FanDuel sports book to pay out $82K bet despite system glitch

FanDuel agreed on Thursday to pay out $82,000 in winnings to a New Jersey man who was able to place a bet with erroneously favorable odds due to a system glitch.

The incident took place at FanDuel’s new sports book at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. A computer glitch allowed the man, Anthony Prince, to make a 750-1 wager that the Denver Broncos would beat the Oakland Raiders just seconds before the Broncos attempted a short field goal, yielding an enormous payout.

When the field goal attempt was good and the Broncos won, the system registered that Prince had won $82,000 on a $110 bet. FanDuel initially refused to pay out the bet because of the glitch, noting that the system should have set 1-6 odds for the scenario, but relented after New Jersey gaming regulators launched a probe into the incident.

"Above all else, sports betting is supposed to be fun," the company said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. "As a result of a pricing error this weekend, it wasn't for some of our customers."

Aside from the $82,000 check, FanDuel said it would give away another $82,000 in $1,000 increments to 82 randomly-selected customers at its sports book. FanDuel launched the sports book in July after the U.S. Supreme Court reversed a federal ban on sports betting, allowing New Jersey to legalize the pastime.

Gambling critics have long cited the need for consumer protections as a reason for strict regulation of the industry. Most of the major U.S. sports leagues support a federal regulatory framework for sports betting, rather than a piecemeal, state-by-state framework.

FanDuel said the 750-1 odds generated by its system was “obviously a pricing error” because a 36-yard field goal, such as the one attempted at the end of regulation in the Broncos-Raiders game, has a roughly 85 percent chance of being successful.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.