Statement of Mark Phillips re' betting on Vassallo Arguello A As one of two Betting working for the British Horseracing Authority was recently asked to analyse the betting patterns from the Argueilo Davydenko tennis match from 02/05/07 1 10 found that there were 11 accounts that would have profited by at least E3 000 had the match been settled by Betfair Almost ?4 000,000 was traded on the Arguello versus Davydenko match on the Betting Exchange The average amount traded on each match at the Sopot tournament including the semi finals and final, was 661 and only ?417,930 was traded on Davydenko's-- versus- The mam reason so much money was traded on the suspect match was because of the seemingly attractive odds offered by the suspect accounts. Of the 11 accounts, 9 are based in Russia and are linked by computer sharing ie the 9 accounts either shared computers on the day ofthe match, or had shared computers in the past This strongly suggests that either all accounts were being controlled by one person or that the account holders were 'working' together Betfair deemed the betting by the 9 'Russian' accounts as unfair and took the unprecedented step of voiding the market, The 9 accounts risked ?725,304. 82% of which was taken up by 3 accounts Diults SgeriiA and Rulenn, for a potential combined profit of ?358,748 The account which stood to profit the most (?244,708) some ?212 000 more than the next account. by Davydenko losing the match was in the name of Julia Tsoy -- username Djults. The Dlults account backed Arguello at odds ranging from 5.8 (almost 5/1) to 1 69 (approx 4/6) before the match had even started For a player ranked some 83 places below his opponent to start a match as favourite is highly unusual and indeed suspicious The Diults account risked ?256,474 by the time the 15' set (won by Davydenko) had been completed This suggests that the account holder was aware that the match would not be played to completion. it also could be significant that Betfair void all bets on tennis matches if one of the players retires before a set is completed Had the match been settled by Betfair the Dlults account would have made ?244,708 The previous hi hest profit from a tenni' match made by the account was ?69,827 0* on -, a match which was also subiect to unusual betting patterns. The price movements during the match Were even more suspicious than those before the match. At 2-1 to Davydenko in the 1" set, approx 15 minutes into the match the Dlults account backed Arguello at odds of 1.14 The odds on Arguello winning at this point should have been in the region of 60 To back a lesser ranked player at 1 14 when his opponent was winning the match and appeared to be playing well showed a totally unrealistic level of confidence that Arguello would Win the match For Arguello to trade at 1.14 he would have to be a set and at least one break of serve up as it was he was actually trailing 2-1 in the opening set In the space of 24 minutes in the set an account with the username SgeniA placed ?181,299 on Arguello to the match at average odds of 1 2 To place a bet of this size, at such prohibitive odds. is highly suspiCious betting behaviour. 11. The SgeniA account. was already being monitored by the Betfair Integrity team because it had a 6 figure liability on a suspect Intertoto Cup football match which was played between two clubs from eastern Europe. 12. The RustEr account had an average backing stake of ?401 between the account being opened on 21/09/05 and 05/04/07. This account placed ?125,041 on Arguello to win at odds ranging from 1.09 and 1.16. Summary The betting by the ?Russian? accounts, both backing Arguello and laying Davydenko, was all done at odds completely disproportionate to each player?s actual chances of winning. The betting before the match was highly suspicious and the betting during the match was even more so. In almost 20 years of working in the gambling industry, as an on course bookmaker, an odds compiler/ trader and as a Betting Investigator I have never seen a match or race where so much of the money wagered was done at such unrealistic odds and by linked accounts.