ASA Adjudication on Betfair Ltd

Ad

An e-mail and a website promotion for Betfair Ltd.

a. The e-mail stated "CASINO'S HAPPY HOUR PROMOTION ... All deposits made between 21.00 GMT to 23.59 GMT on the 13th November 2010 will be matched 50% up to £100 with a Casino bonus".

b. The website promotion stated "Get Unlimited 50% reload Bonuses in the Betfair Casino on Saturdays from 21.00 until 23.59 GMT! Your Bonuses are valid for a full 12 hrs ...".

Issue

1. Two complainants, who took advantage of promotion (a) and won, challenged whether the promotion was administered fairly because his winnings and bonuses were removed.

2. Seven complainants, who took advantage of promotion (b) and won, challenged whether the promotion was administered fairly because their winnings and bonuses were removed.

3. One complainant, who took advantage of promotion (b), won and withdrew his winnings, challenged whether the promotion was administered fairly because he was subsequently instructed to credit his account.

CAP Code (Edition 11)

CAP Code (Edition 12)

Response

Betfair Ltd (Betfair) said, after the promotion ran, they had become aware that a number of customers had displayed irregular or unusual playing or betting patterns which Betfair deemed to be abusive, and subsequently took action. They said the promotion was administered with adequate resources and that, due to the limited period of three hours, during which the promotion was operative, it was not possible to analyse customers' gaming activity until the promotion had ended. They said they could not disclose details of the complainants activities because they would risk other customers avoiding their security and anti-fraud measures. They said they appreciated that complainants were disappointed but did not believe they had justifiable grounds for complaints.

Assessment

Upheld

The ASA acknowledged that the complainants were willing to disclose their account details, so Betfair could explain how their playing or betting patterns had breached the promotions terms and conditions. We noted Betfair said they could not disclose customer activities. In the absence of any evidence that the complainants, or any other players, had their winnings and bonuses legitimately removed, or had been instructed to credit their account with good reason, we considered that the promotion had not been administered fairly. We concluded that the promotion breached the Code.

The ad breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 8.2 (Sales promotions), 8.14 and 8.15.1 (Administration) and 8.17.1 (Significant conditions for promotions).

Action

The ad must not appear again in its current form.

Adjudication of the ASA Council (Non-broadcast)