830.This section provides the Commission with the power to make an order that a bet accepted by, or through, the holder of a general betting operating licence, a pool betting operating licence, or a betting intermediary operating licence, is to be void.
831.Where the Commission exercises this power, any contract or other arrangement relating to the bet will be void, and any money paid in relation to the bet must be returned to the person who paid it. So, for example, a person who places a stake on a bet that the Commission orders should be made void, must have their stake returned to them. Equally, any winnings must be repaid to the person who accepted the bet. Such repayments will be enforceable as a debt.
832.The Commission may only make an order under this section where it is satisfied that the bet was substantially unfair. In considering whether a bet is substantially unfair, the Commission must, in particular, have regard to any of the factors listed in subsection (4) that apply. These are:
that one or both of the parties to the bet (whether they made or accepted the bet) supplied information in connection with it that was insufficient, false or misleading;
that one or both of the parties to the bet believed, or ought to have believed, that the race or event about which the bet was made was, or would be, conducted in contravention of the industry rules (as defined in section 337(7)) that apply to the event. This might apply where, for example, one party to a bet knew that players in a youth football match were in fact over the legal age for participation, but nonetheless offered a bet on the match;
The fact that one or both of the parties to the bet believed, or ought to have believed, that the offence of cheating (as set out in section 42) had been, or was likely to be, committed in relation to the bet. This could apply where, for example, a person connected to a racehorse owner became aware that the horse had been deliberately injured prior to a race in which it was to run and, on the basis of that knowledge, made a bet on that horse through a betting intermediary;
The fact that one or both parties to the bet have been convicted of the offence of cheating as set out in section 42 of the Act.
833.The effect of this section is that the Commission will not automatically void a bet where one of the factors listed in subsection (4) applies; it will only cancel a bet where it is satisfied that it was substantially unfair. This will allow for the situation where both parties to the bet knew about the cheating, for example, and so no unfairness arises.
834.The power to void a bet will be available to the Commission for a period of six months from the day on which the result of the bet is determined, except where there has been a conviction for cheating, in which case there is no time limit. Provision is made in section 337 for rights of appeal in relation to orders made by the Commission under this section.