Bet365, whose billionaire boss Denise Coates paid £323 million to herself last year, was charged with using ‘backdoor technology’ to block future big winners.
A former employee believed the company had established accounts that threatened their earnings and restricted the amount of money they could bet, or even block them altogether.
The former Bet365 worker clarified that consumers would be given a risk ranking by the ‘backdoor algorithms,’ making sure they ‘can’t compete’ in the long run.
This comes after it was announced that Ms Coates, 52, took home a £277million salary along with a 50 per cent share of last year’s £92.5million dividend from the firm, the most significant amount ever for a UK business director.
After its launch in 2001, the gambling company has expanded rapidly.
Documents showed revenue at the business of nearly £3billion last year, with £85million being donated to charity-an improvement from the £75million previous year.
Bet365 charged £428million to its top directors and executives, with the highest paying executive, believed to be Ms Coates, who was earning a £277million salary.
Operating profits were estimated at £767million, with bets worth £ 64billion wagered up to March 2019 throughout the year.
Recently, James Poppleton, who has been working for Bet365 for 18 months, told Australia’s ABC News that the company has a program to ensure they don’t lose any money.
He said: ‘Your data shows them how many bets you have made, what kind of sport you put on it, your average bet, your overall turnover and your win or loss ratio to the client.’
Mr Poppleton clarified that after a victory the algorithm would kick in to ensure that future big winners couldn’t bet any significant sums.
Betting firms have also restricted specific gambling customers, usually targeting experienced or highly successful gamblers.
Bet365 is considered, however, to be the first company to use the technique more broadly.
Brian Chappell, founder of the Justice for Punters advocacy group, said Bet365 ‘changed it all’ went online.
He said to the Times: ‘What Bet365 was doing was a modern business model, trying to encourage people to join and then ban anybody who is not at all.’
Mr Chappell added that the philosophy of Bet365 is to ‘respect the consumer rather than the business.’
He also said, supporting Mr Poppleton ‘s arguments, that the company discovers good gamblers and then decreases the stakes they can put or gives them no odds at all.
Bet365 denied the allegations in a statement: ‘Online gambling companies, like Bet365, try to control their liabilities through limiting or refusing those customers’ bets/wagers to accept. A bet is a trading agreement between two willing parties, and there is no formal wagering right.
‘As a consumer may decide whether or not to make a bet, a gambling company is also free to choose from whom to accept bets and under what terms to handle their business and financial risks, just like an insurance firm is free to do when setting premiums.
‘Accordingly, any limitations Bet365 places on customer accounts are completely compliant with both legislation and regulations, in compliance with established terms and conditions, and affect a tiny minority of clients.
‘Contrary to your claim, Bet365 does not find it to have been developing a risk-management mechanism that has been evident for decades in the land-based gambling industry and other sectors.’
