No I'm not, but after 146 pages it seems too many people still can't see the wood for the trees.  

Yes, obtaining money by deception is a crime but you cannot simply apply that phrase to this event or any other simply because you want to because you feel it should be.  Bottom line is he said he would double your money if you gave it to him to gamble with and you knew what gambling meant - it means you might win, you might lose.  He was given money to gamble with and he did, had the results worked out you'd all be rubbing your hands together pocketing the cash, but he lost it.

Turnover?  Did he bet more than he was given, ie more than 80k?  Looks like it.  He said he used some of his money as well as he was using his exchange accounts.  Were records kept detailing exactly what was and what wasn't a club bet?  Doesn't look like it, sloppy management and sloppy gambling, likely impossible to seperate without full access to all accounts and his full co-operation, meaning almost impossible to prove beyond doubt anything other than he gambled, badly.

Perhaps there will be an official police statement soon, perhaps there will be an official response from betfair soon but anyone expecting these, criminal charges and betfair to refund commission as it looks like a group of innocents (though not too innocent to want to make someone else poorer through gambling) got 'grimmed' through their own lack of care, are expecting too much.

Regarding the WSOP stake - what was that exactly for? - you were staking him funds to gamble for you to make money for you, no less no more, he already had your explicit agreement to do this for you as he saw fit as the manager of the money you had already given him, that he chose to mix 'funds' might not be what you intended but not against the law.  Wake up and smell the coffee, lock the thread and only allow mods to post up fluffy answers that the gang will find empathetic, whether they're realistic or not.

You can still make life uncomfortable for him and I expect many are, I would too.

http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/fraud_act/

have a read of that specifically the bit about fraud by false representation and then come back and say there may not be a case to answer.

I'm a bit confused as to why people are entering this thread and making judgement based on whether there is a criminal case to answer.

Surely the only person that can answer that question is the investigating officer, any conjecture and "expert opinion" seems to be completely pointless?

Lets just wait until we hear what the police have to say about the matter (if anything) instead of speculating and arguing.

have the police been called?

sorry! 

i can go on ALL night about these stories

I think I speak for the all of the viewers of this thread when I say, please do.

+1

i thought i would let peeps now on this forum that i was in touch with blacth over the last few days as he owed allot of money to some investor's i know .......

then at 630 last night there was a knock at my door ...(hum mm who could this be i thought)  

there was a lovely looking lady and gent standing there..( thought they may have wanted group sex lol)

but no you got it peeps our local hero,s the C.I.D come to ask a few questions about somebody reportedly threatening Neil and his family (all lies not once had he been threatened just would he meet up and have a cup of tea and a scone with them ) they  then confirmed that he had not mentioned he had ripped people of thousands of pounds to pay for a Jekyll and Hyde life style.
fucking more like{ i wont to be  Neil channing  } Neil the sumbag blach burn in hell  did say that there was an incident regarding a  betfair account  ......................  so i had no choice but to put our friends in the whole picture they couldn't believe what they where hearing and are going to investigate further
 they have given me contact information to give to investors to get in touch
 i cannot give this out on the forums but if any investors would like the number please pm and i shall pass this information on to you


So Just like to say to Neil if he reads this you are lower than a pedophile in my eyes and i make you a promise that i shall help you every way i can lets start by going to the socail security about you have been signing on for the  2+ years  every second Monday at 2.30 Newark street job centre how do i know this because i used to be there at the same time remember sitting there laughing about the 65 a week plus rent they pay you and yes folk's i am talking he was there 4 Mondays ago . and has for the money he was playing snooker last Thursday with about £5000 in his pocket still acting like Neil channing

thanks for taking the time to read this    

That is very interesting actually, Its obvious he wasnt going to tell the police what he had done but you have so thats good. And as for signing on, he will be in big trouble then and have to repay back all of his benefits when it all comes out, as he had more than 5k going around his accounts then even though it wasnt his he shouldnt of been signing on by the job centers guideline.

I see your understanding of benefits and capital  are not good. Do you actually have anything positive to add to this thread?

Yes i understand the benefits system ffs ive just come of them, maybe you dont have any idea

I think he asked if you had anything positive to contribute to the thread, and the answer you are looking for there is no.

I do admit to being completely flabbergasted that you were recently on benefits.

Unfortunately, although you are trying to help, every post you make sends me on life tilt.

Tbh benefit fraud is probably the one thing they could do him on just needs a phone call or 2 to the Benefit Fraud hotline.
Thats obviously only if people want revenge

Also means prob less chance of getting any money back, as those repayments will be at the front of the queue. I still believe
your only hope is to talk to his family and cut some kind of deal with them. If he was getting housing benefit as well he will owe
thousands, and if the overpayments are > 20k he can get banged up, regardless of whether he pays it off or not.

Plus with vat going up to 20%, he aint gonna have much left over after a full day at the local wetherspoons pulling pints of bitter.

I wont pay to read the Times online, but I would have forked out £1.50 to read this thread.

The advantage he has over you atm is none of you know what steps are being taken by everyone else and meanwhile he gets
to stall a bit more.

If you could set up a private thread which only "investors" could access, then that would be a good way of sharing information
without busybodies such as myself interrupting. I still think talking to his family and/or parents is the best way to progress this
in the short term. Make them aware of what has happened, I'm sure they have only heard one side and you can imagine the
kind of bs that would involve. They may be quite keen to set up a dialogue and that may lead to repayment if you agree not to
press charges. Collectively, you need to work out what your goal is in all this, punishment or reimbursement? I think its unlikely
you will get both.

I don't think there is any way Neil is going to be completely up front with his parents. I would bet he has given them a version similar to the "sleeping in" story.
That would be a disaster if they did decide to even partially bail him out and put $$$ into his bank account, because its money none of you would be very likely to see again.

I think someone who knows his parents need to ensure they have all the information about what has gone on here. I don't recall anyone posting that this is the case atm.
I would say that the best chance you have of examining his bank statements etc is through his family/parents and not through Neil himself. It may be the only opportunity you
have of being repaid is through them and doing a deal with them that they repay the $$$ in return for no jail time or prosecution. Otherwise, whats in it for either party?

I don't see an arrest taking place anytime soon, these things will take time to be investigated. If he had money stashed, its almost certainly somewhere else by now. If I were
involved, I think his family is who I would want to be talking too.

I say this partially out of experience, when someone who was a mate borrowed left, right and centre from everyone to fuel his out of control gambling. In the end, the sums owed
were about the same and his family sorted it out and he is paying them back.

As someone pointed out earlier, there is a real danger here of self harm - and I am sure deep down nobody wants to hear that he's topped himself.

If anyone was in contact with his folks I would hope they are aware of the situation and take appropriate measures. Whether you believe its an illness
or just greed either way he can't be thinking clearly, and in this situation that can lead to awful things.

As hard as it may sound and even though you believe he doesn't deserve it, I would advise everyone to take a step back and think about things.
Its possibly morbid and crass to say this, but unless he has stashed a decent % stashed away somewhere nobody is getting much back if he isnt around to make
financial amends.

just my 2p worth -

I'm gone too. He has deleted about 170 ppl from fbook.  A comment was made yesterday on there which he removed, and I also removed a comment I had posted over a week ago about an unrelated issue.

I guess he is trying to stop the information reaching his non poker related friends, Neil if you're reading this and I am sure you are - mate you have bigger issues to sort out.

[Pro Traders]

Hes still around.

Someone had asked him on his Facebook wall yesterday if he was still ok to be team captain of the Pro Traders at a poker team event next month

so i just replied "I'm not totally convinced by Neil's ability to lead this team by example"

and its been deleted...

that was me. I only found out about all of this today when someone posted a link on the bf forum. I was chasing Blatch to see if he was coming to the annual live betfair poker tournament / get together
which we call the bfwcop. As it turns out I mentioned on bf I didn't know if he was coming as he seems to be somewhat of a high roller these days, liittle did I know! There is a team event and an individual
event and the team we have been on is called the pro traders, but I wouldn't read anything more into that as it was started by someone who does trade for a living. I'm not a pro trader nor have ever been
but I've played on their team the last couple of events, as has Blatch.

To be honest I had forgetten about the facebook msg until I saw the notification and reply and thought it would be best to delete it, which is what's been done. I do feel for anyone involved who has lost money
in this scam, especially when I recall the facebook updates regarding his Miami holiday and all the running good comments he has had lately.

Someone I used to work with got themselves into a similar position but through a genuine gambling problem and simply being unable to stop. Thankfully in that instance they were able to rectify the situation and repay the
sums that had been borrowed with the help of relatives. Although my head says its v unlikely I do hope some resolution can be made financially and peoples moneys refunded.

Was out at the Vic earlier tonight. There was a kid on the table behind Ivey in a black shirt wearing earphones with a fairly large stack. Think he was from Norway or somewhere around there! You don't know his name by any chance from that description do you?

Johnny Lodden?

yep thats him. looked up his picture, because I had no idea what Johnny Lodden looked like. Now I know. thanks Snoopy

Was out at the Vic earlier tonight. There was a kid on the table behind Ivey in a black shirt wearing earphones with a fairly large stack. Think he was from Norway or somewhere around there! You don't know his name by any chance from that description do you?

ok Tikay, I'm gonna ask the silly question...

is this via the net or a b & m cardroom for the Monte Carlo ££$$$

if live - is it near London?