I fail to see what the corps think they can hold over the industry - the threat of reduced odds for all their 'clients' who will all run off to sign up with Vanuatu bookmakers, & in doing so decimate the racing scene?? Lol, wont happen.

Anyone else starting to suspect the arrival of Pinnacle in Aust & Racing NSW plans are not just a coincidence? & also the Packer buyout of BF Aust.

I actually thought of that stugots, I imagined a few lobster dinners at various casinos, because this issue of banning and limiting has been very well publicised. One would imagine industry leaders seeing a ripe opportunity at the right time behind closed doors. What we are starting to hear now, I imagine was well though out months ago if not earlier.

Or I could be dreaming, but Rene Rivkin always used to say "where there's smoke there's fire, and the first offer, is never the last." :D

brain fade, ignore

Obviously they can and do.

I have had 1 losing bet of $100 today with BETSTAR, recently taken over by LADBROKES, and guess what??/ no more fixed odds for me. Same as being banned.

Complaint lodged with NT Racing Commission for what it's worth.

insane

I am in receipt of your dispute, Betstar now a subsidiary of Ladbrokes are no longer licensed in the Northern Territory and therefore do not fall within our jurisdiction. They are now licensed through the Norfolk Island Gaming Authority who can be contacted via the following link. http://www.gaming.gov.nf/



As an aside and by prefacing this with the fact your dispute is outside of this jurisdiction, I can however advise that the current case law in Australia regarding matters such as this supports the bookmaker’s right to accept or refuse business as they wish. In essence the law is that no person can force another to enter into a contract with them, the striking of a wager being a contract between parties. Just as they can’t force you to wager with them, you can’t force them to accept your wager.


Kind regards


xxxx xxxx
Licensing Inspector - Investigations, Gambling and Licensing Services


And there you have it. Punters have no rights whatsoever.
As for Norfolk Island, they didn't even bother to reply to a recent complaint. The whole system is a complete joke.

Correct. Before our shores were inundated with UK and IRE accountants, the overseas forums were rife with complaints about these companies.
There are only a couple of wholly Australian owned corporate bookies left and most of them have the same software.
The only way to get a decent bet on with a bookie these days is an on track bookie, although the price of admission and a meal is probably not even worth it.
The alternative is to have a phone account with Rod Cleary, Rob Waterhouse, or Mark Read himself, not IAS.

"In essence the law is that no person can force another to enter into a contract with them, the striking of a wager being a contract between parties."

This is coming from the laws governing the relationship between shopkeepers and customers, where any shopkeeper can refuse service.

The situation here is entirely different in my opinion.
By opening an account we enter into a contract to conduct wagering.

That is the contract.
The fact that it is written in a way to benefit one party only is the problem.
If the govmnt, benefits from license fees it should be able to dictate some contract terms to make it more equitable to punters.

So why haven't on-course bookies been doing this from day dot? Answer - because the terms of their licencing as bookmakers requires them to take on all comers. Would there be one on course bookmaker left in this country if that had not been the case? Of course not.

Why can the corps get away with what they are? Because a lazy, greedy NT Govt enabled all of the abhorrent business practices that now are a real threat to the industry. Buck stops there & despite what changes NSW make, the NT Govt need to face up to their responsibilities to the racing industry.