Punter sues bookies William Hill for 'letting him lose £2million'
I asked them to bar me, claims addict
He knows all about losing money, but even by his standards gambling junkie Graham Calvert's latest punt is a staggeringly long shot...
Obsessed Graham wants bookies William Hill to pay back his £2million losses.
He claims they should have stopped taking his money when he asked them to bar him because he was an addict.
The 28-year-old greyhound trainer bet an astonishing £7.5million in 16 months, sometimes bringing bin liners stuffed with £100,000 cash to place his bets.
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But the bookies carried on taking £3.5million in his bets, of which he lost £2,028,858.
Graham now owes £1.5million and his wife has left with their two young children.
Making legal history by claiming that Hill's failed in a "duty of care", he said: "This has ruined my life. It was like taking heroin." Top UK trainer Graham, who was earning £30,000 a month, started his mad spree in August 2005. At first he bet £1,000 to £5,000 a time. Then, as his addiction took hold, the amounts rose to single bets of £30,000 on golf, football and horse racing. In May 2006 he told Hill's he wanted them to close his account.
His appeal was taped by the bookies. He asked again in June. But he was allowed to carry on betting until December when he sought help and legal advice.
By that time he had lost £347,000 at a stroke after betting on the US to win the Ryder Cup and was gambling up to £110,000 a day.
Staff at Hill's branch in Sunderland struggled to count his bin liners of cash in time for the off.
Graham's solicitor Tiejha Smyth said: "He was allowed to continue gambling after Hill's agreed he should be self excluded. They should be held legally responsible."
William Hill will contest the allegations. The case opens at the High Court on Monday.
£347,000
His single bet on America to win the Ryder Cup. They lost
£110,000
How much he would bet in a single day
