A man who lost almost $600,000 has sued two betting firms for encouraging him to have a punt and failing to tell him he had a gambling problem.
Alexander Gassner has sued Sportsbet and Beteasy in the Federal Court seeking to recoup his losses and accusing the companies of "unconscionable conduct".
Despite knowing Mr Gassner dropped hundreds of thousands of dollars into his bets from August 2, 2015 to June 11, 2021, the firms did not not contact him to get him help, he said in documents filed with the court.
"Beteasy and Sportsbet did not use any of this information to make further inquiry of Mr Gassner about his ability to sustain large losses or his ability to control his gambling behaviour," he wrote.
"Instead, Beteasy and Sportsbet promoted gambling to Mr Gassner and enticed and encouraged him to gamble."
Mr Gassner stopped using the Beteasy app in September 2020 after being advised to move over to Sportsbet's platform.
He says he then proceeded to lose all of his savings and some of his business funds before suspending his Sportsbet account in June 2021.
He claims he lost more than $485,000 through Beteasy and a further $121,000 through Sportsbet.
Mr Gassner is also seeking interest on these amounts plus his legal costs.
A spokesperson for Sportsbet made a brief statement regarding the lawsuit.
“Sportsbet takes its approach to responsible gambling very seriously. As the matter is before the court, we do not wish to make any further comment," they said.
A mediation has been scheduled for October 27 and the matter will next come before the Federal Court on November 3.
