EPL Club Owner Tony Bloom Admits Using Proxy Betting Account in £13M Lawsuit
Posted on: January 26, 2026, 02:39h.
Last updated on: January 26, 2026, 02:39h.
- Bloom admits StarLizard placed bets via Farage aide George Cottrell.
- Ex-employee Ryan Dudfield sues, claiming a 7% profit share.
- Bloom says Dudfield cashed out in 2022 and settled.
Tony Bloom, the poker player, sports bettor, and English Premier League club owner, has admitted that his betting syndicate, StarLizard, placed millions of pounds in wagers through a proxy account. That account belonged to George Cottrell, a convicted fraudster and aide to Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK’s populist right-wing Reform Party.
However, Bloom denies he owes £13.1 million (US$17.5 million) to Ryan Dudfield, a former StarLizard employee who sued the billionaire in London’s High Court in December 2025.
Dudfield says he was entitled to 7% of the profits generated from betting conducted through George Cottrell’s accounts. Under the arrangement outlined in the complaint, 60% of returns went to the syndicate, 33% to Cottrell, and 7% to Dudfield.
Nuisance Payment
In a filing to the court Friday, Bloom admitted that the profit-share agreement existed but claimed that Dudfield received a £60K (US$82K) “nuisance payment” in July 2023 after the latter “cashed out” his position in December 2022.
“The effect … of the July 2023 agreement was to settle any and all claims that the claimant may have against Mr Bloom and, accordingly, covered the claims brought in these proceedings. The instant proceedings are also brought in breach of the covenant not to sue,” the filing read.
The case offers a rare and fascinating glimpse into the workings of StarLizard, one of the world’s most successful ans secretive betting syndicates – so successful that it enabled Bloom to purchase Brighton and Hove Albion, the soccer team he supported since he was a child.
It shows how StarLizard uses wealthy frontmen with a reputation as losing gamblers to place bets, including “footballers, sportsmen, and businessmen,” according to Dudfield’s complaint.
Because sportsbooks often refuse to take bets from successful gamblers, wealthy losers are a perfect front for Bloom’s syndicate, and their betting accounts are highly valued.
Enter Cottrell, the louche grandson of a British baron, who allegedly once lost $20 million playing poker in a single evening, and was introduced by Dudfield to StarLizard in return for a cut of the profits.
Gold-Dust Account
In 2016, Cottrell served eight months in a US prison for wire fraud after being caught in an FBI sting in which he advertised money-laundering services on the dark web. But he was also a highly valuable asset to StarLizard.
Inside the syndicate, accounts like Cottrell’s are like gold dust. Referred to as “secret exotic accounts,” they are carefully controlled from within its offices in London’s Canary Wharf, according to the complaint.
Bloom’s defense claims the syndicate continued betting through Cottrell until October 2025, generating a further $2.4 million, but argues Dudfield had no entitlement after cashing out in 2022. Any money owed would be Cottrell’s responsibility, not Bloom’s, according to the filing.
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