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Australia’s best known bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse may be fined up to $121,000 after allegedly incentivising a customer to continue punting after they requested their account be closed.
The state’s gaming regulator, Liquor & Gaming NSW, confirmed it is prosecuting the 67-year-old Waterhouse for alleged breaches of the Betting and Racing Act. However, they declined to comment on the matter as it’s before the courts.
Robbie Waterhouse is one of Australia’s leading bookmakers.Credit:Jessica Shapiro
The bookmaker is facing a total of 11 charges. Five charges pertain to allegedly incentivising a person against shutting down their betting account following a closure request. The remaining six pertain to allegedly accepting bets from a person who requested to close said account. All 11 charges revolved around a single customer of RobWaterhouse.com. If convicted, Waterhouse faces fines totalling $121,000.
The Betting and Racing Act 1998 in NSW prohibits offering individuals inducements to participate in any gambling activity. Waterhouse will appear at Downing Centre local court on December 6. He was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication. He has not yet formally responded to the charges.
The famed bookmaker has enjoyed a lucrative career for the majority of his life, except when he was banned from bookmaking due to his involvement in the “Fine Cotton Affair” horse substitution scam of 1984. He also was banned from racetracks around the world. However, the ban was lifted and reduced to a suspension after multiple appeals, and he returned to bookmaking and racetracks in 2001.
Waterhouse is the son of renowned bookmaker Bill Waterhouse, husband of horse trainer Gai Waterhouse and father of Tom Waterhouse, who has followed his father into the trade.
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Robbie Waterhouse joined the world of online betting in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic closed Australia’s racetracks.
Waterhouse’s website features a page dedicated to responsible gaming. “For most people gambling is an exciting and fun recreational pursuit. For some individuals gambling may result in addiction with devastating consequences for them, their families and friends,” the website says. “At RobWaterhouse.com we understand the dangers of gambling beyond your means and we wish to protect our members. We want you to stay in control of your gambling and not allow gambling to control you”.