The House makes the rules, and if you play you are going to play by those rules, whether you like it or not. The house has bet on you playing regardless of what the rules are, or how they interpret them. History has proven them right. Though attendance at racetracks is scarce most of the year, handle holds. This is as much a sign of the times as it is poor management and weak retention of players.

All gambling outlets deal with similar issues, and all have things stacked in their favor and against you. If you ask most serious gamblers if they would play poker against a stacked deck, you would get a resounding no. Shortly thereafter, they’ll log on to their ADW, go to the track or casino, or sit down at the poker table. Essentially, they are playing against a stacked deck. The house wins. Although, pari-mutual wagering is somewhat of a different animal. We, for the most part, play against each other, similar to poker, but the house is in the game. In poker you have the rake, in the Sport of Kings you have the takeout.

I find it very frustrating when people make decisions regarding my money. Normally, most of us would resist it. In racing, and in most gambling, we have taken it on the chin so often we accept it. We’ve become the kid who hands their lunch money to the bully without even making him have to take it. Just last week at Woodbine, a favored horse in a stake on one of their biggest days broke through the gate. The horse ran off before a great catch by the outrider saved him. He was brought back to the gate and inspected and allowed to run, presumably with no visible injury. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t injured or did not leave his race at the run off. The percentage of horses who break through the gate and run off winning is low. Most people do not want one as the favorite. House rules he ran, lost, and if you had him you got stuck with him, unless you were able to cancel your ticket. It might not be better if he had scratched. Then you get the favorite who you may have or may not have wanted. The only fair way to protect the “customer” is to have and allow alternative selections. Fair, simple, and the right way to protect your money. I’d prefer a refund to the current rules. That will never happen because we are not protected, and apparently most of us don’t care. I do.

We have evolved to accept we do not know what will happen following an inquiry, regardless of what the head on view shows. We have had what happens out of the gate does not impact the race rammed down our throats so much, that some of us actually believe it. Stewards don’t bet, or at least are not supposed to, yet they decide without accountability what happens to the money you bet.

Now for the latest. FanDuel declined to honor a $110 bet on the Broncos on Sunday that would have paid more than $82,000, due to an error in the odds-making process, the company said.

“The wager in question involved an obvious pricing error inadvertently generated by our in-game pricing system,” a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement. In these cases, the company policy and house rules clearly say they do not have to pay. Tough luck to the bettor who went to the window at the Meadowlands and made the bet and had a ticket at the posted, albeit incorrect odds in his hand. Interesting the house rules in this case, do not mirror New Jersey state rules. The state rules include an investigation prior to a determination, but it is the house rules that count, and they never favor or protect the customer. In gambling, the customer is always wrong. Now in fairness, Vegas books might pay this error, but when they do they almost always bar the player. Maybe that’s the one case they try and protect the gambler.

In all fairness, this wager was an obvious error and the player likely knew it was fishy. That said they made the mistake. They took his money and his bet. Had he lost there would have been no refund under the heading, but he lost. He didn’t lose. He won, and although at true odds he wins $18 not $80K you didn’t post those odds, did you? If you make a mistake at a casino or a racetrack, try telling them you really wanted red, or the #4. You will quickly see exactly where you stand. So, should FanDuel, in the words of Teddy KGB, “pay that man his money?”