Gambling Secretive world in which big losers are bought and sold

The world of professional gambling is secretive by design.

- Rob Davies

Successful punters find an edge wherever possible and seldom show their hand to rivals when they spot an opportunity to make a killing. It is even rarer that the outside world gets the chance to penetrate the code of silence that governs this cadre of high-rollers.

That is why a court document, reported on Tuesday by the Guardian, is so unusual, in that it drags a dispute from a very private world into the public spotlight.

According to the filing, George Cottrell, a close associate of Nigel Farage and a key figure in Reform UK’s inner circle, in effect acted as a front for a major gambling syndicate controlled by Tony Bloom, the former professional poker player who owns Brighton & Hove Albion FC, by handing over control of betting accounts in his name.

A former associate of Bloom is bringing a claim against the billionaire alleging he is owed a share of the profits, estimated to be about $250m (£190m).

Bloom, who also holds stakes in Royale Union Saint-Gilloise of Belgium, the Scottish club Heart of Midlothian and Australia’s Melbourne Victory FC, has yet to file a defence to the claim.

The case appears to provide a glimpse of one corner of a parallel gambling sector entirely separate from the ambit of well known brands such as Ladbrokes, Paddy Power and Sky Bet, which collectively had takings of £12.5bn from British punters last year.

Beyond this, industry sources and professional punters describe a broader shadow industry in which betting accounts are bought and sold via messaging platforms for thousands of pounds, and where VIPs are directed to offshore hidden market sites that do not pay UK tax or perform anti-money-laundering or responsible-gambling checks.

With its own jargon and codes of conduct, this world operates outside the view of the Gambling Commission, the regulator whose job it is to help prevent addiction and keep crime out of the industry.