Gambling expert Warwick Bartlett is to be included in a hall of fame for services to the betting industry.

Mr Bartlett is the founder and chief executive officer of the Castletown based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants.

It has been announced he will join SBC’s Sports Betting Hall of Fame during the organisation’s giant sports conference in September.

Mr Bartlett said: ‘It is a great honour for me to be included in the SBC Sports Betting Hall of Fame for services to the betting industry.

‘I started out as a bookmaker with a single betting shop in 1966, eventually expanding to 20 shops, before selling some to Coral in 1984.

‘I formed the British Betting Office Association (BBOA) in 1992, which then merged with the Betting Office Licensees Association (BOLA) to become the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), where I served as chairman from 2001 to 2013.

‘I have loved every minute of the last six decades. I love the betting industry and the people employed in it. It has been a pleasure to serve you all.’

More than 2,000 delegates are expected tobe at the Autumn conference at the Olympia Conference Centre in London.

SBC is short for Sports Betting Community.

Mr Bartlett will be inducted in to the hall of fame at a lavish event held at the prestigious National History Museum during Betting on Sports Week.

SBC says the Sports Betting Hall of Fame has been curated in order to recognise the individuals who have contributed a great deal to the industry over the course of their careers with a lasting legacy.

The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honour, preserve and perpetuate the names and outstanding accomplishments of personalities who have brought lasting fame to the sports betting sector.

From the Malew Street, Castletown offices of GBGC, staff compile gambling reports and offer gambling consultancy services.

GBGC has a total team of six people, three in the Isle of Man and three in Zagreb, Croatia.

Mr Bartlett, originally from the West Midlands, is a well known figure in the island where he has often commented on the gaming industry.

He says the island’s online gaming sector represents a growth sector in our economy.

Mr Bartlett, who lives in Castletown with his wife, has never been afraid of letting his views known and putting his opinions forward.

He has previously spoken out at KPMG eGaming summits in the island.

Mr Bartlett had had some notable successes along the way in his long career.

Organised the first conference for bookmakers and sports betting.

Instrumental in bringing South African Racing to the UK betting shops during the big freeze of 1978/9.

GBGC first to introduce the term gross gaming yield which became the benchmark for taxing winnings instead of revenue.

Presented the argument to the UK Secretary of State for introducing a betting tax on gross profits. The gross profits tax was Will Roseff’s idea.

Promoted the idea of Malta to become an eGaming jurisdiction to Malta’s UK ambassador.

Promoted the idea to SIS to sell the BAGS greyhound racing service to betting shops in Europe.

Warned the UK gaming sector well in advance of the smoking ban that it would be detrimental to its business.

Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC), founded in 1999, published the first meaningful report on the global gambling industry. GBGC’s Global Gambling Report is now in its 13th edition.

This year will see two other gambling figures join the hall of fame:

lNorbert Teufelberger, co-founder of Bwin. which is a brand owned by Isle of Man registered gambling giant GVC Holdings.

Constantinos Antonopoulos, founding member and former CEO of Intralot

Previous inductees include Pinnacle CEO Paris Smith, Sportingbet founder Mark Blandford, Sportradar founder Carsten Koerl, Betfred founder Fred Done, BetConstruct founder Vigen Badalyan and Bookmaker Technology Consortium director Howard Chisholm.

The Betting on Sports Conference at Olympia from September 18 to 21 will now close with a special Hall of Fame panel containing previous and new members discussing a range of issues and how they see the future of the betting industry.

SBC chief executive and founder Rasmus Sojmark said: ‘We have secured an iconic venue for some of the industry’s most iconic names and I see no better way of closing off Betting on Sports Week than with a celebration of the best that sports betting has to offer.’