Nevada gaming board eases rules on canceling past-posted bets

Nevada sportsbooks can now cancel bets placed after events begin without board approval, streamlining operations and reducing regulatory burden.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board voted unanimously to recommend that the state ease its rules when it comes to canceling bets placed after an event has begun. 

Under current regulations, when a sportsbook becomes aware that they accepted past-posted bets, the operator must inform Gaming Control Board chair Kirk Hendrick before getting approval and voiding any action. Operators must also submit supplemental data on the incident within 45 days. 

Under the new rules, sportsbooks may cancel wagers, as per their house rules, placed on events that have already started without seeking approval from the Gaming Control Board. They still must submit a report to the board within 45 days to outline what occurred. 

“This is about trying to be fair, which is an overarching and important goal for the board, to both the patron and licensee,” Hendrick said.

The new rules are expected to lift an unnecessary workload from the Gaming Control Board. Betting on past-posted events is already illegal in Nevada, so there is no argument or support from the bettors’ perspective. “If a bet’s placed after the outcome has already been determined, it’s just flat-out not a wager. There’s nothing to rescind,” said board member Dr. Brittnie Watkins. 

Other situations, such as bad odds or incorrect lines, do not fall under the jurisdiction of this new rule. 

In 2020, during the pandemic, a high-profile incident ended with regulators approving BetMGM voiding more than $200,000 in parlay bets. Those bets included wagers on baseball games in China and Korea that had started in the early hours of the morning Mountain Time and were left up too long. 

Hendrick says the rule dates back to 1989 and that a lot has changed in the world of sports betting since then. With the advancement of technology and mobile betting and the speed of transactions increasing, the likelihood of mistakes also increases. He says he has never denied an operator’s request to cancel a past-posted bet.