A Gambling Profile: Victor Chandler

In the early 1990's, Victor began to accept football wagers from far-eastern clients. He recognized the potential growth in foreign markets. He opened up an office in Antigua to enable these clients to bet without the need to pay UK tax.

Tax free betting
UK customers had been forced to put up with the 9% betting tax but Victor wanted to give his customers better value. In 1996, he obtained a betting license in Gibraltar and in 1999 moved his entire business there, employing 350 people and becoming the largest employer on the Rock. Victor Chandler was now able to offer sports betting free from UK tax.

The Victor Chandler business expanded rapidly into online casino and poker sites.

Global expansion
Victor quickly recognized the growing demand for these products. He now has offices in Macau, Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires and betting and gaming sites available in a multitude of languages. The business now turns over in excess of £1 billion and has over half a million customers in over 160 different countries.

Run-ins with the law
Victor Chandler and the authorities are not the best of friends. During last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe meeting at Longchamp, Paris, the bookmaker had his latest scrape. This time he attracted the attention of the local ‘constabulary'.

"I wasn't arrested," he protests, as he sits in his sixth floor office in Gibraltar overlooking the north Moroccan coast. Its main wall is adorned with a massive portrait of his friend, the great jockey Lester Piggott.

"We have had a box for six or seven years in Paris and we've always been very careful not to take bets from French people. It was impossible to be interviewed at the course as there was no office available and we had about 60 people with their noses pressed up against the glass watching," he continues.

"We went to the police station where each individual was interviewed. I walked out with the detective and he said to me, ‘I don't know why we're wasting our time with this - betting will be legal within a year'."

And so it is.