Devin Booker Christmas Day Player Props Voided By Sportsbooks Following Groin Injury

On Sunday, December 25, Devin Booker had to leave a game in which the Phoenix Suns took on the Denver Nuggets as part of the NBA's massive Christmas Day slate. Booker, who had missed his previous three games with a groin injury, played just four minutes after re-aggravating that injury. Booker finished with only two points in that short stint, and people on social media immediately started to beg FanDuel Sportsbook to void all NBA player prop bets on the 26-year-old superstar. In an act of good faith, FanDuel ultimately did do exactly that — and DraftKings ended up doing the same — but the move was met with a little bit of controversy. 

PREDICTIONS: For Every NBA Game

🚨 REFUND ALERT 🚨

We'll be refunding the following online wagers in free bets:

▪️ Losing straight prop bets on Devin Booker
▪️ Parlays, SGPs & SGP+ where a Booker prop was the only losing leg

(Refunds to be issued over the next 24 hours) pic.twitter.com/n1UBTYBRSz

— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) December 26, 2022

While most bettors should be happy to have such a forgiving sportsbook — that just so happens to be offering a risk-free first bet of up to $2,500 for new customers — there are some people questioning these refunds.

Considering Booker had been nursing a groin injury going into that one, isn't risking further injury a part of the game? After all, Booker was listed as questionable to play just one day before the Christmas Day matchup, and he had actually injured his groin by seemingly playing too many minutes in a 58-point performance against the New Orleans Pelicans last week.

Booker went into that game after having dealt with a hamstring injury, and Suns head coach Monty Williams noted that his decision to play Booker 42 minutes against New Orleans might have been the reason the star injured his groin in the first place. With that said, it's clear Booker is having some soft tissue issues right now, and many people believe that bettors should have to deal with the consequences of taking risks. 

If you want a bet voided over an injury suck it up. Bowling Green QB knocked out first drive? Am i asking my bookie for a refund? No, because that is all part of it. If you had Devin Booker’s under you would not be sending money back to the book you use

— RBB (@RussellsLines) December 26, 2022

Devin Booker Injury Costs One Bettor $17k

Another layer to the Booker refund is that some parlay bettors missed out on huge payouts because of the injury. One specific bettor, who goes by @AyoItsFredo on Twitter, would have turned $5 into $16,936.92 if Booker scored at least 35 points on Christmas Day. He had already hit the first four legs of his five-leg parlay before that, as he needed Julius Randle, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum and Ja Morant all to score 35 or more. 

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Winning $16,936.92 would have been extremely nice — especially from only a $5 bet — but just voiding the entire parlay was brutal for Fredo. Had FanDuel simply removed the Booker leg, his four-leg player props parlay with only Randle, LeBron, Tatum and Morant would have turned into a $5 bet that would have brought back $3,528.53.

That would have been one heck of a Christmas present, too. But all Fredo ended up with was the original $5 in his account. And all things considered, he's being a good sport about it: 

We’ll take it https://t.co/z6lQj8MBxX

— Ayo Its Fredo (@AyoItsFredo) December 26, 2022

Overall, these player prop refunds have become fascinating to track on social media. The second players get injured, thousands of people are tweeting at their sportsbooks and demanding refunds. 

Where do you stand on this new phenomenon? And have you had any brutal beats because of these? If you have, make sure you hit up @DimersCom on Twitter. We want to hear all about it!