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Sportsbet hit with class action to recover millions from alleged illegal in-game bets
A national law firm has initiated a class action against one of Australia’s largest and most popular gambling companies, seeking to recover millions of dollars lost through alleged illegal in-game bets.
Grace Robbie
A class action has been launched against Sportsbet in an effort to recover the millions of dollars lost by punters across Australia due to alleged unlawful in-game betting practices facilitated by the gambling giant company.
On 24 December, national law firm Maurice Blackburn Lawyers commenced the class action in the Supreme Court of Victoria on behalf of gamblers seeking to recover their losses associated with alleged unlawful in-game bets.
The case centres around “in-play bets”, also referred to as live bets, which are placed on sporting events through Sportsbet’s Fast Code services, which was a central feature of the company’s in-play betting product.
Maurice Blackburn principal Elizabeth O’Shea explained that betting on a sporting event once it has already started is “prohibited in Australia”, with an exception “if the bet is made wholly by telephone”.
“We believe that Sportsbet’s use of the Fast Code service is not just an attempt to circumvent important laws aiming to prevent gambling harm, it is also illegal because key information about the bet is communicated by punters otherwise than by a voice call,” O’Shea said.
O’Shea contended that Sportsbet engaged in “misleading or deceptive conduct contrary”, in violation of the Australian Consumer Law, by incorrectly representing to the plaintiff and group members that its “Fast Code service was legal”.
The class action seeks compensation for punters who incurred financial losses by placing “in-play bets using Sportsbet’s Fast Code service”.
This class action is open to any individual who has lost money by placing “one or more in-play bets made after the beginning of a sports event in the past six years”. However, the lawsuit does not include bets placed on racing events, such as horse, harness, or greyhound racing.
