UKGC To Investigate Reports Of Potential Rigging at Ladbrokes

Updated On Apr 30, 2019 by Ella McDonald

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has its hands full dealing with the growing epidemic of problem gambling in the country and the number of breaches that Gaming operators have committed in recent months. Some of these breaches include violating advertising rules; allowing minors access to online games sites and casino floors; not having sufficient problem gambling measures in place and now potential rigging.

Ladbrokes one of the biggest betting operators in the United Kingdom could find itself in trouble after customer complaints surfaced that the bookmaker was deliberating manipulating its sports betting interface preventing certain gamblers from placing their bets immediately while targeting susceptible sports bettors and luring them in to place bets.

These customer complaints were picked up by the Daily Record who accused Ladbrokes of customer profiling and making it difficult for skilled sports bettors to play on their site as some of their accounts where shutdown. However, unskilled sports bettors who had a history of losing heavily were targeted and pulled in to bet more.

These accusations are more than sufficient for the UK gambling watchdog to launch an investigation into Ladbrokes operations. Should the investigation reveal that Ladbrokes has resorted to such customer profiling tactics; the betting operator could be in a lot of trouble as the UKGC has made it clear that it will no longer tolerate non-compliance.

Leaked Documents Reveal Malpractices

There is no doubt that online gambling operators often resort to such practices in order to take advantage of unsuspecting customers. However, Ladbrokes is one of the biggest brands in the UK and has a strong market reputation.

The Daily Record alleges that its reports have managed to get their hands on leaked documents that showcase the company’s policies and procedures which encourage such customer profiling to take place. The Daily Record which is a Scottish media house stated that Ladbrokes had a special customer segment known as HVC – which could refer to High Value Customer that they specifically profiled.

These HVC customers were lured with special promotions and bonus offers that encouraged them to bet close to 5 times the amount they initially wanted to spend. Sports bettors who won at Ladbrokes did not get these special promotions or bonus offers and found that their betting options were significantly limited with little to no explanation.

Ladbrokes denied the allegations saying the leaked documents were part of an outdated system which is no longer in operation.

Ella McDonald Author

Worldwide gambling related news stories are what you will find being written by Ella, she has a keen interest however in UK and European based new stories relating to all gaming environments, and she is always prepared to ask the difficult questions many other journalists avoiding asking those in power.

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