Fraud or a loophole in the rules? How a $14.2 million win turned into a lawsuit for a player with DraftKings

Iowa resident Nicholas Bavas is at the centre of a high-profile lawsuit with one of the world's largest bookmakers, DraftKings, after his potential winnings of $14.2 million were annulled. The company changed the rules after all bets had been placed, prompting a fraud lawsuit.

Happy bets and the vagaries of the weather

In early 2024, during the Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament, Nicholas Bawas made a series of five accumulator bets. Showing remarkable intuition, he bet on the winner and the exact distribution of places from the first to the twentieth. Four bets were placed for a total of $300 with staggering odds of 46515.7. The fifth, more modest bet of $25 predicted that certain players would get into the top 20 with odds of 10002.7.

The key moment was the final round of the tournament. Due to the downpours and hurricane winds that hit the coast, the organizers were forced to cancel the final day of the competition. The winners were announced based on the results of the 54 holes already played. To Bavas's incredible luck, all his predictions exactly coincided with the final protocol.

An unexpected turn from the bookmaker

However, instead of congratulations and the payment of multi-million dollar winnings, the player received a notice from DraftKings that all his bets were cancelled. The bookmaker referred to an internal rule called "Tournament Futures Winner", which allegedly allows bets made after the last stroke in the game to be cancelled if the tournament has not been completed.

Bavas's representatives immediately challenged this decision, initiating a lawsuit. During the preliminary hearings, the prosecutor presented evidence that the controversial provision was added to the DraftKings rulebook after the conclusion of the tournament and, accordingly, after their client's winning bet.

"Let's imagine a mirror situation for a second. The player makes a series of unsuccessful bets, and then demands a refund, arguing that he did not intend to cancel the final round due to the weather. DraftKings would laugh and not return a dime. But when the situation turned in their favor, they did not hesitate to change their own rules." - comments the plaintiff's lawyer

This case, the trial of which is scheduled for September 2026, has already caused a wide public outcry. It calls into question the ethics of bookmakers' practices and their right to unilaterally change the rules of the game, especially when life-changing sums are at stake.