A Nevada bettor learned a hard lesson about house rules. Even though he correctly picked an NFL over for team wins during a season, he won’t cash a $3,000 ticket.

The bettor, Chad Manis of Las Vegas, thought he deserved to be paid by Station Casinos when the Cincinnati Bengals went 12-4 during the 2022 season. The over/under for the season win total was 9½, Manis easily winning the bet. According to house rules, however, a team must play the entire 17-game schedule in order for the bet to be considered valid. Otherwise, it’s no action and the bet is refunded.

The Bengals played only 16 games in the 2022 season. Their Monday night game on Jan. 3, 2023, against Buffalo was canceled in the first quarter with Cincinnati up 7-3. Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest on the field and the game wasn’t rescheduled. Cincinnati later beat Buffalo in the playoffs.

An agent for the Nevada Gaming Control Board recommended Manis be paid the $3,000 due to him, only to have the Board’s hearing examiner reverse it.

After a brief discussion at the end of Wednesday’s Gaming Control Board meeting, the Board sided with the hearing examiner and declared Station Casinos didn’t have to pay Manis.

“It’s pretty clear that the house rules said the teams in a future bet must play a full 17 games scheduled,” said Board member George Assad. “The Cincinnati Bengals in this case didn’t play the 17 games. The rules are the rules in this scenario and you have to take it from the perspective of the house. The same rules apply in baseball when there’s an over/under on the game that the full game must go nine innings.”

Assad said that while it’s disappointing not to be paid for what you think is a winning bet, the people who had the under will be happy when their bets are refunded.

Board Chair Kirk Hendrick agreed that the house rules are clear with no winners or losers.

Following the 3-0 vote to deny payment, Manis appeared before the Board to ask if the case was settled and what his options were going forward. He expressed disappointment that the agent’s initial recommendation to pay out the ticket wasn’t followed by the hearing examiner or the Board.

“The hearing examiner does the day-to-day work for us, because there are so many appeals,” Hendrick said. “They do the hearing, present it to us, and we review the record and make a decision.”

Hendrick told Manis to check with legal counsel on a process going forward on any type of appeal of the decision.

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