Gagged by the 賭事ing vultures: In 犠牲者s' own words, how they are fleeced by rapacious betting 会社／堅いs and then silenced by lawyers... could there be more 冷笑的な greed?

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Betfair, one of Britain’s biggest 賭事ing brands, has a vacancy for a ‘VIP 関係 経営者／支配人’.

It sounds like an exciting 適切な時期, doesn’t it? You’ll be working, によれば the advert, with ‘high 逮捕する 価値（がある） clientele’ in a ‘急速な／放蕩な-moving dynamic 産業’ where ‘率先’ and ‘革新’ are rewarded.

Most of all, though, the successful 候補者 will be 推定する／予想するd to operate with ‘high 正直さ’. The company is 明白な about this. ‘We take pride in doing what’s 権利,’ 可能性のある applicants are told. ‘No exceptions.’

Keep those words in mind when you read the account below from a husband and father in his late 40s. Until around 2018, he also enjoyed いわゆる VIP status with Betfair and had his own いわゆる VIP 経営者／支配人.

Terry White was a VIP with 非常に／多数の bookmakers. He blew £250,000 a few years ago and ended up relying on food banks

His story illustrates 正確に why this newspaper has been （選挙などの）運動をするing for tighter 賭事ing 規則.

It’s important to understand that, in this world, VIP does not mean individuals like, say, Wayne Rooney (on the 調書をとる／予約するs of Gibraltar-based 32Red) but ordinary people in ordinary 職業s on ordinary 給料 for the most part, like the man who has agreed to speak out today.

He was losing ひどく when he was 招待するd to become a VIP. Many VIPs with the big bookmakers ― Ladbrokes 珊瑚 and Bet365 の中で others ― are in 類似の positions.

By 扱う／治療するing these 顧客s to 解放する／自由な holidays and all-expenses-paid trips to major 冒険的な events, the companies 持続する they are 単に rewarding 忠義; it’s what all 商売／仕事s do, they say. The more 冷笑的な explanation, however, is to keep them 麻薬中毒の, to keep them playing the 半端物s, to keep them losing.

By 扱う／治療するing these 顧客s to 解放する／自由な holidays and all-expenses-paid trips to major 冒険的な events, the companies 持続する they are 単に rewarding 忠義; it’s what all 商売／仕事s do, they say (とじ込み／提出する image)

Either way, one thing is 確かな : there is no such thing as a ‘解放する／自由な lunch’ for most VIPs, even if it is served with シャンペン酒 in a box at Wembley or Cheltenham.

The (now former) 激しい gambler I interviewed is a harrowing 事例／患者 in point. He was ワインd and dined in 歓待 控訴s over the course of two 集中的な years. By the end, he had lost more than £250,000, which is perhaps what is meant by a ‘high 逮捕する 価値（がある）’ （弁護士の）依頼人.

Did he feel like he had been groomed? I asked. ‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘One hundred per cent. I thought my VIP 経営者／支配人 at Betfair was my friend, that I 借りがあるd him something.’

顧客s, 特に VIP 顧客s, are supposed to be 支配するd to affordability checks to make sure they don’t get into 財政上の trouble. So was he asked to 供給する any proof of income? ‘Not once,’ he replied after 明らかにする／漏らすing he needed psychiatric 治療 after his 負債s 機動力のある.

I would like to tell you who this unfortunate man is, but I can’t. He asked not to be identified, because Betfair only agreed to 支払う／賃金 支援する the money he lost on 条件 he 調印するd a 非，不，無-公表，暴露 協定 (NDA), or gagging 条項.

NDAs are now 存在 ますます used in the 賭事ing 部門. Although 合法的な, their use raises 関心s for two 推論する／理由s.

Some of the 事例／患者s 調査／捜査するd by the 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 only （機の）カム to light because the gamblers in question stole to 料金d their 中毒 and ended up in 法廷，裁判所 (とじ込み／提出する image)

First, they silence critics.

We have been given a copy of such an NDA. It’s concise, no more than a few paragraphs. But the 決定的な section reads: ‘You 認める and 受託する that the 条件 of this 協定 and the 実体 of all 交渉s in 関係 with it are confidential. You agree not to 公表する／暴露する them to, or さもなければ to communicate them to, any third party [特に the 圧力（をかける）] without our written 同意.’

Second, NDAs may keep some of the most 議論の的になる 事例／患者s secret from the regulator who can 課す 抱擁する 罰金s on bookies for 違反ing ‘social 責任／義務’ 準備／条項s (such as failing to adequately 保護する problem gamblers) in the 産業 code of practice.

Our own 研究 has 設立するd that, since 施行 活動／戦闘 began in 2013, the 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 has 手渡すd out 罰金s to most of the major players. Last year’s total of £19.7 million was a 記録，記録的な／記録する ― up from £18.4 million in 2017.

Betfair, or 米，稲 力／強力にする Betfair as it used to be known, was on the 監視者’s ‘名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる） of shame’. The 会社／堅い ― since 改名するd ぱたぱたする Entertainment ― incurred a £2.2 million 刑罰，罰則 for misdemeanours in 2016, 含むing failing to 保護（する）／緊急輸入制限 a string of 顧客s showing 調印するs of 賭事ing 広告 diction.

Ladbrokes 珊瑚 has 以前 said that its VIP 計画／陰謀s are ‘operated responsibly’ and are designed to ‘達成する 顧客 忠義 in what is a very 競争の激しい marketplace’, while Bet365 says it ‘prides itself on 供給するing a 安全な 環境 for its 顧客s and goes above and beyond its 合法的な and regulatory 必要物／必要条件 to do so’.

But some of the 事例／患者s 調査／捜査するd by the 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 only （機の）カム to light because the gamblers in question stole to 料金d their 中毒 and ended up in 法廷，裁判所.

NDAs 確実にする that many more do not. The culture of 開発／利用 goes 大部分は unreported and unpunished, in other words.

Like the story which 現れるd last week 伴う／関わるing a 賭事ing （麻薬）常用者 who had lost £134,000 playing roulette and blackjack and who was paid £100,000 by a High Street bookmaker as long as he 調印するd a gagging 条項, 妨げるing him from 接触するing the 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限.

‘In my experience, NDAs are used 事実上 all the time to cover up the level of 開発／利用 that has occurred,’ said Brian Chappell, who 設立するd 消費者 group 司法（官） For Punters. ‘NDAs are the final 行為／法令／行動する of 開発／利用 in what has often been a stream of bad practice.’

The ‘bad practice’ undoubtedly 増大するd に引き続いて the liberalisation of the 賭事ing 法律s in Britain under Tony Blair which 許すd bookmakers to advertise on TV and 無線で通信する for the first time.

Few would 否定する we are now in the 支配する of a 賭事ing 疫病／流行性の. More than two million people in the UK are either problem gamblers or at 危険 of 中毒, によれば a 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限 報告（する）／憶測.

To the 賭事ing 巨大（な）s, this demographic is a source of 利益（をあげる）, not 関心. This is the reality behind the marketing blurb, behind the PR pronouncements, behind the code of practice itself.

It’s hard not to reach that 結論 given that betting 会社／堅いs 新採用する specialist staff to を取り引きする high-spending 顧客s. How ironic that, in Responsible 賭事ing Week (November 7-13), 祝祭 Bingo’s online arm, part of GVC-owned Ladbrokes 珊瑚 Group, were advertising for a ‘VIP (n)役員／(a)執行力のある’ 責任がある ‘増加するing 全体にわたる player lifetime value and the 歳入 出資／貢献 of the VIP player base’.

A 広報担当者 for GVC said the 会社／堅い was committed to giving 顧客s ‘the safest possible 賭事ing 環境’, 追加するing: ‘With regard to VIPs, as in any other 産業 we want to 確実にする that our most loyal and 正規の／正選手 顧客s are given the best possible service.’

The 賭事ing With Lives charity, 始める，決める up by parents （死が）奪い去るd by 賭事ing-関係のある 自殺s, took particular offence at the 言い回し because it said the ‘end of a player’s “lifetime value” to the 会社／堅い may 井戸／弁護士席 be the end of the player’s lifetime’.

の中で the ‘重要な 責任／義務s’ 名簿（に載せる）／表（にあげる）d in the Betfair 広告 is ‘the 身元確認，身分証明 and 養育するing of VIPs who have 減ずるd or 中止するd activity’. What does this mean in practice?

The gambler who had to 調印する an NDA ― let us call him John ― was 特に 批判的な of this 手段. He said that if he stopped betting for a period of time he would often receive a text from his account 経営者／支配人 説 something like: ‘I notice you 港／避難所’t been betting much recently’ ― which 誘発するd him to start again.

His 関係 with Betfair is 文書d in 15 (A4) print-outs 得るd by the Mail. The 記録，記録的な／記録するs were 安全な・保証するd under a ‘支配する 接近 request’ which 要求するd the 会社／堅い to 解放（する） all John’s personal data which runs into 得点する／非難する／２０s of pages.

Where did personal 責任／義務 for John’s 決定／判定勝ち（する）s end and 告訴，告発s of ‘grooming’ begin?

Probably around the t ime he received the に引き続いて email which began: ‘Hi ****, I just 手配中の，お尋ね者 to introduce myself as your new account 経営者／支配人 and welcome you to Betfair VIP… it’s my 職業 to 確実にする that your betting experience is as enjoyable as possible.’

At the time, John was losing, on 普通の／平均（する）, about £1,000 a month. すぐに after becoming a VIP, he and a guest were ワインd and dined, 儀礼 of Betfair, in a 歓待 控訴 at the 首相 League club he supported. In the lounge, there were computers logged on to the Betfair website so wagers could be placed during the afternoon.

By then, John was showing （疑いを）晴らす 調印するs of 中毒. This is 明らかな from the 公式文書，認める left on his confidential とじ込み／提出する after the game. ‘Didn’t spend too much time in the box because he didn’t want his friend to think we knew him 井戸／弁護士席,’ wrote the Betfair (n)役員／(a)執行力のある 割り当てるd to look after him.

にもかかわらず, にもかかわらず the danger 調印するs, he was inundated with special 取引，協定s interspersed with 招待s to the races and dinners …に出席するd by sports 星／主役にするs.

Often, John was 手渡すd 支援する money, then encouraged to fritter it away again, a familiar 手段.

This is a typical example: ‘Hope you are 井戸／弁護士席. I have an 申し込む／申し出 today of a £100 解放する／自由な treble [選ぶing three 勝利者s] ... if you do not make a 利益（をあげる）, I will refund £100 in your account tomorrow.’

And here is another: ‘I just 手配中の，お尋ね者 to let you know that you have been selected to 参加する our VIP leaderboard where you can 勝利，勝つ cash prizes.’ And another: ‘Place a £100 treble on tennis markets today. If your bet loses, I will refund your account with a £100 tomorrow. Best of luck.’

In fact, John’s inbox rarely stopped ‘pinging’ with emails from Betfair.

The final ‘balance sheet’ is terrifying. Bets placed: in 超過 of £2 million. 解放する／自由な bets receiv ed: around £50,000. Losses 支えるd: in 超過 of £220,000.

Not surprisingly, John’s life unravelled during this 過程. He had to remortgage his home and 苦しむd mental health 問題／発行するs. Betfair 結局 agreed to 大幅に refund him.

The 契約, 含む／封じ込めるing the gagging 条項, was emailed to him by Betfair’s social 責任／義務 team, a 職業 description which is almost beyond parody. ‘I was not 申し込む／申し出d 合法的な advice,’ said John, who is now on the road to 回復. ‘I was on 医薬 at the time and desperate, so I 調印するd. I was 感謝する for the 解決／入植地.’

ぱたぱたする Entertainment 問題／発行するd a 声明 答える／応じるing to the 批評s. ‘We take our 責任／義務 to 保護する our 顧客s very 本気で and are always working hard to innovate 効果的に in this area,’ the company said.

‘This is true of all our 顧客s, 含むing VIP 顧客s, and staff who interact 定期的に with this group of 顧客s are trained to identify behavioural changes and know how to 介入する when appropriate.

‘A 抱擁する 量 has been done in 最近の years to 強化する our 過程s and 確実にする that when rewarding 忠義 we are 持続するing 顧客s’ wellbeing as a 優先 and 確実にするing at-危険 gamblers are not 害（を与える）d in any way.’

However, MPs on the cross-party parliamen-tary group for 賭事ing say the betting 産業 in general is ‘支払う／賃金ing lip service’ to the code of practice, 特に in relation to VIPs, a 見解（をとる） 株d by the 賭事ing （売買）手数料，委託（する）／委員会／権限, which told us that it has had ‘関心s about the poor practice around the 治療 of VIP 顧客s for some time’.

Terry White was a VIP with 非常に／多数の bookmakers. He blew £250,000 a few years ago and ended up relying on food banks.

‘I was frequently 申し込む／申し出d all sorts of 誘導s to tempt me into parting with even more money,’ said Mr White, 55, from Barry, South むちの跡s.

‘They’d email me all the time with 申し込む／申し出s of 歓待 days at prestigious horse racing events, Six Nations rugby matches and world snooker 決勝戦. This is even after I had 接触するd them to tell them I was a 賭事ing （麻薬）常用者 and under no circumstances were they to 接触する me because it might 始める，決める me 支援する.

‘Even now I have friends through my （選挙などの）運動をするing work who are still 申し込む／申し出d these incentives long after they’ve pleaded with betting 会社／堅いs to leave them alone.’

Online 会議s are 十分な of such 証言s. One in particular sums up the 現在の predicament: ‘賭事ing 会社／堅いs think 勝利者s steal all the money. But losers make them the money.’

The £19.7 million in 罰金s 課すd on the 賭事ing 産業 last year 代表するs just 0.13 per cent of the £14.5 billion of 利益（をあげる）s made by bookmakers. 米，稲 力／強力にする Betfair alone, as it was then, had 年次の 歳入s of £1.5 billion.

Which is why the 半端物s on anything fundamentally changing in the foreseeable 未来 seem very long indeed.

• 付加 報告（する）／憶測ing: Tim Stewart