FREE BETTING INFORMATION
Minimum Bet Laws
Wednesday, 06 July 2022
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The Minimum Bet Laws (MBL) are a blessing for Australian punters especially the successful ones. Without minimum betting laws, online bookies could pick and choose which wagers they would accept.
Whilst the limits depend on the state or territory, the MBL guarantees that Australian punters can bet on all races with all Wagering Service Providers (WSPs).
How minimum bet laws work is that the amount of profit you can make is after the stake is returned to you. This is somewhat like the old days of fractional odds so for example, if a horse is $5 and the limit is $2,000 you can place a $500 fixed odds bet on that horse to win $2,500 where $500 is your original stake and $2,000 is your profit.
The laws are as follows:
“Approved Australian off-course wagering operators are required to lay the odds displayed for fixed odds bets after 9:00am on race-day for thoroughbred day meetings or 2:00pm on race-day for thoroughbred night meetings to the limits below”
(9am onwards for all meetings in QLD and the ACT)
What are the Minimum Bet Limit Rules
Provided the wagering service provider’s annual turnover is over $5m, bookmakers must not:
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Refuse to accept a fixed odds bet.
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Close a person’s account.
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Refuse to open a person’s account.
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Place any restrictions on a person’s account.
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Refuse to lay a fixed odds bet to any person when those fixed odds are publicly displayed.
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Laying lesser odds to a person than those publicly displayed.
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Perform any other act or refuse to do an act in order to avoid these provisions.
Racing NSW Minimum Bet Limits
The key points of the minimum bet limit conditions are as follows:
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Wagering operators are not to take actions such as closing a punter’s accounts, refusing to open a punter’s account or placing restrictions on a punter’s account solely to avoid complying with the minimum bet limit conditions. However, wagering operators are still able to take such actions for legitimate reasons including undisclosed bowlers (persons betting on behalf of other persons), responsible gambling, fraudulent activity, money-laundering and other integrity related reasons such as the punter being warned off or disqualified.
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Wagering operators are required to lay the odds displayed for fixed odds bets to the limits below. The minimum bet limit has been set at levels which are considered to be fair and balanced. Those levels were requested by most punters (although some professional punters requested higher levels) yet are still higher than what was requested by most wagering operators.
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For Australian Wagering Operators with Net Assessable Turnover on NSW Thoroughbred races greater than or equal to $5 million
For Australian Wagering Operators with Net Assessable Turnover on NSW Thoroughbred races greater than or equal to $5 million
Metropolitan NSW Thoroughbred races
- Wagering operator to lose a minimum $2,000 (*place component $800)
Non-Metropolitan NSW Thoroughbred races
- Wagering operator to lose a minimum $1,000 (*place component $400)
For Australian Wagering Operators with Net Assessable Turnover on NSW Thoroughbred Races less than $5 million.
All NSW Thoroughbred races
- Wagering operator to lose a minimum $1,000 (*place component $400)
For further information, FAQs and complaint processes, visit:
- https://www.racingnsw.com.au/minimum-bet/
- https://www.racingnsw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Frequently-Asked-Questions.pdf
HARNESS & GREYHOUNDS
- For NSW Harness events, the following minimum bet levels will be applicable for wagers made via account, after 10.00am AEST or AEDT (whichever is applicable) on race-day:
| Metropolitan NSW Harness races | $1,000 |
| Non-Metropolitan NSW Harness races | $500 |
| All NSW Harness races at that Platinum Race Meeting | $2,000 |
- For New South Wales Greyhound events, the following minimum bet levels will be applicable for wagers made via account, from within two hours prior to the scheduled start time of the opening race of the meeting / race programme:
| Metropolitan NSW Greyhound races – Group 1 Final Field Races and Million Dollar Chase Final | $2,000 (*Place component $1,000) |
| Metropolitan NSW Greyhound races – All other races | $750 (*Place component $375) |
| Non-metropolitan NSW Greyhound races |
$500 (*Place component $250) |
Racing Victoria Minimum Bet Limits
Racing Victoria (RV) implemented a Minimum Bet Limit (MBL) policy that has applied to approved Wagering Service Providers (WSPs) betting on Victorian thoroughbred races since 1 October 2016.
RV announced in May 2016 its intention to implement an MBL before undertaking comprehensive stakeholder consultation to determine the most appropriate framework. Responses were received from 480 stakeholders including punters, WSPs, industry participants, media and regulators.
From Monday, 10 May 2021 punters betting on all Victorian thoroughbred races no longer need to wait until raceday to access the provisions of the MBL.
Wagering Service Providers (WSPs) betting on Victorian thoroughbred racing must now apply the MBL from the time their markets are first published following the declaration of final fields.
For Saturday metropolitan meetings, the first WSPs typically begin publishing their markets on Wednesday afternoon after the final fields are declared. For country race meetings, it is often up to 72 hours prior to the race meeting.
Betting Limits:
Approved WSPs will be required to accept a fixed odds bet at odds which are publicly displayed by the approved WSP for any Victorian thoroughbred race to the maximum amount specified as follows:
Metropolitan Victorian Thoroughbred:
- In any one Win, Win/Place or Each-way bet: to lose $2000
- In any one Place bet: to lose $800
Non-metropolitan Victorian Thoroughbred:
- In any one Win, Win/Place or Each-way bet: to lose $1000
- In any one Place bet: to lose $400
An approved WSP must not do any act or refuse to do any act to avoid complying with the bet limits, including but not limited to:
- Refusing to accept a fixed odds bet
- Closing a person’s account
- Refusing to open a person’s account
- Placing any restrictions on a person’s account in relation to Victorian thoroughbred racing product
- Refusing to lay fixed odds to any person when those fixed odds are publicly displayed
- Laying lesser odds to a person than those publicly displayed
- Any other act or refusal to do an act in order to avoid these provisions
For further information, FAQs and complaint processes, visit:
- https://rv.racing.com/wagering/minimum-bet-limit
- https://www.racingvictoria.com.au/wagering/minimum-bet-policy-faq
GREYHOUNDS
METRO: Bet to win $750
NON-METRO Bet to win $500
Bet can only be placed within two hours of the first race of the meeting and up until start time of the race.
Read more here: https://australianracinggreyhound.com/news/vic/victoria-the-first-to-adopt-minimum-bet-limits-on-greyhound-racing/93410/
HARNESS
METRO: Bet to win $1000
NON-METRO Bet to win $500
Operators must publish fixed odds on Victorian harness racing fields no later than one 1 hour prior to each race.
Read more here: https://www.harness.org.au/media-room/news-article/?news_id=35054
Racing Queensland Minimum Bet Limits
Racing Queensland has implemented Minimum Bet Limits after consultation with wagering operators, stakeholders and other Principal Racing Authorities.
Off-course wagering operators are required to accept a fixed odds bet at odds that are publicly displayed, up to the maximum amounts for the wagering operator to lose. The maximum amounts vary depending on the turnover of the wagering operator and the type of race (e.g. metropolitan or non-metropolitan).
Minimum Bet Limits apply:
- to Queensland Thoroughbred races only;
- to fixed odds bets (i.e. win, place and each way bets);
- from 9am (AEST) on the day of the Thoroughbred race, for a race meeting commencing prior to 5:30pm; and
- from 2pm (AEST) on the day of the Thoroughbred race, for a race meeting commencing after 5:30pm.
Metropolitan Queensland racing:
- In any one Win, Win/Place or Each-way bet: to lose $2000
- In any one Place bet: to lose $800
Non-metropolitan Queensland racing:
- In any one Win, Win/Place or Each-way bet: to lose $1000
- In any one Place bet: to lose $400
For further information, FAQs and complaint processes, visit:
HARNESS & GREYHOUNDS
- No minimum bet law applies
Other States Minimum Bet Limits
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
- MBL’s start at 9am raceday for daily meets and 2pm for night meets.
- METRO: Bet to win $2000 ($800 place component)
- NON-METRO: Bet to win $1000 ($400 place component)
https://www.racing.com/news/2018-07-03/sa-introduces-minimum-bet-limit
TASMANIA
- MBL’s start at 9am raceday for daily meets and 2pm for night meets.
- ALL THOROUGHBRED RACING Bet to win $1000
https://tasracing.com.au/minimum-bet-limit-introduced-tasmanian-thoroughbred-racing
ACT
- MBL’s start at 9am raceday for daily meets and 2pm for night meets.
- BLACK OPAL STAKES MEETING: Bet to win $2,000 ($800 place component)
- ALL OTHER THOROUGHBRED RACING $1,000 ($400 place component)
- No minimum bet law applies
HARNESS & GREYHOUNDS
- For South Australia, Tasmania, ACT & Western Australia, no minimum bet law applies currently for Harness or Greyhound Racing
