DraftKings Refunding All Deebo Samuel Bets

Unfortunate injuries happen. Case in point, the Deebo Samuel first-half shoulder injury that forced him from Saturday's NFL Divisional Round playoff game between his San Francisco 49ers and the Green Bay Packers. One of our best sportsbooks was quick to respond to that injury and its ramifications.

With the explosion of the U.S. legal sports betting industry has come a question about what our best sports betting apps will do if such an unfortunate incident happens. Outcomes of games and the success of bettors widely depend on whether or not star players make it through a game and can impact that outcome.

In the Deebo Samuel case, one sportsbook, DraftKings, has taken the side of the bettor and is refunding all bets on Deebo, specifically single and parlay bets where he was the only losing selection.

A precedent already set?

DraftKings has gotten out in front of what could have been a pretty big story and has vowed to refund some of the bets that Samuel was a part of.

Not all, however. Just bets in which Samuel's injury was the direct result of a losing single or parlay bet will be repaid.

Sportsbooks are not in the business of predicting game-ending injuries and nor should they be. Gambling is a game of chance and Deebo's bum shoulder was certainly a fluke event. Bettors should consider this act an extension of our best sportsbook promos.

Sportsbooks have been willing in the past to pay back bets that feature an injured player. In Week 1, with the Achilles injury heard around the NFL world, sportsbooks offered similar refunds on single and parlay wagers when Aaron Rodgers was forced out early from the New York Jets' game against the Buffalo Bills during the first Monday Night Football clash of the season.

Just business?

DraftKings is doing its wagering clientele a solid in the Deebo Samuel injury case. Perhaps it is an ultimate sign of goodwill for the U.S. legal sports betting behemoth. Perhaps it is what's viewed as the "cost of doing business." After all, it's good promotion for its DraftKings promo code.

Will other sportsbooks follow DraftKings' lead in refunding wagers that involve Samuel? It remains to be seen but DraftKings and the instant press that It has received around the refund will certainly put pressure on more of our NFL prop betting sites in the industry to follow suit.

What about other bets in the Green Bay/San Francisco game?

Would Samuel have enabled the San Francisco 49ers to run up the score against the Green Bay Packers on Saturday? It's possible. The 49ers were 9.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings but won by only 3 points in what was a nail-biter throughout. The final score was 24-21, allowing the Packers to cover what was a rather large spread.

What about the Over/Under which was set at 50.5 points? Would Samuel have contributed that one touchdown it would have taken for the Over to cash?

None of those bets were refunded by DraftKings, creating a little bit of a grey area not only for bettors but for sportsbooks going forward.

So, we have to give DraftKings props for its action on an unfortunate injury that had an affect on what was a highly wagered-on game.

DraftKings' decision to refund all Deebo Samuel bets was likely the right one, but it may have opened up a huge set of complex issues that sportsbooks will be forced to deal with in the future.