Inside StarLizard: High Court Filing Lifts Lid on Tony Bloom’s $800 Million Betting Empire

• Lawsuit reveals inner workings of Tony Bloom’s Starlizard syndicate
• Court documents describe secret exotic accounts run via frontmen
• Plaintiff Ryan Dudfield claims 7% share of Cottrell-linked profits

A new filing in London’s High Court this week offered a glimpse into the inner workings of  StarLizard, the secretive gambling syndicate run by poker pro Tony “The Lizard” Bloom, owner of English Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion.

The filings are connected to the ongoing civil case against Bloom by former business partner Ryan Dudfield, who claims he is owed a share of StarLizard’s profits – to the tune of $17.5 million (US$23 million).

StarLizard is one of the world’s most successful betting syndicates. The documents allege it uses wealthy frontmen with a reputation as losing gamblers to place bets, including “footballers, sportsmen, and businessmen.”

Since 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, according to the filings. Inside StarLizard, these accounts are referred to as “secret exotic accounts,” and are carefully managed from within the syndicate’s offices in London’s Canary Wharf, the filings claim.

Cottrell Fits the Bill

One of StarLizard’s frontmen is reportedly George Cottrell, an aide to Nigel Farage, leader of the UK’s populist, right-wing Reform Party, the documents allege.

Cottrell certainly fits the profile. Born into an aristocratic family, he is known as a high-stakes gambler who once lost $20 million playing poker in one evening.

When two FBI agents posing as drug dealers reached out for his services, Cottrell agreed to meet them in Las Vegas to flesh out a deal.

He was initially charged with 21 felonies, including conspiracy to commit money laundering, wire fraud, blackmail, and extortion, before eventually pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud after taking a plea deal.

Profit Split

Dudfield alleges he was entitled to a 7% share of the profits generated through betting activity run via George Cottrell’s accounts. The profit-split divided returns 60% to the syndicate, 33% to Cottrell, and 7% to Dudfield, according to the filing.

He says profits generated through Cottrell’s accounts would have entitled him to payments worth around $17.5 million.

StarLizard’s overall profits are believed to be about £600 million (US$800 million) per year — enough to finance Bloom’s 2009 takeover of Brighton & Hove Albion and his later acquisitions of Belgian team Union Saint-Gilloise, Scotland’s Heart of Midlothian, and Australia’s Melbourne Victory.