UK Property Tycoon Loses Appeal Over £1.5M Betfair Losses

• Gambling
• 09 December 2025

In London's Court of Appeal, a UK real estate billionaire who lost £1.5 million (US$2 million) betting on soccer matches at Betfair has failed his attempt to recover the money from the bookmaker.

Leeds, England-based self-made millionaire Lee Gibson lost the money after wagering more than $30,000 on soccer on the exchange between 2009 and 2019, when his account was suspended.

In September 2021, he filed a claim against the operator in the London Circuit Commercial Court, claiming that Betfair ought to have identified his gambling problem and taken action.

High Court Judge Nigel Bird dismissed that lawsuit in November 2024, stating that "a losing gambler should not be able to escape the consequences of his decisions, equally in my judgment, but a successful gambler should not be deprived of the fruits of his bet."

Bird pointed out that Gibson had never tried to self-exclude or told Betfair that he had a gambling problem.

Conversely, he frequently assured employees that his gambling was under control and that, as a multimillionaire, he could take his losses.

Warning Signs

Gibson's attorney, Yash Kulkarni KC, contended before the appellate court that Bird's ruling was incorrect and that Betfair should have been alerted by the enormous amount of bets his client was making.

“Mr Gibson placed at least 20,000 individual bets in the six years prior to 22 January 2021, which is more than five per day,” Kulkarni said.

"The judge ought to have gone on to find that, where a person appears likely to be gambling prolifically despite facing heavy losses, using money which appears likely to be at least in part from selling his business assets or loaning money against them, that person is likely to be a problem gambler,” Kulkarni added.

According to Kulkarni, the evidence demonstrated that Betfair either knew or might have known that Gibson was betting more than his after-tax income permitted, borrowing or selling goods to gamble, and chasing losses.

"Seemed Level-Headed"

However, the three-judge appellate panel concluded that the evidence clearly demonstrated that Gibson had "kept his gambling problem to himself."

The plaintiff's VIP manager at Betfair testified that he was "calm, level-headed" and "appeared to enjoy his gambling."

When Betfair employees questioned him about the source of his money, he consistently maintained that he could afford his losses.

The case was dropped.