3,000 bets get double payouts as Singapore bookmaker suffers technical glitch

The only legal bookmaker in Singapore said in a statement Thursday that its IT system was "unavailable" from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. the previous day.

A horse racing betting center of Singapore Pools in Singapore. Photo courtesy of the company

Because of the outage, around 13,000 bets placed either online or at retail outlets were not captured in the system.

The company said it will refund the stakes and honor any winnings if a punter can show proof or record of a winning bet made.

The system issue also triggered about 3,000 instances of double settlement, resulting in some winners receiving twice their correct payouts through their online accounts.

The operator said it is notifying these customers and taking steps to recover the erroneous payouts. It did not reveal the total amount to be refunded or the sum it expects to recover.

The disruption has been fixed and systems are now functioning normally, the company said, adding that the incident was not a cyberattack and that no customer data was compromised.

"Efforts are continuing to identify affected customers. We regret the inconvenience caused and will continue to work on addressing any affected customers."

The company is Singapore’s only authorized operator for lottery, sports betting and horse wagering, generating turnover from Toto, the Singapore Sweep, 4D, sports betting and horse racing products.

In 2020, users of the operator’s online Toto Quick Pick option were affected by two separate software glitches, according to The Straits Times.