where people are taking dinner for two and a bottle of wine home instead of going out for supper – people choose not to have a night out but stay in and have a gamble online for 20 quid.” Overall transactions (number of bets) have seen an uplift recently – this is a firm that takes around UK£1 billion a year in bets. The high rollers are slowly returning but Chandler is coy when it comes to divulging his biggest payout to date. “All big bets are relative because when you start out in business everything is a big transaction,” he suggests. “A big bet is when you have UK£200,000 in the bank and you take a risk that is going to cost you UK£40,000 or UK£50,000. A business like ours could take a risk of having a liability of UK£1 million.” It’s clear that Chandler’s responses to my questions are carefully formulised in his head before leaving his mouth; you can almost see the cogs turning, creating long, but not uncomfortable, pauses in the conversation. Where this third-generation bookie is looking to clean up is the football World Cup Finals in South Africa, just a few weeks from now. Although Chandler has little interest in football, experts are predicting that as much as UK£50 billion could be wagered on the month-long tournament. Chandler has been granted a licence to operate in South Africa just in time to capitalise on the betting frenzy. “Without doubt there will be record turnover,” says Chandler, “because more and more people have access to bet-
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