Betfair to award compensation over Leopardstown race
Limited number of punters reimbursed after technical fault led to millions of pounds worth of bets being voided - signs information sharing agreement with International Olympic Committee.
Betfair will refund a “limited” number of customers following the technical fault which forced the operator to void millions of pounds worth of bets on a horse race in Leopardstown Christmas Hurdle on 28 December.
Following a meeting with regulator the Gibraltar Gaming Commission, the betting exchange received a number of recommendations with regard to its further actions, and claims to have gone above and beyond those recommendations.
In a statement yesterday it detailed the two kinds of bet which will be compensated in relation to the £21m liability on the horse Voler la Vedette, created following a technical fault involving a ‘bot’ acting on behalf of a customer.
These kinds of bet are:
“¢ In-play winning positions in both the ‘win’ and the ‘to be placed’ markets which were achieved before the technology failure
“¢ In-play winning positions in the ‘to be placed’ market achieved at any time through to the completion of the race
Other bets will remain void following the discussions with the GGC.
A technical fault 58.2 seconds into the race had seen one customer “ using a bot “ offer odds of 28-1 on the race’s second favourite with a liability amounting to more money that was in his account.
Olympics MoU
Betfair has also announced an information sharing agreement with the International Olympics Committee for the London 2012 that will enable both organisations to monitor potential suspicious betting patterns during the Games.
The Memorandum of Understanding outlines a framework for co-operation and covers the practicalities of sharing customer and transactional data should suspicious activity be detected on an Olympic event, the exchange said in a statement.
“We expect London 2012 to be our biggest Olympiad ever and will be providing markets on every single gold medal that is being competed for, as well as a range of other markets including which nation will win the most gold medals and how many gold medals Team GB will win.”
Betfair’s integrity team is based at its headquarters in London. According to the exchange it tracks every bet placed with records going back since Betfair began trading from inception to conclusion. The team is aided by in-house developed software which identifies potentially suspicious transactions.
Martin Cruddace, Betfair’s chief legal & regulatory affairs officer, said: “The interests of sports governing bodies, like the IOC, and Betfair are completely aligned in wanting to ensure consumers can bet on sporting events in a transparent and secure manner.
“If we are to protect the sports we all love then we must continue to work openly and co-operatively, and today’s agreement is a clear example of just that.”