As with many hardened NFL bettors, Matthew Buchalter grappled with the possibility that the league could cancel the Week 17 regular-season game between the Buffalo Bills and Cincinnati Bengals when Damar Hamlin laid motionless on the ground after an unimaginable emergency that gripped the sports world just after New Year’s.
At the time, the outcome of a series of futures wagers he placed before the start of the regular season wasn't at the top of his mind. In the tense minutes following Tee Higgins' hit on the Bills safety, it was unclear if Hamlin would even survive. Buchalter, an actuary with an Ontario insurer, felt a considerable amount of sympathy for Hamlin.
In the days following Hamlin's collapse, as doctors signaled that the Bills’ safety would make it out of University of Cincinnati Medical Center alive, Buchalter assumed the game would not resume. Three days later, his assumption became correct when the NFL officially canceled the game, declaring the matchup “no contest.” The decision left both teams with 16 games on the regular season, one less than every other NFL team.
Full text of my statement of claim. If you care, enjoy. If not, ignore.