ESPN BET under fire for not honoring pushes with bad house rule

It is a terrible ruling for this bettor, and this individual is probably not the only upset customer.

ESPN BET, which launched at the beginning of November, has one of the worst house rules in the sports betting industry where if one bet pushes in a parlay, the entire bet is void.

This bettor, X user @CalculatorGrant, had a five-leg parlay that saw the Eagles push as -3 favorites against the Bills.

Instead of regrading the parlay like most other sportsbooks do, ESPN BET voided the entire parlay.

The bet in question was a same-game parlay that included DeVonta Smith over 57.5 receiving yards + D’Andre Swift over 59.5 rushing yards + Eagles -3 + Stefon Diggs over 63.5 receiving yards + Josh Allen over 1.5 passing touchdowns.

The bet is labeled “no action” by ESPN BET despite four legs winning and the Eagles -3 being a push.

“Can you please the portion of your bylaws that makes this entire push,” the bettor requested on social media. “Have never seen this on any other book I’ve been on.”

Well, it doesn’t appear that any adjustments will be made on this one in the future.

Penn National did not respond to multiple requests for a comment, and ESPN BET support did not respond on social media.

Per ESPN BET’s bylaws, Section B, Para 6.2.c read as follows:

“If one or more selections in a same game parlay portion of a Parlay+™ wager settle as a push (for example, due to a total ending up exactly on the number that was selected), the same game parlay portion of the Parlay+™ wager that contained the applicable selection will be deemed a push, except if a selection of such same game parlay portion results in a loss, in which case above applies. The remaining selections in the Parlay+™ wager will be graded in accordance with the Operator’s house rules.“

This essentially says that you won’t be graded a win with a push even if your other legs are successful. If any leg is unsuccessful, you are graded a loss, as usual.

Most other sportsbooks, including FanDuel, would reprice the wager and pay out your winnings if one leg pushes and the other cash.

Below are FanDuel’s house rules on same game parlay’s, which apply similarly to all parlays.

“Same Game Parlays (SGP’s) will be settled in the same manner. If a selection within the wager is voided, the wager odds will be re-calculated using the remaining legs.”

Barstool Sportsbook, which was rebranded ESPN BET earlier this month, had similar rules, so this isn’t necessarily new.

However, PENN National is looking to gain at least five times more market share in the online sports betting market than they had with Barstool Sports.

So next time you make a parlay on ESPN BET, make sure that there are no round numbers in your parlay; they must have .5 at the end of each leg in order to avoid this situation.