Bellagio Employee Error Caused Huge Loss for Las Vegas Sportsbook

• A Las Vegas sportsbook lost almost a quarter-million dollars from odds that were shown to be made after the games started because the book posted the wrong start time.
• The bets were made on Korean and Chinese baseball games and one bettor won over $100,000 on a $250 10-game parlay bet.
• The Nevada Gaming Control Board is reportedly investigating this situation but many bookkeepers say this type of mistake is common in their business.

LAS VEGAS – MGM Resorts Las Vegas sportsbook, Bellagio, has experienced an almost $250,000 loss due to a simple human error.

Incorrect start times were posted at the sportsbook allowing bettors to place bets on games that had already started.

There were about 50 wagers placed on KBO League and the Chinese Professional Baseball League games at the Bellagio resort. The bettors used the self-service kiosks from 1:30 a.m. to 3 am PST and all of the games had either a 1 a.m. or 2 a.m. start time.

One of the bettors won $137,107.38 on a $250 10-leg parlay and contributed to one of the biggest losses in recent Nevada sports betting history.

“It’s happened to all of us,” said John Murray, Westgate Sportsbook director. “I think every sportsbook probably since the beginning of time has dealt with this at some point. We’ve had past post situations where our employees put in the wrong time or put in the wrong number or they forgot to close something. It’s manual entry and humans are going to make mistakes.”

All sportsbooks in Las Vegas have to contact the Nevada Gaming Control Board (NGCB) when there are errors like these involving more than $500 and reports say the NGCB will be looking into this situation.

When dealing with games in international time zones, bookmakers agree that keeping track of these games can be extremely difficult. It is more common than many would think that starting time mistakes happen in sportsbooks.

Legal sports betting venues will usually give bettors the option to either keep the winnings and be banned from the sportsbook or continue to be allowed in the casino and return the money from the bet.

News tags: Bellagio | Chinese Professional Baseball | John Murray | KBO League | Las Vegas | MGM Resorts