An Australian punter who lost a massive amount of money has taken two gambling operators to court for encouraging him to continue gambling and failing to spot he had shown signs of problem gambling behaviour.
Alexander Gassner has filed legal action in Federal Court against Beteasy and Sportsbet, accusing the companies of “unconscionable conduct” and seeking the court to order the two operators to recover the money he lost with them. According to the documents filed in court, the two gambling operators were accused of not contacting the player to offer him professional help for dealing with his gambling addiction, although they were aware of the fact that Mr Gassner spent a massive amount of money on bets in the period from August 2nd, 2015 to June 11th, 2021.
In his claims to the court, the gambler claims that neither Beteasy nor Sportsbet used any of the information they had access to to investigate the situation further and check his ability to control his gambling or whether he was able to afford such significant spending. Instead of doing so, both companies continued promoting their services to Mr Gassner to encourage him to gamble more and more.
According to the plaintiff’s claims, he stopped using the Beteasy mobile app in September 2020 after being recommended to move over to the betting platform of Sportsbet. In his words, he then proceeded to lose all of his life-savings and some of his business funds before eventually making a decision to suspend his account with Sportsbet in June 2021.
Gambler Accuses the Gambling Operators of “Unconscionable Conduct”
The Australian gambler claims to have lost over AU$485,000 through the mobile application of Beteasy, and a further AU$121,000 through the Sportsbet betting platform. Now, he is seeking the court to order the two operators to return his losses. The player is also seeking interest in the aforementioned losses, plus the legal costs he made for the litigation.
As mentioned above, Gassner claimed that both gambling operators promoted their services to him to encourage him to keep gambling. According to allegations, Beteasy and Sportsbet had offered the player various incentives to lure him into gambling and keep him hooked on the practice without even asking him whether he was able to control his habits.
Reportedly, mediation has been scheduled for October 27th, 2023, and the matter is set to be brought to court once again on November 3rd, 2023.
Excessive gambling is identified as a public health problem in the country. Different states are trying to implement some new regulatory restrictions to prevent gambling-related harm but a large number of people still generates massive daily losses, which, in some cases, leads to serious issues such as debts, bankruptcy, and even suicide.
- Author
Olivia Cole
