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The Australian media and communications watchdog has sanctioned the local branch, of the global online casino and betting sports behemoth Entain for accepting illegal wagers at a LIV Golf event.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority revealed that they have ordered Entain Proprietary Limited, to pay an “infringement notice” of $13,320. This is the maximum amount allowed by law for violating the Interactive Gambling Act of 2001.
The ACMA explained that this fine was imposed after Entain Proprietary Limited, a locally focused Ladbrokes and Neds branded service, were adjudged by the court to have illegally accepted 78 in-play online bets regarding the final day of Bangkok LIV Golf Tournament in October 2022.
Nerida O’Loughlin, the ACMA’s director general, said that it was the first time the ACMA had issued a fine for a violation of Australia’s rules on in-play wagering. These rules were put in place in order to protect people who are vulnerable.
O’Loughlin stated that “online in-play betting is more dangerous for people who are gambling harmfully because it offers fast results and allows a higher frequency of wagers.”
Entain Proprietary Limited, on its part, admitted that the breaches happened after its parent entered the wrong start time for an event into its system, allowing punters to place bets after the game had started. This led to the operator’s Ladbrokes service accepting 59 in-play wagers, while its Neds-stamped competitor accepted 19 of them.
ACMA revealed that Entain Proprietary Limited became aware of this error three hours after play began and voided the wagers. The regulator said that the operator had also fulfilled a request to review and update their in-play compliance policies in order to prevent such errors from occurring again.
O’Loughlin stated that “Entain has a wealth of experience as a wagering operator, and it is disappointing that it didn’t have internal procedures to prevent or detect this error.” The ACMA told the industry that robust systems were needed to prevent online in-play betting from being made available or accepted.
