Bookmaker may be buying time on historic payout, racing CEO says
The chief executive of Racing Queensland suggested a bookmaker’s delay in processing the record payout on the NRL grand final could benefit the company because fewer people would likely withdraw from their accounts.
Online bookmaker Betr has warned tens of thousands of Australians the company needed almost a week to deposit more than $40 million into accounts – processing the largest payout in sports gambling history.
Nathan Cleary’s second half heroics means online bookmaker Betr needs to process more than $40 million in winnings — the largest payout in the history of sports gambling. Getty Images
The young start-up’s mammoth payout has dominated talk in Australia’s wagering industry, and raised questions about the reasoning behind the delay.
Racing Queensland chief executive Jason Scott, who was formerly the chief executive of wagering giant Ladbrokes Australia, posted online suggesting the delay would help the young start-up backed by entrepreneur Matt Tripp and News Corp. He was responding to a tweet on Sunday questioning why the payments were not made immediately.
“If you pay on Sunday the withdraw button will get a workout,” Mr Scott wrote. “If you pay on a Friday evening before Group 1 racing in Sydney and Melbourne plenty will be sent round.”
Another wagering source said its widely known in bookmaker circles that customers were less likely to withdraw money from accounts closer to the weekend.
Reached over the phone on Tuesday, Mr Scott said he was being “facetious” in the tweet, and later deleted the post.
“In my ex-career as a wagering CEO, I understand that you would like money going into an account later rather than earlier,” he said. But Mr Scott said the delay would also help the company get the tens of
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