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A customer of the online betting exchange Smarkets is claiming that wagering firm voided €33,483 in winning bets.
The Maltese-licensed exchange with offices based in London, England responded to the complaint lodged at the SportsBookReview website.
“We are aware of the posts that have been made on SBR and are in communication with the customer in question. We can say that it is only in extreme circumstances, where obvious and significant mistakes are exploited in bad faith, may bets be investigated and voided."
The company declined SBR’s attempts to obtain specifics to this matter.
A review of past Smarkets complaints shows the company has had a long-standing commitment to shutting down winning betting accounts. One player in 2012 had his account closed after winning €20,000 over a six-month period.
Smarkets is no new kid on the block, though many consider it a start-up compared to more formidable competitors the likes of Paddy Power/Betfair, which recently merged to become the largest wagering site on the planet.
The 35-strong company, launched in 2008, has raised £3.6 million in funding to date, largely from T-Venture and Passion Capital, and its revenues are now at around £6 million annually, with £100 million a month being traded on the platform. It certainly plans on being in business for a while and has the revenue stream to make this happen, so complaints of this nature could certainly have a toll on the firm.
Smarkets has been trading £100 million a month in 'prediction market' bets over the past nine months thanks mostly to the US elections, though Americans are unable to place wagers on the site (alternatives found here)
"We want to come up with a product that will very substantially challenge the really big guys, and what we really want to do is actually shrink the market,” Smarkets CEO Jason Trost told BusinessInsider.com this past September. “I think the sports betting market is about a billion right now, but because we'll be offering better prices and a lower margin product, ultimately the amount of money people are spending will shrink."
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
