New Jersey: William Hill and Amelco fined for taking post-game sports bets, other violations

Two sports betting companies operating in New Jersey are facing fines after accepting bets on events that had already concluded. The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) recently fined William Hill Sportsbook $20,000 and Amelco, a sports betting technology company, $10,000 for their roles in separate betting violations.  

William Hill, which operates sportsbooks at Caesars, Harrah's, and Tropicana casinos, accepted $25,000 worth of bets on completed college basketball, hockey games, and boxing matches in 2022 and 2023. Many of the bets were voided upon discovery of the errors, but some payouts had already been made to customers.  

The most notable violations occurred on February 23 and 24, 2022, when William Hill accepted 42 bets on 12 concluded college basketball games through in-person kiosks. The sportsbook paid out over $5,000 for six bets before catching the issue, while other wagers were refunded. William Hill attributed the problem to its content supplier, OpenBet, based in London.  

Two additional incidents involved boxing matches. On June 11, 2022, bets were taken on a Chris Kongo-Sebastian Formella fight after its conclusion, with incorrect start times listed on William Hill’s systems.

Similarly, on April 15, 2023, the sportsbook accepted wagers on a Denzel Bentley-Kieran Smith fight after the bout had ended. Both instances were linked to listing errors.  

Amelco was fined $10,000 for multiple violations, including enabling PlayUp, a sportsbook client, to offer unauthorized bets. In March 2022, PlayUp allowed a bet on U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg becoming the next president, an event not permitted under state law at the time.

The $1 bet was voided, but the violation was deemed a failure in oversight by Amelco and its partner Sportradar, which supplies betting data. Amelco also allowed PlayUp to accept bets on a Seton Hall basketball game in January 2023, despite state laws prohibiting wagers on New Jersey college teams.

These incidents are not isolated. In November 2021, the DGE fined Kambi Group and Rush Street Interactive for similar violations involving bets on a completed soccer match. More recently, bet365 was fined $33,000 in September for accepting wagers on completed basketball, golf, and mixed martial arts events.