bet365 has been fined for taking wagers on events that had already occurred and then voiding them — the second punitive action taken against them by New Jersey regulators in two months.
The sportsbook took wagers on a college basketball game, a golf tournament and a mixed martial arts bout that had already occurred.
In August, regulators in New Jersey mandated bet365 to refund over $519,000 for downgrading winning wagers due to what the sportsbook deemed were "obvious errors."
On 199 wagers between December 2020 and November 2022, bet365 manually reduced payouts on winning bets at revised odds rather than the original odds that bettors locked in.
For Friday's fine, bet365 permitted wagers on a college basketball game between Louisiana-Lafayette and Arkansas-Little Rock that was moved up an hour. Pre-match odds remained in place an hour through the contest.
Prematch odds were also offered for a Honda Golf Classic matchup more than four hours after it began. That same February 2022 day, the sportsbook permitted bets on two MMA bouts that were on tape delay and occurred a week prior.
bet365 also allowed wagers on events they were ineligible to host, such as European friendlies and bets on Rutgers football. Wagers on in-state colleges are not permitted in New Jersey.
While bet365 voided most of the bets — for over $250,000 — in one instance, the sportsbook regraded odds and paid out winning bets without getting permission from state regulators. This was done similarly to what happened in their July fine.
In another instance in February, bet365 forced some bettors to either cancel their wagers or take a worse payout on a prop involving Cavaliers' center Evan Mobley.
The big man's odds to hit at least one 3-pointer was priced at +235 for a regular season game vs. the Magic. bet365 offered users revised odds at +125 or the option to cancel their wager a few days before the game was due to be played. Mobley did not end up making a 3-pointer in that contest.
bet365 told regulators that the errors were partly due to software, and partly due to human error. Employees have since been retrained, the company told New Jersey officials.
