Australian gambling firm BlueBet has been fined for letting a man gamble away $570k without considering his wellbeing.
BlueBet, one of the leading operators for sports betting in Australia, was fined $53,380 by the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission (NTRWC) which regulates most online gambling companies in the country.
The regulator described BlueBet’s conduct as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘extremely concerning’ as the firm prioritised the retention of a profitable customer over its legislated responsible gambling responsibilities.
BlueBet VIP Manager Encouraged Problem Gambler To Keep Betting
Initially, the man gambled $40,000 in an 11-hour session and was awarded VIP status by the sports betting app – who then assigned him a personal manager who encouraged him to keep betting and took a cut of his losses.
It wasn’t until four months later when the man had gambled $700,000 and displayed various ‘clear red flag behaviours’ that BlueBet actually stepped in to check he could afford to be betting so much money.
It was discovered when the man had ran out of money to gamble, his VIP manager supplied him with bonus bets, deposit matches and placed funds directly into his account.
On one particular occasion when his request for bonuses was denied, he requested his account be closed but within two minutes the manager had granted $500 bonus bets into his account – which was after the man had already lost $4,000 that day.
Bonus bets is a topic that has dominated Australian headlines in recent years. The late Labor MP Peta Murphy once called for inducements like bonus bets to be outlawed, arguing they encourage riskier bets, higher losses and undermine harm minimisation messages.
NTRWC Find BlueBet Failed To Engage In Meaningful Responsible Gambling Actions
The NTRWC said: “Instead of monitoring the situation and engaging in meaningful responsible gambling actions, BlueBet chose to award the complainant VIP status and assign a dedicated VIP account manager, whose commission was tied to the complainant’s net gambling revenue.”
In response to the regulator, BlueBet said it had called the man for a ‘responsible gambling check-in’ after he repeatedly failed to place bets on his credit card due to insufficient funds.
The call was unanswered and the regulator found that it wasn’t prompted by concern for his wellbeing, but instead ‘payment processing issues.’
The day after the phone call, the man continued gambling and requested bonus bets from his VIP manager before wagering close to $400,000 with BlueBet.
Earlier this month, fellow Australian firm Sportsnet scrapped television advertisements encouraging viewers to bet in multiples following severe backlash.
Joe Lyons is a betting industry writer for GamblingIndustryNews with years of experience on reputable gambling websites. Joe specialises in long form content in the world of sports betting and gambling. Joe is recognised as an expert in sports fields such as horse racing, soccer, NFL and NBA.
