British Court Considers Refunding Gambler’s £1.5m Losses From Sports Betting at Betfair

The UK Court of Appeals is hearing the case of a compulsive gambler who attempts to recover losses of almost £1.5 million ($2 million) from betting platform Betfair.

Lee Gibson filed a lawsuit against the Flutter-owned betting exchange in 2021, alleging the company should have prevented the massive losses he suffered. Instead, he claims the company encouraged his gambling, treating him as a VIP with his own individual “relationship manager.”

In court this week, Gibson’s lawyer, Yash Kulkarni, said, “Betfair assumed a responsibility to take reasonable care that its facilitation of his gambling did not cause him financial harm by reason of his being a problem gambler.”

The UK has since introduced restrictions on VIP programs as the Gambling Commission said they encouraged problem gambling.

The 47-year-old placed more than 30,000 individual wagers through Betfair between 2009 and 2019. Although he said he initially found it “enthralling and exciting,” his losses became “unsustainable.” In March 2019, Betfair suspended his account due to the extent of his losses.

Gibson claims Betfair should have recognized his gambling problem earlier. He is seeking to recover at least £1 million ($1.34 million) of the money he lost.

Judge Absolves Betfair of Responsibility

A judge dismissed Gibson’s claims last year, absolving Betfair of responsibility for his losses. In the ruling, Judge Nigel Bird wrote, “Mr Gibson was determined to gamble. If Betfair had stopped him gambling in 2015 or at any time I am quite satisfied that he would have gambled elsewhere and to the same extent.”

The judge also said Gibson attempted to cover up his problem gambling, which meant it was unfair to expect Betfair to be responsible for his losses.

He added, “The evidence shows, and I have found, that he kept his problem under wraps, was able to afford to bet at the level he did (he passed all AML investigations), would not tell the truth when asked if he was comfortable about his losses, and would not use tools to limit his gambling.”

Gibson was a multimillionaire after amassing wealth through a property business. At its peak, his portfolio included 16 houses, which were rented to students, but some were later sold or remortgaged as his losses accumulated.

Lawyer Argues Gambling Problem was Clear

At the Court of Appeals this week, Gibson’s lawyer argued that the judge was wrong and Betfair should clearly have recognized Gibson as a problem gambler.

Kulkarni stated, “The judge ought to have gone on to find that where a person appears likely to be gambling prolifically despite facing heavy losses, using money which appears likely to be at least in part from selling his business assets or loaning money against them, that person is likely to be a problem gambler.”

While companies are encouraged to limit problem gambling, bettors rarely receive any compensation for losses. In a similar case, Amir Patel, a finance manager for the Jacksonville Jaguars, sued FanDuel, also owned by Flutter, after losing $20 million on the platform.

Like Betfair with Gibson, FanDuel assigned a VIP host to Patel, who alleged that this encouraged his gambling problem. After stealing more than $20 million from the Jaguars, Patel was jailed earlier this year. A judge dismissed his lawsuit, but FanDuel did agree to pay back a portion of his losses to the Jaguars last month.

The judgment in Gibson’s appeal will be made at a later date. Given the comments from Judge Bird in his ruling last year, it is unlikely that he will receive any of his money back.