Bookie must repay punter

Online firm gave credit despite ‘red flags’

ONLINE gambling outlet Lottoland failed to act responsibly when its staff sent a problem gambler a bonus voucher and promotional material along with responsible gambling advice, the Territory’s gambling regulator has found.

The bookmaker was on Monday fined $5270 and ordered to repay $3930 to the woman – known only as “Ms D” – after the NT Racing Commission found it breached responsible gambling rules.

Commission members Cindy Bravos, Amy Corcoran and Allan McGill found Lottoland knew from “at least” July 16 last year that her account should have been locked.

The woman wrote to the gambling outlet that week saying she had “played through quite a bit in the last couple of days”.

The woman was given a $100 loyalty credit, to which she responded she had “al- ready deposited in the thousands in the past week”, prompting an operator to make a note on her file.

A Lottoland staffer sent the woman another $100 credit nine days later, along with a message that gambling should “not become an issue for our players”.

In early August the woman wrote accusing the outlet of “quite unscrupulous behaviour”, having played through more than $6000 in the space of a few weeks.

“Lottoland doesn’t really stick to their own corporate responsibility …” the woman wrote.

“The red flags were raised in previous emails, you mentioned responsible gambling, you should have maybe closed my account at that point and not allowed thousands more dollars in deposits.”

Lottoland permanently closed the woman’s account when she informed them she would complain to the Racing Commission.

The Commission members said problem gambling was “the most serious of issues” and that it held bookmakers to a high standard, but also said only “the most extreme cases of deliberate and gross misconduct by the operator” justified ordering the bookmaker to repay money lost by gamblers.

Most online gambling outlets based in Australia are registered in the Northern Territory, attracted in part by notoriously lax gambling regulation.

“You mentioned responsible gambling, you should have maybe closed my account “