NT Racing Commission Orders Sportsbet to Pay Winnings on “Unfairly Cancelled” AFL Bets

Online bookmaker Sportsbet is set to pay a massive amount of money to its customers after a gambling regulator ruled that it unfairly cancelled their AFL bets by claiming the odds it had offered them were “errors.”

Sportsbet accepted bets earlier this year that no player would make 40 or more disposals in round-10 AFL matches. But before the first game of the round in May, Sportsbet cancelled all the “40+ disposal” bets and told punters it was exercising its rights under its terms and conditions to cancel bets due to “obvious or manifest errors.”

No player did make more than 40 disposals in the round and Sportsbet’s decision to void bets ignited a storm of criticism and promoted several punters to complain to the gambling regulator in the Northern Territory.

The Northern Territory Racing Commission said that the bets were, in fact, legal and ordered Sportsbet to pay the winnings out to its customers. The decision does not say how much punters are owed and Sportsbet would not say. However industry sources suggested it ranged from “a few million” up to $9 million.

“We acknowledge the NT Commission’s determination today and we will be topping up the accounts of the affected customers as soon as possible,” a spokesman for Sportsbet said.