Waterhouse handed A$4,500 fine for advertising failings

Australian bookmaker Rob Waterhouse has been charged with breaking gambling advertising regulations in the country and slapped with a A$4,500 (£2,442) fine.

Waterhouse was found guilty of having broken rules relating to the Betting and Racing Act 1998 after being judged to have published advertising that included inducements to gamble.

Liquor & Gaming NSW were made aware of reports that Waterhouse was offering a ‘five daily boosts promotion’ on his website RobWaterhouse.com and on Twitter.

The inducement was promoting the opportunity for customers to obtain increased or higher odds up to five times a day, with the advertising also viewed by members of the public who were not betting account holders.

The investigation found Waterhouse guilty of breaking regulations, with the bookmaker handed a A$4,500 fine in Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney.

The maximum penalty an individual can be charged for publishing gambling advertisements containing a prohibited inducement is A$11,000.

Valerie Griswold, Liquor & Gaming NSW executive director investigations and enforcement, said: “The prospect of collecting more punters should not be an incentive to break the law. The law is there to help people keep their gambling under control.”

Griswold noted the expansion of online gambling in Australia has led to a crowded marketplace but reminded operators to adhere to advertising regulations when trying to attract customers.

She added: “There’s a lot of competition for business at the moment, particularly in the online market which has doubled in size as other traditional forms of gambling have contracted.

“This is going to create an environment where betting service providers are vying for people’s business, so it’s important that advertisements don’t inadvertently encourage gambling harms in the process,” she concluded.

In New South Wales, 18 out of 29 on-course bookmakers licensed in the region now conduct telephone and electronic betting.

Waterhouse has the option to appeal against the sentence although he did accept the charges presented to him.