PointsBet may be done with the US, but it seems that the US is not quite done with PointsBet.
Case in point, regulators in New Jersey dropped a $25,000 fine on the Australia-based operator in August for violating several of the state gaming laws.
The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) filed its complaint against PointsBet in late June, around the time that parent company PointsBet Holdings Limited found itself entertaining offers from both DraftKings and Fanatics for its US assets.
Fanatics ultimately won that bidding war, agreeing to pay $225 million. But the new owners will want to make sure they don’t make the same mistakes that PointsBet dating back to August 2021.
The NJDGE’s order is dated August 23 but was only made public by the state’s attorney general last week, according to the Associated Press.
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PointsBet Took Illegal Wagers on 'Cinderella’
According to the regulator, PointsBet first ran afoul of the state’s gaming laws in August 2021, when it allowed wagering on four English Championship League Soccer (ECLS) markets after the outcomes were already known. Two separate markets involving Empoli versus Vicenza were involved, as were markets for Sampdoria versus Alessandria and Dortmund versus Bayern.
That same month, PointsBet accepted wagers on the ECLS match between Cardiff City and Milwall, again after the outcome was already known.
NJDGE said it was also sanctioning PointsBet for allowing wagers on an eSports event, “League of Legends (LoL) World Championships,” which were held on October 29, 2021. According to the AP, the LoL event involved an underage competitor — aged 17. That’s below the legal minimum age of 18.
Lastly, the regulator said PointsBet accepted bets on an NCAA basketball game between Saint Peter’s University and Purdue University on March 25, 2022. However, the game was part of March Madness that year, Saint Peter’s is located in Jersey City — under state law, wagers involving schools based in New Jersey are illegal.
AP reported that one PointsBet customer was responsible for all five violations involving the ECLS wagers after placing $13,500 in “pre-match” bets. The bets were voided, and the money from the customer’s original bets was returned. PointsBet reportedly blamed “an unresolved communication issue” with a third-party data feed provider for the violations.
PointsBet reportedly told the NJDGE that it “did not have an automated process in place to review the accuracy and timeliness of published markets” and later added that the “'overwhelming’ number of matches offered through PointsBet made it 'unrealistic’ to check and verify each event and the market offered for wagering.”
Regarding the underage LoL player issue, the AP reported that PointsBet processed four bets totaling $1,225. The bets were later voided. According to the report, the operator told regulators that, at the time, it didn’t check the age of competitors before listing the event for wagers. The company said it has since adopted a system for checking competitors’ ages.
The operator blamed “human error” for allowing a market for bets on Saint Peter’s University for 55 minutes. Two people placed bets reportedly totaling $60, but the wagers were both canceled.
