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports
But what happens to bets placed on those games?
For that answer, I reached out to the bookmakers at the South Point, Golden Nugget, and Caesars casinos in Las Vegas, as well as Bet Online, an offshore book.
It turns out that the house rules vary wildly by location.
If there is one lesson to take away from this exercise, it is to know the rules under which you’re betting.
What happens when a game is rescheduled for a different time on the same day? A different day in the same week? A future weekend? A future unspecified weekend tbd?
“At Caesars, a bet still has action as long as the game is played on the scheduled date,” said Matthew Lindeman.
“Our house rule is that games are action as long as they are played within seven days (for football),” said Aaron Kessler of the Golden Nugget. “So, any game rescheduled within a week of the original date would be fine, and bets would hold.”
“If the game is postponed/rescheduled later in the day, the bets still have action,” said Dave Mason of Bet Online. “If the game is rescheduled for a different day, whether it’s later in the week or a different week or month, bets are no-actioned.”
What about when the location of a game changes? For instance, 2018’s Ohio at Virginia’s line went from -7 to -3 when the location was relocated to Nashville.
“Games that are re-located and played on the same day (such as Ohio-Virginia) are not refunded after the announcement,” said Lindeman.
“As far as location goes, our rule is that we are not responsible for site changes — we would not refund wagers made before the game was relocated,” said Kessler.
“If it’s a change in venue, the game is no-actioned,” said Mason. “A new line will open up, and the players will have to bet it again.”
What about wagers on season win totals/props?
Must all 12 games must be played? If a game is made up at the end of the season, would the wager then be valid? What if a team schedules a replacement game against another team?
“Our rule on college season wins is that the team involved in the bet must play exactly 12 games,” said the Nugget’s Kessler. “The wager would still be valid if the game is made up, even if the game is against a different opponent.”
“We refund any win total bet if the team doesn’t play the number of regular season games originally scheduled,” said Lindeman of Caesar’s. “If a team re-schedules one of their games for a later date but still plays all 12 games, the win total bets are still action with us.”
“If the game is made up later in the season – the bet has action. If the game is not made up later in the season – the bet is no-actioned,” said Bet Online’s Mason.
One book has an extremely simple, but consistent rule.
“All bets are action. Cancellations, sites changes, etc, don’t mean anything. If the season starts for a team, its action,” said South Point’s Chris Andrews. “I think we’re the only ones who do it that way, but that is the way we do it.”
Who do these rules benefit? Can players gain an advantage?
While Bet Online’s rules help to ensure that the bets most accurately reflect the intent and status of the wager at the time it was placed, the brick-and-mortar casinos don’t really gain a big advantage from this.
Extreme weather is unpredictable. If one bettor gains an advantage from a game’s cancellation, rescheduling, or relocation, another bettor likely loses.
