Arkansas Covered Its Massive Points Spread Against Pine Bluff, But One Sportsbook Voided The Bet

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Any sports bettor out there who decided to lay 50.5 points and wager on Arkansas to cover the monster points spread against Arkansas Pine-Bluff on Thursday night had to be thrilled when the final whistle blew with the Razorbacks earning a 70-0 victory.

Bettors who placed the bet on DraftKings, however, went from happy to straight-up upset when they realized that winning tickets weren't actually paid out.

The Hogs took a 49-0 lead into halftime, and with the game beyond out of hand, both teams agreed to shorten the third and fourth quarters from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. This gave DraftKings the out it needed in not having to pay out any tickets involved with the contest.

With the game being shortened, it meant that it was no longer live, therefore all bets were voided.

DraftKings football rules specifically note "there must be 5 minutes or less of scheduled game life left for best to have action unless the specific market outcome is already unconditionally determined."

While it may have made some sense to pay out every ticket that was on Arkansas to cover the spread and then maybe void bettors who were on Pine Bluff, that gets into very murky waters. The house rules exist for this very reason, DraftKings took full advantage of them, and returned everyone's initial wager on the game into their account.

This doesn't mean everyone was thrilled about it.

The key takeaway from this entire situation has nothing to do with money, sports betting, or DraftKings.  The takeaway is that we simply have to stop playing these meaningless college football games where a middle-of-the-pack Arkansas team can beat an in-state foe by 70 points in a shortened game. 

These games should not exist, period.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.