Want to bet that bookies are fair to punters?
Bookmakers have a long history of being unfair to punters, but the treatment given to a good friend of mine by two leading firms has been terrible. my friend elwyn Griffiths was a hardworking, self-employed electrician, putting aside money for his retirement until he had to retire early because of failing eyesight. He took up a few hobbies, but his eyesight worsened. over the years, he had always liked a bet on the horses, studying form, but had little success. He’s now totally blind in one eye and can see only shadows with the other, but his love of racing continues. He singled out three well-known tipsters with good track records and his wife would read them for him. He couldn’t get to a bookmaker’s shop, but opened a telephone account with Coral, setting himself a weekly limit. elwyn generally kept his bets to £10 or £20. some time ago, he had a run of luck, thanks to the tipsters, and banked £2,000. shortly afterwards, Coral reviewed his betting and started referring all his bets to ‘traders’. They would generally accept only reduced stakes, usually half of what he requested. elwyn also opened a phone account with bet365, who were at first very accommodating, giving him all sorts of bonuses and free loyalty bets. Just recently, he had another run of luck and banked about £3,000, after which, out of the blue, bet365 copied Coral and demanded that he open an online account, so they could monitor his bets better. But he can’t see a computer. When he complained, bet365 were unsympathetic. Now, every bet he places is referred to the traders. He was refused a £20 bet on a 2-to-1 shot which lost, but he stood to win only £40. He was even referred to the trader when he wanted to put £5 on the Irish lottery! a bet365 manager admitted that if my friend had been on a losing run, they would happily have kept taking his bets. It’s not as if my friend is getting inside information or making £100 or £1,000 bets. He’s told them about the tipsters he follows. I can’t think of anything worse than going blind, and it seems all bookmakers are determined to deny elwyn access to his favourite hobby.
RICHARD JONES, Greenfield, Flintshire.