GAMBLERS PAID TO KEEP BETTING
EXCLUSIVE Online betting firm gives losers cash so they carry on gambling
ONE of the largest online betting firms gives cash rebates to big losers to keep them betting, a Daily Mail investigation reveals.
Players who rack up huge losses at Bet365 can be rewarded with weekly cash returns of up to 10% so they can carry on gambling, our undercover reporter was told.
Campaigners say the scheme exploits vulnerable customers by keeping them locked in a cycle of betting that can easily spiral into dangerous addiction.
The tactic is exposed today after the Mail became the first media
organisation to infiltrate Bet365’s high-security headquarters in the tax haven of Gibraltar.
Our reporter spent three weeks training to work in the betting giant’s customer service centre, where he encountered a culture of cashback incentives and VIP perks.
During a training session for new staff, a Bet365 worker gave an example to the reporter: ‘If they’ve lost, say, £15,000 in that week, then we’ll give them a weekly rebate, normally on a Tuesday, and we’ll give them maybe 10% of that back.’
Another Bet365 employee, speaking about cash bonuses, said: ‘It’s like incentivising people to bet. It doesn’t look good.’
Although gambling firms are allowed to offer rebates to customers, anti-gambling campaigners expressed serious concern the practice could encourage problem
‘Returns as high as 25% on losses’
betting and send people into a dangerous gambling spiral.
One top gambling lawyer said the industry is rife with cash-back incentives, with some firms offering returns as high as 25% on losses.
And former gambling addict Tony O’Reilly, who stole more than €1.75million from his employer An Post to feed a gambling addiction, said such rebates can stop a problem gambler from seeking help.
‘I think it keeps you going, it does incentivise [gambling] because they think they’re getting something back,’ he said. ‘If you are getting bonuses, if you are getting extra money, if you are in that problem place, it could be [seen as] a lifeline and you could think, “I’m after getting this extra cash for nothing, I could turn it into a bigger amount and get back”. Whereas sometimes if you’re at that rock-bottom place, you’re looking for help. If it came at the wrong time you might be thinking, “I’m going to look for a bit of help” and then suddenly this bonus might keep you going for another while.’
Mr O’Reilly, who was jailed for his embezzlement and later co-authored a book titled Tony 10 on his gambling problem, now works as an addiction councillor.
He is concerned that the Gambling Control Bill, which was drafted in 2013 and would create a regulator who could penalise companies that incentivise problem gambling, still hasn’t been enacted. ‘The Bill is sitting there since 2013 and I think it’s very important to get it enacted so that the betting companies are forced to bring in proper policies and procedures,’ he said.
In the UK, a regulator has been in place since 2007 and has slapped some of the biggest operators including William Hill, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power with millions of euro in fines for money-laundering offences and failing to help problem gamblers.
The Mail investigation revealed how new Bet365 staff were told:
High-spending players are lavished with weekly rebates on their losses as part of a strategy to ‘reward loyalty’;
Customers who hit a ‘net loss threshold’ can be turned into VIPs and given ‘incentives’, such as the chance to win FA Cup final tickets if they keep betting;
Once they become VIPs, they are assigned dedicated advisers who give them
‘Bet365 takes specific actions’
‘exceptional customer service’ and treat them with the same status as celebrities;
Punters are served with a ‘gambling addiction’ warning if they spend too long playing – but the minimum time could be as high as eight hours a day for six or seven days;
Don’t apologise to customers or even use the word ‘unfortunately’ because it could ‘escalate their emotional state’;
Junior staff are given free rein to hand out cash bonuses and free casino bets to any player who rings the Bet365 customer service line;
Gamblers are allowed to bet using credit cards, a controversial policy because borrowing to bet is a common warning sign of addiction.
The Mail’s reporter spent three weeks training to be a customer account adviser for Bet365, which takes €60billion in wagers a year. The course lasts 15 weeks.
Bet365 also showers potential customers with bonuses to ‘entice’ new players, keep gamblers playing or convince former customers to reactivate their accounts.
A spokesman for Bet365 said: ‘Bet365 prides itself on providing a safe environment for its customers and goes above and beyond its legal and regulatory requirements to do so, including those set out in the Gambling Commission Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice and related social responsibility code provisions, and we fully refute any allegation or suggestion to the contrary.’ They added: ‘Bet365 takes specific and extensive actions to identify, monitor and assist customers who may be at risk of experiencing gamblingrelated harm.’ Comment – Page 12
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