ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Instances of being able to place a wager on a sports event after it has concluded are rare, but they can occasionally occur, leaving gamblers astounded. Recently in Atlantic City, this scenario unfolded again when a sportsbook faced penalties for taking bets on college basketball, hockey, and boxing events that had already finished.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement disclosed last week that William Hill Sportsbook has been fined $20,000 for taking incorrect bets during 2022 and 2023, ultimately totaling $25,000. Although the sportsbook voided the majority of these erroneous bets once they realized the mistake, some payouts to customers had already been completed.
William Hill operates several retail sportsbooks in Atlantic City, located within the Caesars, Harrah’s, and Tropicana casinos. Attempts to reach out to Caesars Entertainment, the parent organization of the casinos, were unsuccessful for comments over the weekend.
Documentation reveals that on February 23 and 24, 2022, the sportsbook accepted 42 in-person bets on 12 college basketball games whose outcomes were already known. Before catching the error, William Hill disbursed just over $5,000 on six of those bets. The remaining wagers were annulled and customers were reimbursed their initial stakes. William Hill attributed the mishap to an error from its content supplier, OpenBet, which is based in London. However, OpenBet did not respond to requests for comments.
Further complications arose from similar issues involving boxing events. On June 11, 2022, William Hill took bets on a boxing match involving Chris Kongo and Sebastian Formella, which was advertised as starting at noon. In reality, the match had already begun at 11:15 a.m. and concluded by 11:55 a.m. Another incident occurred on April 15, 2023, with a Denzel Bentley versus Kieran Smith match, where bets were accepted only moments after it had finished, despite being listed with a noon start time. This match kicked off at 11:55 a.m. and ended just 45 seconds later due to a knockout.
Additionally, the enforcement division imposed a $10,000 fine on Amelco, a London-based technology company that supports sports betting platforms. Amelco allowed the sportsbook PlayUp to accept a bet in March 2022 on Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s potential presidency. While some recent legal rulings permitted political wagers, this was not the case when the bet was placed. PlayUp operated with Amelco and Sportradar as its technology partners. According to enforcement documents, Amelco noted that Sportradar had mistakenly categorized the U.S. presidential election betting market as acceptable, causing it to be inadvertently listed.
Amelco acknowledged that their trading team missed recognizing the U.S. election as an unauthorized betting event. Sportradar declared that it does not indicate which betting markets are authorized, asserting that it is the responsibility of betting companies to comply with local regulations. Additionally, Sportradar stated that it was not fined in this matter, making Amelco “solely liable” for the infraction. PlayUp also faced scrutiny for accepting two bets totaling nearly $700 on a Seton Hall University basketball game, violating state law prohibiting bets on New Jersey college teams. Requests for comments from both PlayUp and Amelco were unreturned, and the $1 bet relating to Buttigieg was ultimately voided.
This isn’t an unprecedented occurrence in the industry; in November 2021, the division penalized Kambi Group and Rush Street Interactive for similar infractions involving bets on a completed soccer match in the UK. A September fine against bet365 amounted to $33,000 for accepting wagers on completed basketball, golf, and MMA events.
