These days almost everyone with an internet connection is aware of the many online casinos that are always vying for our attention. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering that consumers pump billions of pounds a year into the gambling industry. There are always losers in the gambling world, but one man who revolutionised the way in which gambling, both online and offline, worked and has managed to amass a personal fortune of over 365 million is Victor Chandler. Thanks to his own name being the firm’s brand capital he has also become one of the best know gambling illuminati on the planet and has managed to buck the stereotypes associated with bookmakers, creating a persona which has inspired some quite frankly over the top outbursts of praise from some media outlets (naming no names). Like all big names in business Chandler has managed to succeed because he has been able to think laterally, open new markets up and sell what is essentially the same product more effectively than many of his competitors and as a result he is reaping the rewards.

Victor Chandler was born into a family that was already heavily involved with the gambling world, as the business which his grandfather, father and eventually he himself would front was founded in 1946 and for many years owned and operated the greyhound racing track Walthamstow Stadium. However, Victor himself was not destined to be a gambling man from the beginning. Initially he showed considerable interest in becoming a restaurateur and at the time of his father’s death in 1974 he was working in Spain in the hotel industry. However, he immediately became head of the company which he had until this point been avoiding. No sooner had he taken the reins (no pun intended but enjoy it anyway!), he was promptly relieved of two of the company’s most profitable racecourses at Ascot and Goodwood because of some arcane rule about inheritance. Though this initial set back could have broken less resourceful men, Chandler instead took it as an opportunity to expand the business in different directions. It was the personal touch and his interaction with the high rollers that kept his company afloat in the early years, and the tag of gentleman gambler has often been aptly applied to Chandler. It is also his willingness to take risks and accept large bets which has accelerated revenues and enticed customers back, as well as his ethical take on gambling and the bespoke service that the Victor Chandler business offers.

Both the company and the man continued to grow. In 1994 a Chinese businessman wanted to place a large bet on the world cup as he was unable to do so in his own country and did not want to pay taxes. He brought one million pounds in cash to Chandler’s office. Of course the bet was accepted, but it did more than simply make Chandler some hard cash. It gave him insight into the hitherto untapped market in Asia and the Far East, bringing the realisation that most of his customers did not want to pay the 9% gambling tax imposed by the UK government. This is why in 1998 the Victor Chandler operation was moved overseas to the British peninsular of Gibraltar, which is not only a Mediterranean haven of sand and sea with views of the distant African coast, but is also exempt from gambling tax. This move abroad saw his business grow still further and proved to be the catalyst for many other UK bookmakers to follow suit, including Stan James and Ladbrokes. Gibraltar soon became the centre of some of the world’s largest online gambling operators, all thanks to Victor Chandler’s savvy business head and gentlemanly conduct.

The recent years for Victor Chandler have seen further change, with the sale of the majority of the 41 betting shops that he owned in the south of England to other bookmakers in 2006 and the brief rebranding of his company as VC Bet, a move which has since been reversed. He has had tangles with Korean and Chinese gangs during the expansion of the business in the Far East, but has handled them with civility and frankness which has ultimately allowed him to continue to grow a profitable and ethical business, although he has been quoted as saying that he feels he understands little about the Far East in general and China in particular. Judging from his humble public persona it might be difficult to understand how such a well mannered man could have made so much headway in the cut throat world of gambling, but this chivalric exterior clearly masks the beating heart of a true businessman.

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