Sun Bets spanked over PieGate, self-exclusion failures

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is reviewing online gambling operator Sun Bets license after last year’s infamous ‘PieGate’ novelty bet incident.

On Friday, the UKGC imposed an £84k penalty on Tabcorp UK Limited, a subsidiary of Australian betting operator Tabcorp Holdings, for failing to properly manage risks associated with certain novelty bets and for allowing over 100 self-excluded gamblers to continue to gamble with the Sun Bets site.

The sketchy novelty bets included whether Sutton United FC goalkeeper Wayne Shaw (pictured) would eat a pie on the sidelines during a February 2017 match against Arsenal. The 322-pound Shaw, who did consume a pie, later admitted to tipping some friends about his plans in advance of the match.

In its public statement on the penalty, Tabcorp UK copped to offering a novelty market “which carried a risk of inciting an individual to breach a sports governing body’s rules.” The company further admitted to failing to carry out a specific risk assessment on the impact of the pie-eating market on the individual who had a pivotal role in determining the outcome of that market.