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Man Banned From Betting Shop For 'Winning Too Much'

Man Banned From Betting Shop For 'Winning Too Much'

He won £2,000 in a 12-day period before he says staff told him to leave the shop and not come back

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A man claims he's been barred from his local bookies after 'winning too much'.

Retired Michael Bates, 74, says he netted just over £2,000 in a lucky 12-day winning streak, with 48 successes at Coral in Colchester in Essex, after coming up with a method to predict the winners of horse races. He says that his 'system' was based on some research he did, which found that 80 percent of races are won by horses with the numbers one to four.

But grandad Michael says that his good fortune has come at a price, claiming that the staff at the shop told him to leave and not come back.

He told the Mirror: "They should not be allowed to do this. It can't be right. It's not as if I'm a Las Vegas high roller.

"I was told I couldn't come in any more as I was winning too much.

"How can they invite you to bet then tell you to go away if you win? They only want customers who are losers."

He said, when asked, he left the shop without kicking up a fuss, but later called Coral's customer service team to find out why he had been banned.

In a recorded phone call, heard by the Sunday People, he was told that staff have the right to decline bets, for a number of reasons including that a customer has won too much.

Michael added: "I was shocked. I can't believe this is right."

Coral's PR director Simon Clare told the paper he would look into Michael's complaint as it wasn't the betting shop's policy to ban customers for repeatedly placing winning bets.

The man thinks he has come up with a good system for picking horses.
PA

He said: "For a very small minority of customers that show themselves to be particularly shrewd with their betting strategy or who follow a pattern of betting that is likely to be unprofitable for a bookmaker we may ask that their bets are phoned through to our trading desk for authorisation.

"However even for this very small minority of customers, their bets would rarely be refused, but we may on occasions limit the stake that we will lay."

The Gambling Commission said there's no legal 'right to bet' and that bookies staff are free to reject any bet.

Michael says he is now using other betting shops in the local area and says his winning-streak is still going.

Featured Image Credit: Mirrorpix

Topics: uk news, Gambling