William Hill US has been fined $100,000 by the Nevada Gaming Commission for several violations regarding shortcomings in its sports betting system.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the regulator voted unanimously to fine the operator due to its mobile wagering system replicating bets, and for failing to respond quickly enough to an alleged theft by a sportsbook writer.
Between 2015 and December 2021, a fault in William Hill’s CBS Race and Sports Book mobile wagering system resulted in thousands of duplicate bets being produced. The operator failed to report the problem promptly to the regulator.
Through an internal investigation, approximately 42,000 duplicate losing bets were identified, resulting in around $1.3m in losses. Roughly 13,000 duplicate winning wagers were also discovered, resulting in customers being paid approximately $2m.
The cause for the duplicate bets wasn’t specified but, according to the Review-Journal, William Hill did note that “duplicate wagers were most likely to occur during peak traffic times” due to a processing flaw that surfaced when a customer tried multiple times to place a bet while the system was under heavy use.
William Hill was also fined for failing to respond quickly enough to “an alleged theft by a sportsbook writer at the Red Garter Casino in West Wendover, who allegedly placed multiple illegal wagers with money from the book’s cash drawer”.
An audit of the cash drawer at the casino determined that the theft took place April 12, but it “wasn’t discovered until May 12 when a Caesars Sports Book security manager emailed the Elko Control Board enforcement office with a report of a theft of $3,350”.
Jeffrey Hendricks, SVP and Assistant General Counsel of Regulatory and Compliance for Caesars Entertainment Inc, which operates William Hill, apologized to the commission.
