Bet365 targets Australia

In order to apply for an Australian gaming license Bet365 have closed their site catering to players in the territory

In an interesting turn of events the UK based online bookies, Bet 365, have closed down their Australian poker site in the lead up to their bid to gain an online sports license in the country. Players with the site were sent an email saying; “We’re in the process of applying for a sports betting licence in Australia. As part of our preparations for this, we regret to inform you that our Casino, Poker, Games and Bingo sites will no longer be available from week commencing 22nd August. Any funds currently in your Casino, Poker, Games and Bingo balances will be transferred to your Sports balance. Our Sports site will continue to work as normal. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause."

There is some doubt as to whether or not the company are still taking sports bets from Australian clients at the moment. Were this the case it would undoubtedly make it much harder or almost impossible for them to procure their betting license as they would be accepting bets in contravention of the current Interactive Gambling Act. Should they fall on the wrong side of the law they risk losing their credibility, customers and any potential in the country. The journalist Patrick Smith, writing in The Australian reported that; “Under the Interactive Gambling Act provisions, any person found guilty of providing a prohibited service is liable to a fine of $110,000 a day and any company up to $1.1 million a day…The lack of action by the AFP [Australian Federal Police] continues despite Australian Crime Commission advice that internationally the integrity of professional sports has been compromised, with organised criminal groups targeting the sector.”

The joint chief executive of Bet365, Denise Coates has said that “I can confirm that we are in the process of applying for a licence in the Northern territory of Australia, once we have submitted the application and the regulatory authorities have had the chance to consider it, we will hopefully be in a position to comment further.” The Australian online gaming industry represents a massive market and it is growing fast. Australian gaming has the highest loss per gambling adult in the world according to H2 Gambling Capital. Obtaining an Australian license would provide a huge boost in capital for a huge online gaming monolith like Bet365.