The CEO of UK-licensed online gambling operator Sky Betting & Gaming stuck his head into a parliamentary lion’s den on Tuesday to defend the betting industry’s right to impose customer account restrictions.

Tuesday saw the All-Party Betting & Gaming Group (APBGG) hold its latest seminar to discuss all the things gambling operators do wrong. Tuesday’s seminar, held at the House of Lords, was rhetorically titled “Are Bookmakers Unfairly Closing Customer Accounts?’ (Seems the original title ‘Are Bookmakers Evil?’ was deemed insufficiently objective.)

The seminar heard from three speakers; Sky Bet CEO Richard Flint, Racing Post editor Bruce Millington, and Simon Rowlands, chair of the Horserace Bettors Forum (HBF), which was established three years ago to advocate for winning punters whose accounts had either been closed or subjected to severe wagering limits.

Flint (pictured) came armed with statistics that showed 97% of Sky Bet’s 1m+ horseracing punters had no restrictions on their account, while 2% had potential winnings capped at £1k for major races, and an elite/unfortunate 1% whose winnings were capped at £100.