High Court case alleges Tony Bloom's betting empire makes £600m a year - so what do we know about his Starlizard syndicate?

A case filed in the High Court in London last month has lifted the lid on the inner workings of Tony Bloom’s betting empire, which has brought him huge wealth and influence.

Bloom, 55, has made a fortune through his company Starlizard, which has enabled him to take a sharp approach to gambling, and his wealth has since been used to achieve success in sports such as football and horseracing.

What is Starlizard?

Established in 2006, Starlizard is a data collection company which uses the information to generate statistical models that provide gamblers with an edge in football betting markets, primarily Asian handicaps.

As well as selling the information to a select group of people, Bloom is the primary client of Starlizard, using the data it generates to place significant bets for his syndicates of gamblers.

Bloom also invited his employees to join his syndicates – known as ‘stars’ – meaning that when he was winning, everyone was doing so.

In his book, Gambling For Life, the professional punter Harry Findlay described the action.

“Even as the cleaners were mopping up at night, they were winning, and they were always getting on at the right price,” he said. “Incredibly, I had the winnings from my own bets, plus £10,000 from every star that Tony put on. It was massive.”

What is Bloom’s connection to horseracing?

Football is Bloom’s first love – he is the owner of Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League and a 29 per cent shareholder of Hearts in the Scottish Premiership – while he earned his nickname ‘The Lizard’, for his cold-bloodedness, from the professional poker circuit.

In 2008, Bloom teamed up with Findlay to race a number of horses on the Flat and over jumps in Britain, winning the 2009 Wokingham Stakes at Royal Ascot with High Standing.

Once that partnership ended, Bloom moved into owning horses by himself, most notably 2022 and 2023 Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Energumene, and has expanded his involvement further in recent years.

Tony Bloom (third left) with Energumene after his win in the 2023 Queen Mother Champion ChaseCredit: Patrick McCann

Alongside Ian McAleavy, Starlizard’s head of football, Bloom has raced the likes of Lake Forest, Venetian Sun and Santorini Star, while 1.7 million gns yearling buy My Ophelia made a winning debut for the pair at Newbury in October.

In January last year, Bloom said he was establishing a breeding operation and that professional punter Patrick Veitch was joining his group in a bid to further sharpen their approach to buying.

What is the case against Bloom?

According to documents filed with the High Court, Ryan Dudfield, a former associate of Bloom, claims he is owed $17.5 million as a share of profits from a betting syndicate.

The court documents state the syndicate – known as the Starlizard Betting Syndicate or the Tony Bloom Betting Syndicate – makes around £600m a year in winnings.

It is also outlined that Bloom’s syndicates allegedly use the accounts of third parties to get bets on, including “footballers, sportsmen and businessmen”, who would then keep a share of any winnings.

Dudfield, who is said to have introduced Bloom to a big-staking individual, known as a 'whale', for use of his betting account, claims the betting syndicate he was involved in continued to operate after he was told that it had stopped. 

Bloom has yet to file a defence to the claim.

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