Managing Editor
Tony Bloom, billionaire poker player and owner of multiple soccer clubs, has been accused of betting on his own teams through a syndicate by “Razer,” the co-founder of the crypto-betting site Rollbit. The accusations came by way of a post on X mid-November, but public attention was called to the post by The Guardian on Friday. The Brighton & Hove Albion Premier League football club retaliated over the weekend by banning The Guardian from its games.
For the United Kingdom, this is a sports gambling scandal on par with what the U.S. experienced in October, when multiple NBA figures were arrested on charges of fixing matches and participating in rigged poker games. Bloom is known to the poker world as a player with nearly $4 million in tournament earnings, including a runner-up finish in the 2011 Aussie Millions. However, he has made much more money through sports and is now part-owner of four soccer clubs, with the Scottish club Heart of Midlothian being the most recent of these.
The scandal has been unfolding gradually. It began with a lawsuit in the UK by a former associate claiming that Bloom runs a gambling syndicate and had failed to pay the plaintiff money he was owed.
In a separate U.S. court action, Rollbit was seeking to subpoena the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken in preparation for a lawsuit in Curaçao against a former customer. Although those court documents do not mention Bloom by name, the post by the pseudonymous Rollbit co-founder indicates that he believes Bloom was the ultimate recipient of the money.
That post also includes the accusation that Bloom’s syndicate bet on games involving teams he controlled. It was by repeating that portion of the allegation that The Guardian seemingly got itself banned by Brighton.
The UK Lawsuit — What is a ‘Beard’?
Both portions of the scandal have two things in common: accusations of “bearding” and the involvement of crypo-based gambling sites. Although Rollbit isn’t mentioned in the UK suit, two other offshore crypto gambling sites are: Stake and Tether.bet.
All three sites are registered and licensed in Curaçao, a country that is currently dealing with its own gambling-related scandals amid an attempt at regulatory reform.
The UK case was brought by one Ryan Dudfield, an associate of Bloom’s. He alleges that Bloom operates a company called Starlizard Betting Syndicate that makes £600 million ($800 million) annually by placing bets through proxies. These allegedly include George Cottrell, an aide within the British right-wing Reform Party.
Most sportsbooks ban or place limits on winning bettors. Those that don’t tend to have lower limits and fewer markets across the board. “Bearding” is the practice among professional bettors of partnering with a high-volume losing player (a “whale”) to place bets. The whale is seen as a desirable VIP by the sportsbooks, and may be able to get many profitable bets down before they catch on.
Dudfield claims that he had an arrangement with the syndicate entitling him to 7% of certain winnings, which he says he has not received.
The US Subpoena — Crypto Wallet Owner Intervenes
Rollbit has accused a man by the name of James Hopkins of essentially, acting as a beard, in violation of its terms of service. However, it plans to sue him in Curaçao, while the U.S. action is for a subpoena in support of that.
Between February 2023 and April 2024, Hopkins won approximately $70 million using the screen name “Stake Stinks.” He says Rollbit paid him about $50 million but has withheld the other $20 million.
According to a court document reviewed by PokerScout, Hopkins has multiple cryptocurrency wallets connected to his Rollbit account. Following a series of withdrawals, over $7.5 million went from one of Hopkins’ wallets through an intermediary (“bridge”) wallet to a third wallet. Both the bridge and the final recipient’s wallets are hosted by Kraken, but their owners are unknown. Hopkins does not have an account with Kraken.
Rollbit’s owner, Bull Gaming, subpoenaed Kraken to learn the identities of the wallet owners. Kraken did not object and agreed to provide a variety of information, including real names and ID, transaction history, and banking information.
However, Hopkins and the recipient wallet’s owner intervened, seeking to block the disclosure. They argue that Bull Gaming’s interest in the information is for “harassment,” not a viable court case.
The court found enough concern to deny the subpoena, but only because Bull Gaming hasn’t initiated its action in Curaçao. The ruling explicitly allows Bull Gaming to try again once it formally files that suit.
Rollbit Co-Founder Razer Name-Drops Bloom
The wallet owner is anonymous, referred to as “John Doe” in the court ruling.
However, “Razer” — whose real identity is likewise unknown — asserted in response to criticism on X that he believes Bloom’s syndicate to have been the ultimate recipient. He also claimed that there had been “multi-million dollar bets” placed on “teams the bettor has a controlling stake in.”
Neither that claim nor Bloom’s involvement have yet been brought forward — let alone tested — in court.
The criticism Razer was responding to came from another anonymous account, “anarch157.” Based on Razer’s response, it appears he believes anarch157 to be affiliated with Ossi “Monarch” Ketola, another familiar name to those of us in the poker world.
A source familiar with the situation confirmed to PokerScout that the user in question is “100% a minion that works under Ossi.”
Although Razer refers to “your boss” rather than mentioning Ketola by name, he tells anarch157 that the betting syndicate has also targeted Duel, which is Ketola’s site and a rival to Rollbit. Ketola has a history of accusing his competitors of being scammers and encouraging his fans and customers (whom he describes as a “cult”) to spread the word.
Anarch157 had latched onto the U.S. case and the fact that Rollbit had withheld $20 million in winnings from Hopkins. Razer also said that the underlying case had already been “solved” and that Rollbit had successfully recovered its funds.
Brighton Retaliates Against the Guardian
On Saturday, one day after The Guardian reported on Razer’s post, Brighton reported contacted the paper to say its reporters were banned from the club’s stadium.
The Guardian quotes the club’s representative as saying:
It would be inappropriate for journalists and photographers from the Guardian to be accredited to matches at the Amex, starting from Sunday’s game against West Ham.
Bloom also issued a public statement denying the accusation.
I can categorically assure our supporters that I have not placed bets on any Brighton & Hove Albion matches since becoming the owner of the club in 2009.
The developing scandal has caught the attention of the British government, with some MPs calling for an investigation.
The second half of 2025 has produced public relations problems on a global scale for the sports betting industry, including both its regulated and unregulated sides. The October indictments in the U.S. have led American Congress to lean on the NBA to investigate its teams more thoroughly. An even broader situation is unfolding in Turkey, as a gambling sweep has led to so many suspensions that some clubs can no longer field a team.
Image Credit: Paul Gillett via Wikimedia Commons (license)
