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Player loss case of £1.5M against Betfair dismissed by court
High-stakes bettor Lee Paul Gibson’s attempt to recover around £1.5 million from Betfair in player losses accumulated between 2009 and 2019 was dismissed by a UK Court of Appeal.
Gibson alleged that Betfair owed him a duty of care, as the operator had to intervene and prevent his losses when he began showing signs of problem gambling. He also argued that when he placed the bets, Betfair was in breach of social responsibility obligations, making him eligible for a restitution claim.
Although it appeared that Gibson had had a gambling problem since 2015, the court found that Betfair had no knowledge of the issue and had conducted anti-money laundering and income checks on multiple occasions.
The court ruled that Gibson’s frequent betting and big losses weren’t enough for Betfair to recognize his problem gambling. The court also added that during the time of the incident, it was hard to identify problem gamblers based on just data analysis.
As the first appeal was dismissed, Gibson’s negligence and illegality arguments were also rejected, noting that operators’ duty of care to problem gamblers should be decided only in cases where they actually arise.
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