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BetDeluxe and PointsBet are the latest in a long line of corporate bookmakers to be fined in New South Wales (NSW) state for illegal gambling inducements as the state government warned it will seek tougher penalties from the courts.
A court has fined Melbourne-based BetDeluxe and Australian Securities Exchange-listed PointsBet A$70,000 ($49,000) and A$35,000, respectively, for illegal advertising, said Liquor & Gaming NSW, the state government’s gaming bureaucracy, on Thursday (May 19).
“Clearly some of these operators think gambling inducements are just the cost of doing business, but they are wrong, and they are pushing their luck,” said Anthony Keon, CEO of Hospitality and Racing, the umbrella bureaucracy covering Liquor & Gaming NSW.
“We will continue to bring these matters before the courts and seek higher penalties that reflect community expectations,” he said.
Liquor & Gaming NSW is proceeding with another nine prosecutions of corporate bookmakers, among them Tabcorp Holdings and companies associated with racing personalities Rob and Tom Waterhouse.
In its statement on Thursday, Liquor & Gaming NSW said it is taking a “zero tolerance approach to the publication of illegal gambling inducements”.
But bureaucrats have yet to attempt criminal prosecutions of individual directors or management of betting companies despite warning of the possibility when legislation was toughened in 2018.
This is also despite years of fines being issued across the industry at well under the maximum A$110,000 for a corporation.
A spokesperson for Liquor & Gaming NSW told VIXIO GamblingCompliance last November that such charges would be “strongly considered” where the “high threshold” for evidence against individuals is reached.
Keon’s warning following PointsBet’s conviction last week — its second offence — and BetDeluxe’s conviction on Wednesday suggests that this threshold is under pressure.
“Prohibitions on gambling inducements are an important harm minimisation measure and the increase in maximum penalties, along with our continued prosecution action, should send a clear message to wagering operators about how seriously we view these matters,” he said.
“Reoffenders run the risk of the higher range penalties, and more scrutiny, so let me be clear that patterns of poor compliance are not worth the trouble.
“We hope this is the first and last time we see BetDeluxe in court for gambling inducements.”
The Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney found that BetDeluxe committed five offences, including 21 promotions on Facebook for bonus bets on sports events and “enhanced odds” on horseracing.
The same court found that PointsBet’s two counts of illegal advertising included an Instagram promotion for A$50 in bonus bets.
