We’ve been impressed with the amount of good content such as blogs, product updates and news on the Hollywoodbets site of late. It’s always encouraging to see bookmakers providing players with valuable information they can use. When operators keep the channels of communication open with their customers, they build trust and loyalty which is an essential part of running a successful business in the highly competitive gambling industry.
The latest bit of news to come out of Hollywoodbets wasn’t of the good kind, but we’re happy and relieved they let players know about the incident as soon as possible and compensated them generously!
So what happened exactly?
Hollywoodbets and Betway Esports Pricing Error
Hollywoodbets odds supplier Betradar made an e-soccer esports pricing error which affected all matches played by CSKA Moscow (Bouz) on Friday 28 and Saturday 29 August. As a result, Hollywoodbets, Betway and other bookies across the world took bets on matches involving this team/player at odds much higher than they should have been.
The explanation Betradar gave to Hollywoodbets and other bookmakers for this pricing error is that one of their odds compilers generated incorrect odds using form references (data sets) from the wrong team/player entirely. The consequence of this error was that any partner bookmaker such as Hollywoodbets or Betway who offered betting on CSKA Moscow (Bouz) over the weekend, posted the wrong numbers, allowing players to take bets at the wrong odds.
After realising the palpable error, Betradar contacted their partners and suggested they withhold bet settlement on all e-soccer matches involving CSKA Moscow (Bouz). The global odds supplier then made the recommendation to Hollywoodbets and other bookies to correct the odds on winning bets before paying out customers.
Over the weekend Hollywoodbets posted this blog post apologising to customers for the odds pricing error made by Betradar. Also included in the blog post was a list of the e-soccer games which were affected as well as Betradar’s official statement regarding the incident.
To the credit of Hollywoodbets, they agreed, as per Betradar’s recommendations, to calculate all customers’ winnings based on the average odds of a mid-seed player, when in fact CSKA Moscow (Bouz) has no official rating and 24 straight losses to his name. We’re delighted that Hollywoodbets fully compensated customers for the mistake, paying out punters at higher odds than they would’ve had the error not occurred!
Most terms and conditions which players agree to when registering an online betting account state the operator has the right to void any bets where an obvious pricing error has occurred. Therefore in the instance of these e-soccer games, Hollywoodbets were within their rights to void the relevant bets which would’ve meant winning players received no payout and had their betting stakes returned.
Here’s what’s stated in their Hollywoodbets betting rules with regards to palpable errors in odds pricing:
“Where a blatant or palpable error is made in transmission on any event, bets will be settled at the correct price at the time at which the bets were placed.”
You can read the full terms and conditions here.
Betway has its own rules regarding palpable errors:
“All odds, lines and handicaps are subject to fluctuation and become fixed only at the time of bet acceptance. If the error is noticed in time Betway will make reasonable efforts to contact the customer to allow the choice of placing another bet at the correct odds/line/handicap.”
You can read the full terms and conditions here.
We’re pleased to see Hollywoodbets quickly apologise to their customers for any inconvenience caused by this error and compensate them generously despite the incident being largely out of their control. We’re also happy to report that bookmakers in Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and across Europe and Asia affected by this odds pricing error, all took similar action to fully compensate players.
Some players who placed a bet on the match have reported having their Betway or Hollywoodbets accounts locked. Bookmakers will generally lock accounts as they investigate the matter, but we’re confident they will unlock these account shortly.
Were you affected by the e-soccer odds mess up over the weekend? We want to hear about it. Also, tell us if you think Hollywoodbets handled the incident correctly or could’ve done better. Let us know in the comments below!
That’s bullshit we’ve been loosing and you never mind you’re always happy when you eating our money now you its your time to pay what belong to us remember your problem or your fault its your not us
They’ve admitted to the error, they aren’t blaming the punters. It’s just unfortunate that the punters are suffering, but it’s also unfair to expect them to pay out millions on the rand on an error.