- Robbie Waterhouse appeared in court on Monday
- Bookmaker accused of betting offences
- He is married to Gai Waterhouse
Australia’s most famous bookmaker will have to wait months for news of his fate after he allegedly encouraged a gambler to keep betting after he asked to close his account.
Robbie Waterhouse, 69, is fighting allegations he breached the Betting and Racing Act during interactions with a customer of his bookmaking website RobWaterhouse.com in May 2022.
One of the website’s customers requested on May 14 that his account be permanently closed, the court heard earlier.
Liquor & Gaming NSW claims the customer’s account has been deactivated, but not permanently closed.
The state regulator alleges that Mr Waterhouse, the husband of legendary horse breeder Gai Waterhouse, accepted new bets from the customer six times after he asked to close his account.
The court had previously heard that the client was offered a deposit bonus of up to $1,000 or a $100 bonus by a representative of RobWaterhouse.com.
His lawyer Rob Ranken had previously viewed chat logs between the customer and a customer service employee, in which the customer threatened to take his business elsewhere.
In the chat read to the court, the client threatened to close his account and move to a competitor after his request for a no-deposit bonus was rejected.
Robbie Waterhouse’s trial against him has been postponed for four months
Legendary horse trainer Gai’s (left) husband accused of betting
When the customer service representative confirmed that the account had been closed, he reminded the customer that the site was willing to match any deposit up to $1,000 if the account was reopened.
Mr Ranken wondered whether this offer had been made before the customer requested that the account be closed.
Mr Waterhouse has pleaded not guilty to six charges of accepting further bets following a request to close a betting account and five charges of offering inducements to a person not to close a betting account.
On Monday, the court was told that Australia’s most prominent bookmaker must wait almost four months for the outcome of his fight against the charges.
The court heard that the magistrate hearing the case, Gemma Slack-Smith, has been transferred to Bathurst and will have limited availability to make her decision.
Ms Slack-Smith will announce her decision on November 15.
If found guilty of breaches of betting and racing laws, Mr Waterhouse faces a fine of up to $121,000.