Bet365 Online Casino Is in Trouble in Australia over Sports Betting on Volleyball

Added: July 25, 2013

We have commented on the strange state of online gambling law in Australia before, but this latest gem takes the biscuit in many ways. First of all, let’s look at the state of play for online casino operators at the moment in Australia.

Independent Gambling Authority (IGA), which is the Government body that controls all forms of gambling, not just online gambling has rules in place that say that an online casino cannot offer online gambling games to Australian citizens. There is an exception to this though, some gambling markets can be legally offered, and it is the IGA that decides which can, and just which online casino sites can offer them.

On top of this, the Independent Gambling Authority does not have any laws in place to make it illegal for citizens of Australia to be involved in online gambling at any online casino site. This means that the onus is on the online casino operators themselves to bar Australian online gamblers.

Now, Bet365 is an online casino that the IGA has allowed to offer online gambling to Australian people, for some types of sporting events. But it does not appear that this includes Volleyball, as Bet365 just for its wrist slapped for doing just this.

It appears that Bet365 were found to be offering sports betting on State League volleyball games to Australian citizens, and that the IGA has not specifically sanctioned them to do so. Bet365 is not on the Independent Gambling Authority approved list of online gambling sites that can offer Volleyball sports betting services.

Speaking on behalf of the Independent Gambling Authority, Robert Chappell publically stated that it may be that Bet365 online casino did not realize that the IGA had not sanctioned it to offer volleyball sports betting to Australian citizens. However, he also said that the Independent Gambling Authority wouldn’t do anything about this on the first offence, but that it would surely take steps should Bet365 continue to offer sports betting on Volleyball.

Oddly enough, Bet365 online casino has now removed Volleyball from its sports book for Australian citizens. We cannot help but think that this kind of confusion between a government body and a major online gambling site is indicative of the totally confusing, antiquated state of online gambling laws that are in effect in Australia at this time. Surely the IGA should take this as a good indication of the fact that it is time to review and overhaul online gambling in Australia completely?