Stanleybet has never been backward in taking the fight forwards. INTERGAMINGi takes a closer look at the pioneering company
Old in the tooth but able to adapt deftly and decisively to new environments, trailblazing legal eagle Stanleybet traces its origins back to Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 1950s. Initially formed as the international arm of Stanley Leisure plc, the company became an officially authorised bookmaker in the UK under the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act 1963, and soon made its own home in Liverpool, England, in that same year. It was quite the time in the famous old city. A year later, Liverpool FC won the domestic title under the charge of famous manager Bill Shankly.
In more recent years, Stanleybet has been similarly progressive in Europe as the much-garlanded football team and equally as unwilling to yield under pressure. Successful lately amid the difficult online poker market in Italy and Hungary, Stanleybet’s executive chairman Giovanni Garrisi, who has owned the company since 2007, has taken the legal fight forward on many occasions in order to scrap for what he believes is justice.
INTERGAMINGi caught up with the 69-year-old industry veteran to reflect on battles past and challenges still to come. “The first Stanleybet case was Gambelli in 2003, followed by Placanica in 2007, Costa zand Cifone in 2012 and Laezza in 2016,” Garrisi recites. “All of them concerned land-based betting.
