Highroller Gambler court case
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010Gambling comes with many pitfalls, apart from losing lots of cash, gamblers of high roller status can easily lose a fortune without realising they have a gambling problem. The gambling casino and poker sites are probably not going to try and stop a highroller from placing high stakes bets. This artice is based on an issue raised in 2008 by a punter of William Hill Plc.
| “A compulsive gambler attempted to sue William Hill for £2 million of losses he racked up after allegedly asking to be barred.
Graham Calvert, a greyhound trainer, claims that the bookmaker failed in its duty of care by allowing him to continue betting despite his requests to be excluded. The 28-year-old from Tyneside gambled more than £7.5 million on football, golf and horse racing in an 18-month spree beginning in August 2005. He once lost £347,000 – at that time the biggest bet in golf history – after backing United States to win the 2006 Ryder Cup. On occasions he would drag bin bags stuffed with notes into the bookmakers. |
Aware that his problem was spiralling out of control, and with his marriage on the rocks, Mr Calvert telephoned William Hill in June 2006 to ask them to close his account.
He claims they offered him what is known as “self-exclusion”, under which the bookmaker agrees not to accept any bets from a customer for a set period – in his case six months.
But within two months Mr Calvert claims that he was able to set up a new account in his own name and start gambling again.
He then placed more than £3.5 million of bets, losing more than £2 million.
Mr Calvert has been attempting to make legal history by trying to convince courts to rule that William Hill was negligent in allowing him to continue betting.
“If I’d known I had the problem and didn’t do anything about it, I would see myself as being 100 per cent responsible,” Mr Calvert, who is now £1.5 million in debt, told the BBC.
“The fact is that I did try to go through the right procedures and I was let down.”
Tiejha Smyth, Mr Calvert’s solicitor, said: “He was allowed to continue gambling after William Hill agreed he should be self excluded. They should be held legally responsible.”"
William Hill also offer online poker and bingo games over the internet.
Article courtesy of the BBC 2008.
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