Published on: December 8, 2025, 01:11h.
Updated on: December 8, 2025, 01:11h.
- Noted gambler Tony Bloom refutes claims of connection to crypto betting syndicate
- Recent court documents disclose BullGaming’s dispute regarding Hopkins’ Rollbit account
- Bloom denies ownership of the account and any betting involving Brighton
Brighton & Hove Albion, an English Premier League club, has prohibited The Guardian from accessing match days, citing “false” claims that owner Tony Bloom used a $1 billion betting account to bet on his own team.
Before the match against West Ham on Sunday, Brighton officials informed the UK media outlet that it would be “inappropriate” for representatives from The Guardian to receive match accreditation at the Amex Stadium.
This decision followed a Friday article that alleged Bloom was being questioned regarding his involvement with a betting account identified in a US legal case, linked to $133 million in soccer bets, including on Brighton.
If these allegations were accurate, Bloom could be violating English Football Association (FA) regulations which forbid club owners from betting on matches featuring their teams.
However, Bloom, a prominent figure in the gambling world, maintains the claims are unfounded.
I unequivocally assure our supporters that I have not bet on any Brighton & Hove Albion matches since my ownership began in 2009,” he affirmed in a statement.
As the leader of StarLizard, a highly successful betting syndicate that reportedly generates around $800 million annually, Bloom is a respected figure in the industry.
‘Enormous Gambling Activity’
The legal matter emerged from a case filed in 2024 in Northern California by BullGaming N.V., the parent firm of the crypto casino Rollbit, regarding an account belonging to poker player James Hopkins.
The filings highlight that Hopkins’ gambling activities were “enormous,” totaling over $1 billion in cryptocurrency wagers on soccer, with winnings amounting to $133 million.
This raised suspicions that Hopkins was gambling on behalf of others or under the umbrella of a betting syndicate, potentially in violation of Rollbit’s terms of service.
BullGaming sought permission from the US court to deliver a subpoena to Payward, Inc., operator of the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, after tracing financial transactions tied to Hopkins’ Rollbit account back to wallets associated with Kraken.
The company believes that Kraken possesses information that could reveal the actual owners behind the account since the exchange mandates identity verification during account creation, including names, addresses, and government-issued IDs.
Lack of Evidence?
The court submission does not name Bloom directly; however, Rollbit’s anonymous operator, referred to online as “Razer,” alleged in a post on X on November 14, without providing evidence, that Bloom was connected to the account.
Razer claimed that Bloom had “plundered the crypto casino domain over recent years, extracting a nine-figure sum from numerous operators.”
Aside from referencing some additional online discussions, The Guardian failed to present any substantiated evidence linking Bloom to the account.
In response, Bloom reiterated that he has consistently abided by FA regulations.
“All my bets on football are reviewed annually by a leading accounting firm to guarantee compliance with FA policies,” he stated.