A punter took legal action after losing $400,000 in two hours. He now operates his own gambling firm

A former Melbourne businessman who sued a bookmaker after losing more than $400,000 in a drunken two-hour betting spree now owns a string of online gambling sites being criticised by punters for what they consider are “unfair” terms and conditions.

Winton Veall, 75, sued Merlehan Bookmaking, trading as TopSport, four years ago after drinking a beer, six glasses of wine and eight cocktails and then dropping $406,000 in 28 bets between 3.30pm and 5.39pm on a Friday afternoon.

He lodged a writ with the Supreme Court of Queensland, claiming TopSport breached its duty of care because it allowed him to bet while he was intoxicated. The matter was settled out of court.

Now the Bali-based Veall, who is a member of a wealthy Toorak family and brother of former Mondo Rock keyboardist Duncan Veall, sits on the other side of the bookmaking fence.

He is listed as the co-owner and co-director of Betting Services, a private company that has registered 15 online bookmaker sites in NSW, including BetNow, PuntZone, BetNova, DashBet and MidasBet.

His co-owner and co-director is listed as Da He, a former Tabcorp and Bet365 employee.

Veall and Da He are also listed as the co-owners and co-directors of OnlyBets, a private bookmaker company licensed in Victoria.

When contacted by this masthead, Veall said his 2022 lawsuit against Merlehan Bookmaking, claiming $26,650 in damages for personal injury and $406,000 for breach of contract, had no bearing on him owning gambling sites.

“It’s a mutually exclusive situation,” he said.

“It’s like me being a car dealer, for instance. Say I’m a Holden car dealer and I buy a Mercedes-Benz from a Mercedes dealer, and I’m not happy with the car, or we have a dispute, and I sue him – that’s the best analogy I can give you.”

One of Veall and Da He’s NSW-licensed sites, BetNow, was first brought to this masthead’s attention last month by a disgruntled punter.

Nate, a country Victorian punter who spoke on the condition that his full name would not be used due to privacy concerns, said he felt duped by BetNow after being paid just $2000 of a $2598.55 winning bet.

He won the money by landing a first four on a Mildura harness race in May.

When he asked BetNow why he had been “shortchanged” almost $600, he was told it was part of the bookmaker’s terms and conditions.

“In accordance with rule 3 of our terms and conditions, the maximum payout for quinella, exacta, trifecta, first four and quaddie bets is $2000,” a BetNow operator’s message said. “Your payout has therefore been adjusted to reflect this limit. We appreciate your understanding.”

Nate says the bookmaker then cut him off from its live chat service and froze his account, saying “we have detected suspicious activity on your betting account that indicates a likely breach of our terms and conditions”.

“They told me my bank account had not been verified,” he said. “It was not only unfair, it didn’t make any sense.

“They accepted multiple deposits – $30, $180, $70, $40 – and never once said my account was not verified. They never once asked for ID – driver’s licence, etc – until I won.”

BetNow unlocked the punter’s account and paid out the extra $600 as a gesture of goodwill when sent questions by this masthead, but claimed its prior actions were lawful and in accordance with its terms and conditions.

Veall, who used to be a cabaret singer and a bookmaker during the 1980s, claims his business partner, Da He, ran the online gambling sites.

“To my knowledge we have never had any difficulty with any of our clients. Not that I am aware of, in any event,” said Veall.

“[But] that’s a matter for him [Da He] to comment on. He operates the business. He’s the managing director. And he makes the decisions about the risk profile of the company.”

This masthead was unable to verify Veall’s claims.

Da He was contacted multiple times by this masthead via email, text message and phone calls to get a response. He was sent a list of detailed questions but is yet to respond.

A search by this masthead uncovered numerous negative reviews for the Veall-Da He bookmaking sites, including a one-out-of-five-star rating for OnlyBets.

“Absolutely terrible experience with OnlyBets,” a review from “Wadey32” says on the App Store site.

“When I finally won, it took days to get verified just to withdraw my own money. The whole process felt extremely dodgy and frustrating.”

There was also a smattering of five-star reviews for the Veall-Da He sites.

One user called DashBet “honest” on customer review platform TrustPilot, while another reviewer wrote, “this one stands out with the good customer service, very helpful and fast with replies”.

There are advantages to running small bookmaker sites, including a $1 million tax-free threshold for gambling revenue in NSW and Victoria.

A point of consumption tax rate of 15 per cent kicks in once the revenue tops $1 million – this applies to bets placed by residents of the state, regardless of where the bookmaker is registered.

A spokesperson for Liquor & Gaming NSW said betting service providers are responsible for setting their own terms and conditions, “which must comply with relevant laws, licence conditions and consumer protection requirements”.

In Victoria, the gambling and casino control commission offers a complaints and tip-off service to members of the public who are concerned that a gambling provider is doing the wrong thing.

There is no suggestion the Veall and Da He sites’ terms and conditions are unlawful, nor is this masthead aware of any formal complaints or investigations.

Veall’s family made their fortune through their grandfather Arthur’s electrical stores and then diversified into property development and investments.

His brothers, Martin and Duncan, own the 15-hectare Timana Island in far north Queensland, off Mission Beach.

He lodged his writ against Merlehan Bookmaking in the Supreme Court of Queensland because he opened his account with the gambling company in the sunshine state.

Veall still owns property near Cairns. During his drunken betting spree, he placed 28 bets over the phone on gallops, harness racing greyhounds in two hours and 10 minutes.

He wagered $577,000 including two losing bets of $100,000 – one on a $1.40 pacer called Micrometeor at Mildura and the other on a $1.50 runner Lisa Lincoln at Albion Park harness racing.

The writ claimed Veall told the bookmaker at the time, “I’m drunk, I don’t know what I’m doing”, and the bookmaker’s staff member said words to the effect of “no worries, speak to you in the next race”.

The writ claimed the bookmaker’s staff member also joked about placing Veall’s number on speed dial and saying words to the effect of, “You told me all that when you were drunk last time”.

He accused TopSport of breaching their contract with him by failing to show a duty of care.

Tristan Merlehan, who sold TopSport to Matt Tripp’s Betr last year, said he was unable to comment.

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