Tips for today

Customers of the bookmaker BetBright reacted with anger and disappointment on Tuesday when the firm stopped trading and declared all outstanding ante-post bets void just seven days before the start of the Cheltenham Festival, where Rich Ricci, BetBright’s former chairman, will have several fancied horses running in his familiar pink colours.

Ricci, a former banker, was reported to have sold BetBright to the rival gambling firm 888.com, which is based in Gibraltar, for £15m on Monday. Just 24 hours later, however, it became clear that while 888.com had bought the technology behind the BetBright website, the firm’s customer base and outstanding liabilities on bets had not been part of the deal.

BetBright posted an announcement on its website early on Tuesday afternoon that it had “ceased offering gambling services to its customers on a permanent basis” and advising clients that they had 30 days in which to withdraw any outstanding funds from their accounts.

The announcement included a link to an “FAQ” site, which further advised that “all single bets due to settle after 5 March at 23:59pm will be voided” while unsettled multiple bets with a winning leg or legs will be settled “as a winning bet with the remaining unsettled legs voided”.

The decision to void all ante-post bets affects not only stakes placed on next week’s Cheltenham Festival and other racing events such as the Grand National in April, but also season-long bets on football such as the winner of the Premier League and the Championship.

BetBright was a former sponsor of a major trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup at the course’s January meeting, and also backed valuable races at Doncaster and Kempton Park in addition to sponsoring the BetBright Cup at the Cheltenham Festival, based on the total number of winners trained in British and Irish stables.

Cheltenham is the biggest betting event of the year in racing and many punters place on its major races several weeks, or even months, in advance in the hope of getting much better odds than those available on the day. The apparent ease with which a familiar name can simply walk away from its liabilities is a poor advert for both racing and betting just a week before the Festival.

The British Horseracing Authority declined to comment on the situation on Tuesday evening, but a spokesperson for the Gambling Commission, which regulates betting in the UK, said: “We have received a number of complaints about this matter and are making further enquiries.”