Sportsbooks fined
William Hill Sportsbook and Amelco have both been fined by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement for accepting illegitimate bets.
William Hill was sanctioned for accepting over $25,000 in wagers on sporting events that had already concluded, while Amelco was punished for accepting bets on events that were prohibited by state law.
The two operators both acknowledged the errors and did not contest the ruling.
William Hill was fined $20,000 for the transgressions, while Amelco received a $10,000 punishment. The two operators both acknowledged the errors and did not contest the ruling.
Operator error
William Hill stated the source of the error was their supplier of data for their platform, OpenBet. The mistake caused the operator to take 42 bets on 12 college basketball games in February 2022 that had already finished.
one bettor somehow managed to lose his $500 wager on an event that had already taken place
The operator paid out over $5,000 to customers before the error was realized, although one bettor somehow managed to lose his $500 wager on an event that had already taken place. The remaining customers had their bets voided and stakes returned.
The operator then followed up the incident by repeating the error for two boxing matches, although this time due to human trading errors. William Hill accepted bets on a bout between Chris Kongo and Sebastian Formella, incorrectly reporting the start time as noon when the match had actually ended at 11:55am.
This was then followed up by a similar error where a match between Denzel Bentley and Kieran Smith was incorrectly scheduled for noon but began at 11:55am and ended with a rapid knockout after 45 seconds.
William Hill stated that it has taken measures to address the issue and prevent any repeat occurrences in the future.
Presidential wager
Amelco, meanwhile, were punished with a $10,000 fine for allowing the PlayUp sportsbook to take a bet of just a single dollar on Pete Buttigieg to become the next US president in March 2022, which was forbidden under state law at the time.
Amelco also took wagers on college basketball games due to an oversight involving their partner, SportRadar, which is also prohibited in the state of New Jersey.
PlayUp did not respond to the complaint, having ceased their sports betting operations in the US in 2023.
