Gambling addict sues William Hill
- By Gustav Jung
- Published 02/21/2008
- Gambling
- Unrated
A British gambler who lost over
£2million is suing the famous sportsbook
William Hill. The 28 years old Graham
Calvert, declared that William
Hill let him bet even after he asked the company to quit taking his bets
and money by signing the company’s self-exclusion policy affidavit. Calvert is
asking for an economical compensation due all the problems he had including the
massive loss of his money, a divorce, health problems and job instability.
The case may set a legal precedent
for the entire industry, for the first a sports betting company is
getting sued for skipping its responsibility for not caring about its own compulsive
gambler policy.
"They monitored and manipulated his disorder to gain as much revenue as
possible and negligently encouraged him to go on betting sprees." Lawyer
Anneliese Day told the London High Court. “What in fact occurred was that
William Hill actively monitored and manipulated Mr. Calvert’s gambling disorder
in order to gain as much revenue for their business as possible.” added Calvert’s
Lawyer.
The legal team in charge of the case also said that Calvert’s behavior and decisions were “erratic” enough to prove he has a mental condition that takes him to act as a “pathological gambler”. To fight and avoid this type of conduct, several bookmakers including William Hill have “responsible gambling” policies in which any player is allowed to disable or close his or her account due gambling problems. Calvert’s lawyer said that his client Mr. Calvert was not permitted to place bets in any “major bookmakers” except for William Hill, which “negligently sought to encourage the claimant to go on betting sprees of hundreds of thousands of pounds at a time”.
