Illinois state regulators side with BetMGM after canceling man's bets that would have won nearly $400,000
A Chicago area man is down in the dumps, after learning the money he hoped to use for his daughter's college tuition is not going to materialize.
Military veteran Mark Aiello, of northwest suburban Roselle, thought he hit some big bets during March Madness, but the gambling app he used won't pay out, and state regulators have sided with the sports betting company.
More than a million people watched Aiello's story after it first aired on CBS News Chicago in March, and it went viral online, turning him into a bit of an online celebrity.
"It's definitely nice to feel that support from other people," Aiello said.
In March, Aiello bet big on basketball, and thought he won $389,000 by correctly guessing rebounds and assists by certain Chicago Bulls players.
But the BetMGM sports betting app he used canceled his wagers right before the game, and declined to pay him a cent, citing an "obvious error of incorrect or inflated odds."
The outcome outraged the internet.
"Being able to have others feel your pain, it definitely helps," Aiello said.
That pain cuts even deeper now, after a ruling from the Illinois Gaming Board, which denied Aiello's complaint to be paid for his parlays, with an explanation that makes him even more frustrated.
BetMGM admitted to investigators that pricing was "not properly updated" when Aiello placed his bets.
"What probably happened is they had a glitch," said gaming consultant and attorney Elihu Feustel, who writes books to help gamblers game the system.
Feustel wants wagers to win, but said the odds originally posted for Aiello's bets were definitely odd.
"MGM caught the mistake, and they canceled it before the game was played, which is a big deal," he said.
Feustel said it doesn't matter that the term "human error" appears no less than six times in the state's ruling.
How can a human error be permissible?
"Let's say I send a $200 deposit to my bank, and they credit me with $20,000 because of a typo. That's a human error, and under gaming law and under contract law, when there's an obvious mistake, the transaction is voidable," Feustel said.
Aiello feels down on his luck. He's questioning how the "obvious error" and "inflated odds" got past BetMGM traders, who he said reviewed and accepted at least one of his bets that would've won him thousands.
"I figured that they would be honored; and, you know, them making a mistake, I feel like I should be owed something," Aiello said.
Had Aiello's bets gone through with the proper odds, it appears he would have won approximately $40,000, but it doesn't seem BetMGM will pay that out either.
Would Aiello be satisfied if his bets were paid using what BetMGM considers the correct odds?
"That's the least they could do," he said.
BetMGM did not respond when asked if they'd consider paying Aiello something based on the correct odds.
