TAB holds an online gambling monopoly in New Zealand, but even Major players can’t escape their moments of shame. According to Kiwi Stuff newspaper, the company’s image as a safe gambling option was tarnished after a racing bettor demanded a refund of NZ $ 200 as he had received counterfeit banknotes as payment.
The gambler, Bruce Gasson, received a total payout of NZ $ 680 in winnings on January 3. When he arrived home, he noticed NZ $ 200 of the amount was counterfeit bills. Gasson promptly asked TAB to exchange the two counterfeit notes of NZ $ 100 each.
TAB responded, saying that there was “not really a whole lot they can do about it” beyond refunding the money to the bettor if ordered by the local police. The police, however, took no action when informed of the incident.
It took Gasson contacting Kiwi Stuff and the subsequent news story to prompt some action from TAB and the authorities. TAB made contact with the gambler with a promise to refund the money. The police, for their part, collected the money from Gasson and opened an investigation.
Despite the satisfaction of getting his refund, the bettor is still perturbed by the lack of action on behalf of the police and the bookmaker when the “mistake” was brought to their attention.
This incident leaves TAB in an awkward position, considering the recent launch of its public awareness campaign that encourages locals to avoid gambling with internationally licensed online gambling operators.
The state monopoly’s ‘Bet with the TAB’ campaign seeks to sway local players in favour of operator bets. The campaign employs videos featuring sports stars to convince New Zealanders to reduce the volume of bets on international sites.
The stated objective behind this is “increased profit for New Zealand racing and better returns for New Zealand sport.”
Gambling monopolies have faced a lot of criticism internationally as their sites have been known to not pay prizes out to local bettors. This irony has not been lost on their detractors.
TAB is sitting pretty as far as the state of its finance goes. According to its most recent earnings report, gambling income in November 2020 reached NZ $ 232.6 million, which was NZ $ 26.7 million over the budget forecast.
Gross wagering income reached NZ $ 41.6 million thanks to TAB’s active customer base of 140,500 bettors. In November 2020, the monopoly reported a net profit of NZ $ 17.7 million which is NZ $ 1.4 million more than the same month in 2019.
