Million £ pokerplayer

[jetset]

SCOTS CREDIT CONTROLLER UNDER INVESTIGATION

Credit controller may have taken £1 million to fund online poker passion.

Newspapers in Scotland are reporting that a telecom company worker has been accused blowing £1million of his company's cash playing Internet poker – allegedly at William Hill.

Chris Proudfoot (25) has apparently fled his parents' home and is in hiding, but a friend disclosed to reporters that it was rumoured Proudfoot was playing high stakes poker and ended up in financial difficulties.

"The word is that he was playing high-stakes poker online and got himself in too deep," the friend said. "It's a shock to think that Chris has been gambling away his employers' money. We never had him down as a gambling addict. He doesn't go to the bookies in town and we've never known him to bet on anything."

Proudfoot worked for several years as a finance and credit controller for Inverness telecom firm HIGHnet.

HIGHnet bosses asked Proudfoot to clear his desk five weeks ago and called in the fraud squad.

Detectives are expected to spend months poring over the company's books and following the alleged trail of bets. It's understood more than £1million could be missing but the exact figure won't be known until the police have finished their investigation.

Proudfoot lived with his parents in Scorguie, Inverness. But he left home a couple of weeks ago and is lying low. His mother denied that her son had "done a runner" and said he was available if police wanted to speak to him.

A spokeswoman for HIGHnet confirmed: "We made a complaint to the police against Mr Proudfoot. We are co-operating with the police and Mr Proudfoot no longer works for the company. We cannot comment further as this is an ongoing investigation. There isn't a final figure."

A Northern Constabulary spokesman said: "Investigations are at an early stage."

[aodat2]

My goodness!!!

Why is WillHill always associated with things like that? 1st it was the greyhound fella, now it's this??? What's next for WillHill???

[winbig]

I think this says it all right here....

Proudfoot lived with his parents in Scorguie, Inverness.

If he has..err, had such a great job, why in the world is he living at home at 25?

[cslate]

I must say this is very sad, just another life and family destroyed by the greed of William Hill and gambling in general.
We only heard this story because of the large figures involved.....

I would say this is all to common with poker @ all time highs....just a reminder how just a fun past time can turn into addiction.

My belief is places like William hill should be targeting problem gamblers and offering some help before it gets to this point instead of taking advantage.

We will never get rid of gambling and I'm not against it, just trying to shift some of the problems back to the people providing the gambling.

If we go to a bar drink to much they have to stop you (cut off) or face the posibility of losing there license.

Why not gambling also?

Just a though

[winbig]

Originally Posted by cslate

I must say this is very sad, just another life and family destroyed by the greed of William Hill and gambling in general.
We only heard this story because of the large figures involved.....

I would say this is all to common with poker @ all time highs....just a reminder how just a fun past time can turn into addiction.

My belief is places like William hill should be targeting problem gamblers and offering some help before it gets to this point instead of taking advantage.

We will never get rid of gambling and I'm not against it, just trying to shift some of the problems back to the people providing the gambling.

If we go to a bar drink to much they have to stop you (cut off) or face the posibility of losing there license.

Why not gambling also?

Just a though

Devil's advocate -

How can WH, or any other bookmaker/casino/poker room know if someone has a problem or not? Without asking for financial records from an assumed 'whale', they are just that - a whale. For all they know, if a customer can deposit 6 or 7 figures, then they can afford to pay their bills. I've yet to see a casino - online or off - ask for financial records to back up whether or not a player can actually afford to play at that level.

side note: If any given casino/sportsbook/whatever were to basically ask a player to prove that funds are their own money and not company funds/etc...it'd be like a slap in the face to the player. They'd simply move on to another place that would gladly take their action, no questions asked.

[cslate]

I wonder what the time period was to lose that amount of money.

[GrandMaster]

Originally Posted by winbig

Devil's advocate -

How can WH, or any other bookmaker/casino/poker room know if someone has a problem or not? Without asking for financial records from an assumed 'whale', they are just that - a whale. For all they know, if a customer can deposit 6 or 7 figures, then they can afford to pay their bills. I've yet to see a casino - online or off - ask for financial records to back up whether or not a player can actually afford to play at that level.

side note: If any given casino/sportsbook/whatever were to basically ask a player to prove that funds are their own money and not company funds/etc...it'd be like a slap in the face to the player. They'd simply move on to another place that would gladly take their action, no questions asked.

William Hill has specific obligations under UK law to prevent money laundering. Letting a player bet with stolen money is money laundering, not when you deposit by credit card and withdraw to Neteller.