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Disclaimer

This guideline is designed to provide information about the subject matter covered, and with the understanding that the Gaming and Wagering Commission (the Commission) is not passing legal opinion or interpretation or other professional advice. The information is provided on the understanding that all persons undertake responsibility for assessing the relevance and accuracy of its contents.

Purpose

Under the Betting Control Act 1954, the Commission may issue licences for domestic betting operators which include conditions for minimum bet limits.

The purpose of this guideline is to clarify the legislative requirements that apply to minimum bet limits for thoroughbred, greyhound and/or harness racing in Western Australia.

What is a minimum bet limit?

Minimum bet limits refer to the amount a punter can win, not how much can be staked or collected. Rules stipulate that the minimum bet size must be accepted by bookmakers on all fixed-odds bets.

For example, a domestic betting operator with a racing year turnover over $3 million, on a WA Trotting Club harness race, a win bet can be placed to the limit of $1000. This means that if the punter is backing a horse to win at odds of $5, the minimum bet the wagering operator must allow them to stake is $250. Bets less than $250 must also be accepted.

Stake: $250
Price: $5
Collect: $1250
Win: $1000

In WA, minimum bet limits only apply on bets placed from 9:00am for day meetings or from 2:00pm for night meetings on race day.

What are the minimum bet limits in WA?

Minimum bet limits in WA depend on the racing year turnover of the domestic betting operator.

Racing year turnover less than $3 million

While the racing year turnover of a domestic betting operator is less than $3 million, a win bet must be accepted to not exceed the amount set out in the below table for each race type:

Racing year turnover at $3 million or greater

Minimum bet limit conditions

Non-compliance with minimum bets limits conditions could result in the Commission cancelling or suspending the authorisation of a domestic betting operator.

Increases to minimum bet limits occur on the day that racing year turnovers meet or exceed $3 million. Domestic betting operators are responsible for tracking their own racing year turnovers to ensure compliance with the correct minimum bet limit.

The domestic betting operator must not do any act or refuse to do any act to avoid complying with minimum bet limits including but not limited to:

• refusing to accept a fixed odds bet
  
• closing a person’s account
  
• refusing to open a person’s account
  
• placing any restrictions on a person’s account
  
• refusing to lay fixed odds to any person
  
• laying lesser odds to a person
  
• any other act or refusal to do an act in order to avoid complying with minimum bet limits.

The domestic betting operator is not required to accept a bet if any of the following apply:

• The person who established the betting account resides outside Australia or is not the beneficial owner.
  
• The person who established the betting account is another domestic betting operator or is employed by or a relative of another domestic betting operator.
• The person who established the betting account is in breach of a term or condition of the betting account.
• The person who established the betting account has voluntarily excluded themselves.
• The person who established the betting account has already placed another bet on the same runner, and if the other bet and this bet were combined, the domestic betting operator would not have been required to accept the bet.
• The betting account has insufficient funds.
• The domestic betting operator has closed another betting account of the person because the person engaged in fraudulent behaviour or they were warned off or disqualified under the Racing and Wagering WA Act.
• The bet is made by a betting exchange, is a bet back or an internet bet placed by a proxy server.
• The bet is made before 9:00am on the day of the day meeting or before 2:00pm on the day of the night meeting.
• The bet involves a series of races to establish a final dividend.
• Multiple of an identical or similar bet have been placed from the same IP address.
• A free component is used to place all or part of the bet.
  

What should a punter do if they have a complaint?

At first instance, punters who believe that a domestic betting operator has refused their bet or excluded them in contravention of the minimum bet limit condition should contact the domestic betting operator to ascertain the reason for the refusal or exclusion.

If the punter remains unsatisfied with the reason provided, then they may lodge a formal complaint with the Commission. As part of the complaint, a punter will need to state what action they have taken to contact the domestic betting operator and the outcome including any reasons given to the punter.