Illinois Gaming Regulators Say BetMGM Rightfully Voided $389,000 in Winning Sports Bets
Posted on: June 8, 2025, 10:24h.
Last updated on: June 8, 2025, 10:24h.
- Illinois gaming officials say BetMGM was right to void sports bets
- A bettor asked the state gaming regulatory board to force BetMGM to pay
- BetMGM wrongly listed odds but voided the player’s bets before the NBA game tipped off
The Illinois Gaming Board (IGB) has sided with online sports betting operator BetMGM in a complaint filed by a consumer who alleged his winning bets weren’t paid.
In a story Casino.org reported on in April, Chicago resident Mark Aiello made several bets on the March 2 NBA game between the Chicago Bulls and Indiana Pacers. Aiello was enticed to wager on six player props regarding rebounds and assists after noticing the lines were quite long.
A couple of Aiello’s bets hit, but when he opened his BetMGM Sportsbook app, the $500 bets that he thought had won around $389,000 were listed as voided, and the original stakes were credited back to his account. BetMGM cited its house rules, which allow for bets to be canceled if there’s an “obvious error of incorrect or inflated odds.”
Aiello filed a complaint with the IGB to have his winnings paid. The state gaming agency, however, sided with the online sportsbook, which is licensed to conduct mobile wagering in Illinois through its partnership with Par-A-Dice Hotel & Casino.
BetMGM Rightfully Voided Bets
In its order published June 3, the IGB detailed that Aiello placed four single-game parlays. The four bets, each $500, were placed on odds of +17500, +25000, and two bets at +35000.
About an hour later, the BetMGM trading team realized that the odds were incorrect and should have been +1860, +2700, +3200, and +3600. Aiello’s four bets were voided 11 minutes before the Bulls-Pacers game tipped off. BetMGM self-reported the “obvious error” and bets being canceled to the IGB.
In this case, the evidence demonstrates that a human error led to BetMGM making the pricing available to patrons at a level that significantly diverged from the intended pricing for the March 2, 2025, Bulls-Pacers game. The evidence further shows that the incorrect pricing was not a question of poor judgment by BetMGM in its assessments of likely statistical outcomes, but instead was the result of a specific, identifiable failure by BetMGM staff to follow the necessary and established procedures for pricing updates,” the IGB wrote in its order dismissing Aiello’s complaint.
“This conclusion is corroborated by the fact that all meaningful actions BetMGM took to correct the error occurred prior to the commencement of the subject Bulls-Pacers game. Thus, all evidence is consistent with a good faith effort by BetMGM to correct the human error it made before the game,” the ruling continued.
Pacers Play On
While Aiello’s Bulls failed to reach the NBA Playoffs, the Pacers have a surprising one-game lead in the NBA Finals against heavily favored Oklahoma City. Indiana took Game 1 in a 111-110 thriller.
Indiana remains the series underdog. For tonight’s Game 2 in Oklahoma City, BetMGM has the Thunder favored by 10.5 points, with the moneyline at OKC -600, Indiana +425.
Oklahoma City is also the series favorite despite dropping Game 1 at home. The Thunder are at -350 to win the team’s first NBA title since relocating from Seattle in 2008. The Pacers are at +275 to win their first NBA championship.
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