I’m going to need to tread carefully with this one, but an interesting case has hit the news concerning a millionaire entrepreneur suing a high end bookmaker after losing money.
Boohoo, right?
The thing is, the man in question is claiming to have been a gambling addict for many years, one who has even attempted suicide in the past due to his problems, and he also claims that StarSports knew this.
Obviously, if this was the case then it would be an appalling dereliction of duty from the bookie, but the defence is suggesting these claims are at best overblown and at worst totally fabricated.
This is bound to be a case that divides a room, so let’s look a little deeper into what is known so far.
Who are StarSports?
A lot of gamblers probably don’t know about StarSports, they aren’t a massive brand – although they have started to grow their retail business in recent years.
They now have around 20 shops in the UK, mostly in the nicer parts of London, but they are also cropping up in the wealthier areas of Manchester (there are one or two wealthy areas in Manchester believe it or not), as well as one in Wales and another in… Blackpool.
Anyway, the brand tout themselves as ‘The Gentleman’s Bookmaker’, or a luxury bookmaker, and started out operating the most in demand pitches at racetracks.
The company launched as Star Racing in 1999, and operated as a private bookmaker of sorts with some very wealthy clientele, but gradually expanded to allow the plebs to bet with them too.
They even welcome other bookies to hedge with them if they need to reduce their exposure.
They rebranded to Star Sports in 2009 having become much more than an on-course bookmaker, with a website and the like, but that classy element was still there. For example, clients can make personalised bets over the telephone and will always be talking to experienced traders rather than customer service reps.
In 2016 they entered the world of retail bookmaking, opening their first shop on the site of BetVictor’s old flagship store off Park Lane, and have been rapidly adding to their portfolio since.
Why are StarSports Being Sued?
The man in question is Scott O’Brien, a serial entrepreneur who once owned a paper recycling company called Pulp Friction, which he sold for £9 million in 2012.
Before I go any further, can I just say, that his naming of that company is superb. I like it so much that I almost want to take his side in this case, but that would be unprofessional of me.
Anyway, after selling the company his gambling behaviour reportedly became increasingly erratic, and between September 2018 and March 2019 he spent £419,252 at StarSports in London’s wealthy Mayfair.
He wagered a total of £111,945 in one day at the end of March. Yikes.
He didn’t lose it all though, he ended up approximately £48,859 out of pocket – so he lost around 11.65% of the total money he wagered – but also claims to have lost more on betting terminals which would up his losses to around £100k.
These terminal bets can’t be proved, however.
So this is where he £100k figure comes from in terms of the amount he is suing the company for.
Staff Knew About his Addiction
Bearing in mind that StarSports is supposed to be the ‘delicatessen’ of bookmakers, accepting some of the biggest bets in the industry from high end clients, Mr O’Brien’s bets may not have seemed all that peculiar to the staff.
However, O’Brien insists that he made it clear to at least one member of staff named Gemma – a cashier he recognised because their children attended the same school – that he was a compulsive gambler.
However, he also told the judge:
‘I thought Gemma might say something. I asked her not to tell anyone that I had a bit of a problem with gambling and she appeared understanding.
‘I told Gemma I had tried committing suicide once and spent ten months in rehab due to my addiction – and begged her not to tell my ex.’
At this point, he says, StarSports should have stepped in and either banned him or limited his betting.
However, his claims have been rubbished by StarSport’s barrister, who said:
‘At no time did the claimant ever alert any member of staff that he had a gambling problem or was a problem gambler.
‘On the contrary, the claimant portrayed himself as a successful businessman with a variety of interests, who lived in Knightsbridge, had a driver, dressed well and moved in wealthy social circles.’
That second bit is certainly true; he was even linked with a billionaire divorcee in the gossip columns at the time.
On top of this, he wasn’t in there every day. O’Brien claims he was banned from all the other local bookies because of his gambling behaviour, yet he only went into StarSports on 17 occasion in the six month period in question.
If you are a staff member in that shop, this hardly seems like the behaviour of a raging addict, does it?
My Opinion
Obviously I can’t know the truth of what went on here, and even with the information that is available i’m still on the fence.
It is possible that Mr O’Brien is simply chancing his arm and using the current climate of bookie bashing to get some of his money back, but would it be worth it for a millionaire to get all this awkward press for the sake of £100k?
Maybe it’s about the principle for him, rather than the money, in which case he really must believe he has been wronged.
From StarSports’ point of view; they take massive wagers every day, so Scott O’Brien was unlikely to stand out to them. He only used the bookie 17 times in 6 months, so 3 times a month on average – he wasn’t exactly a regular.
Plus, even if he did tell this ‘Gemma’ he had a problem, if she didn’t feed that back (after he specifically asked her not to) then the rest of the staff wouldn’t have known. This would still be StarSports problem though, since Gemma was employed by them and should have escalated it, but it would be a failing by a single member of staff rather than the company as a whole.
However, I can’t help feeling like StarSports are getting ambushed a little bit here, because if nothing else, Scott O’Brien is a very wealthy man who could afford to make the bets he was making, and he didn’t lose much compared to what he spent. He was even in profit for a while. It seems a bit mad that he has suddenly decided to sue.
There is something at StarSports’ end that doesn’t sit right with me though.
Among other things, their defence barrister said that ‘there is no general duty of care on a bookmaker to protect a gambling addict from the consequences of his addiction‘.
That’s a problematic statement if you ask me. While it may be technically true, times are changing, and the message this statement gives out is simply ‘tough luck, not our problem.’
I know they want to win the case, and perhaps they deserve to, but this cold heartless soundbite is not a good look.