Imitation Games

Sport and gambling have always been inextricably linked but over the past decade smartphone technology and light-touch regulation have turbocharged the sports gambling industry. Today, bets can be placed on virtually any sport anywhere in the world, with the 'slot machine in your pocket' offering instant in-play betting opportunities at your fingertips. In the space of just 20 years, the Stoke-based Bet365 has gone from small provincial operation to globe-straddling behemoth with enigmatic boss Denise Coates - who founded the business in a porta cabin circa 2000 - earning a staggering £469 million in 2020 alone.In Imitation Games, academic and BBC New Generation Thinker Darragh McGee sets off on an eye-opening global investigation to discover who are the winners and losers of this dramatic transformation. As the profits of the online betting giants have soared, so too have associated gambling problems, especially among susceptible young men. Darragh's younger brother is among them and his is just one of the many human stories that illuminate this national and global tale.