Bet365 Was Fined $33,000 For Taking Illicit Wagers

Bet365 Fined $33,000 For Taking Wagers After Outcomes Were Known

By Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 11 September 2024

Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief

Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.

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Illicit Bets and Unapproved Games

The NJDGE detected and fined bet365 for two violations: taking wagers on games that were not approved eligible for sports betting by any regulator and taking bets after the outcomes of the games were known. These are major violations, and a fine of $33,000 was issued.

The NJ gambling regulator also advised that this is not the company’s first infringement. In multiple cases, bet365 mistakenly takes wagers for an event or other happening during the game after it has already been played out. One of the most interesting cases is when the platform took bets for a mixed martial arts event already held a week prior and even televised.

The sports betting company did not respond to any inquiries regarding the subject. In July this year, the Division of Gaming Enforcement ordered bet365 to refund $519,000 to players with winning bets paid less than they were eligible for. This discrepancy resulted from the company unilaterally changing the odds when the payouts were carried out.

The betting company pled its case regarding these payouts and advised the NJDGE that this was an “obvious error”. The director of the regulator, Attorney General Matthew Platkin, advised that any gambling company that wants to alter payouts in any way must seek approval by the NJDGE before doing so. Of course, bet365 skipped this step.

Other Fines Imposed to The Comapny

The company has a long history of such supposed errors connected with illicit wagers, payout alterations, taking bets on unregulated events, and even betting on already concluded games. The most recent violation that the gambling regulators again fined was in February 2022 for a college basketball game.

The Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas-Little Rock game was postponed by an hour while the pre-match odds were still in place. After that, bet365 took bets with pre-match odds on other events after they had commenced. According to the state, later that day, the company took bets on two events after they were concluded.

Bet365 also has a history of taking wagers on events that were not approved as eligible for sports betting. One of the cases is with friendly European soccer matches, which were not deemed suitable for sports betting by the NJDGE. Let us remind you that betting on college teams in New Jersey is illegal.

Of course, the betting company had to take action, and in most of the cases that were identified, they returned the money from the bets back to players and voided them, totaling over $257,000 in returned funds. Bet365 advised the regulators that these violations were due to various reasons, such as incorrectly loading event start times on their platform and human error.