PointsBet Faces $25,000 Penalty For New Jersey Sports Betting Offenses

Sports betting operator PointsBet has been penalized $25,000 by New Jersey gaming regulators for multiple violations of the state's sports betting regulations.

The violations, documented on the state Division of Gaming Enforcement's website, involve PointsBet accepting "pre-match" bets in August 2021 on games that were already in progress.

These violations stemmed from a single customer who placed five bets amounting to $13,500, resulting in winnings of $28,275. Once the error was discovered, the bets were voided, and the customer's initial wagers were refunded.

PointsBet acknowledged to regulators that it lacked an automated system for reviewing the accuracy and timeliness of published markets. The company attributed this to the extensive volume of matches it offers, making it impractical to manually check and verify each event and market available for betting.

The operator claimed that the issue arose from "an unresolved communication issue" with a third-party data feed provider.

In another incident, PointsBet accepted bets on March 25, 2022, for the St. Peter's men's basketball team, which was ineligible for betting in New Jersey.

The market for these bets remained open for 55 minutes, during which two individuals placed a total of $60 in bets, all of which were subsequently canceled. PointsBet attributed this error to human oversight, according to the gaming enforcement division.

Lastly, on October 29, 2021, the company allowed bets on a "League of Legends" esports competition in which one player was 17 years old, while the legal minimum age for betting was 18. Four bets totaling $1,225 were accepted but later voided.

PointsBet admitted that it had not initially verified the ages of the competitors before listing the video game event for betting. However, it claimed to have since implemented a process to rectify this oversight.

These penalties underscore the strict regulatory environment governing sports betting in New Jersey, emphasizing the need for operators to adhere to the state's rules and procedures.