Umpire makes Sportsbet pay out AFL bets

FOOTY fans who lost out on winnings during the AFL season have had a post-season win after the NT Racing Commission forced a bookmaker to make one of the biggest contested payouts in Australian gambling history.

Sportsbet has been forced to pay almost $9 million to about 2000 punters who placed bets in Round 10 of the AFL season but controversially had their results ruled void.

Punters were left fuming when Sportsbet refused to honour bets on players getting 40 possessions or more, despite the online agency taking their money before later cancelling bets. But, in a decision handed down yesterday by an independent umpire, customers’ bets previously voided were ordered to be paid in full.

Sportsbet said it would not appeal the ruling by the racing commission, where Sportsbet is licensed.

Punters could expect their accounts to be topped up by tomorrow. “We acknowledge the NT Commission’s determination today and we will be topping up the accounts of the affected customers as soon as possible,’’ Sportsbet said.

Punters complained of being denied payouts of more than $30,000 after Sportsbet admitted a “rare pricing error’’, claiming odds it published were incorrect.

In its ruling, the commission ruled it was “satisfied’’ the “betting markets were offered in error and were not the prices it intended to offer at the time the disputed bets were struck’’. But it determined all bets struck on the nine betting markets for 40-plus possessions in Round 10 were lawful.

“All persons who made a winning bet on any or all of the nine Sportsbet AFL +40 betting markets for Round 10 of the 2019 AFL season are entitled to be paid the full amount,’’ it said.