A gambling addict is suing a betting chain for £2 million after claiming they "ruined his life" by allowing him to continue betting.
Graham Calvert, 28, asked William Hill to close his account and ban him because he was addicted and gambling over the telephone was "too easy".
But he claims that despite being told he would not be eligible for another account for six months under the company’s self-exclusion policy, he was allowed to open a new account two months later.
In the following five months, he went on to lose £2 million, including a single bet of £347,000 on America to win golf’s Ryder Cup.
Mr Calvert, a successful greyhound trainer who once earned £30,000 a week, said the betting company had failed in its duty of care to him as a customer and blamed them for him having "lost everything".
He said: "I was one of the top fifteen greyhound trainers in the country. But now I’ve lost everything. I’ve had to give up the business.
"The pressure broke up my marriage and I had to move out of my family home and am living back with my mum.
"This has had a terrible effect on me, and my family. I think it was irresponsible of William Hill exploit me the way they did. It has ruined my life. It was like taking heroin.
"If I’d known I had the problem and didn’t do anything about it, I would see myself as being 100 per cent responsible.
"The fact is that I did try to go through the right procedures and I was let down."
Mr Calvert, from Co Durham, only began betting in August 2005 at bookmakers shops. He sometime placed 20 bets a day of £30,000 each, sometimes arriving at his local betting shop with bin liners stuffed with £100,000 cash.
In May 2006 he opened an account with William Hill but, realising it was "too easy" to bet, he closed it within a few weeks, only to open another account and continue betting until December, when he sought help. In total he wagered £7.5 million in 16 months.
He is expected to present evidence of a recorded telephone conversation with a William Hill employee in which, when asking to be banned, he is allegedly told he will not be able to have another account with them for six months, but did so two months later. He currently owes £1.5 million.
His solicitor, Peter Hornsey, said: "This case is important not just on a personal level for Mr Calvert but also for the betting industry as a whole.
"It goes to the issue of how bookmakers treat people who have gambling problems via their self-exclusion policy and whether they can be held responsible when they advertise themselves as offering self exclusion and promoting socially-responsible gambling.
"For whatever reason, William Hill failed to operate its self-exclusion policy, with disastrous consequences for our client despite knowing that he had a gambling problem and we argue that they should be held responsible for that."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1578629/Gambler-sues-William-Hill-for-letting-him-bet.html