Punters

The story of Paddy Power’s growth from a small chain of Irish bookies to the biggest gambling company in the world.

Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Paddy Power, is the largest gambling business in the world. The evidence of that success is visible everywhere, from shop fronts and bus shelters to sporting arenas and smartphone screens.

The company’s rise to this point has been rapid, but like any gambler worth their salt, Paddy Power has always succeeded in finding an edge. At the outset those innovations were modest, like offering odds on television shows and giving punters money back on losing bets, but as the company’s ambition grew, so too did its determination to stay one step ahead of the competition, whatever the cost…

Impeccably researched and informed by dozens of insider interviews, Punters is the incredible story of how an unlikely band of misfits and visionaries bet on the future of the gambling industry and won big. But it’s also the story of how that victory may have come at an extraordinary cost – to their customers and society at large.

Reviews

‘An eminently readable and illuminating work' Business Post

‘Exciting and reads like a thriller in parts … Intriguing book and a brilliant read’ Ray D’Arcy

A Second Captains Sports Book of Year Selection

‘It’s a pacey, lucid, sometimes amusing and often engrossing read, but it’s also a book that will boil your blood.’ Liam Fay, The Times

‘Terrific’ Malachy Clerkin, Irish Times

‘Aaron Rogan’s book is a feat of investigative journalism and analysis … It’s unlikely you will read a better Irish sports book this year.’ Richard Fitzpatrick, Irish Examiner, Sports Books of the Year

About the author

Aaron Rogan is currently News Correspondent at the Business Post and was previously Senior Reporter at The Times Ireland. Rogan’s journalism has focused on investigatory work into the online gambling industry and general reporting on the business of Flutter, the parent group of Paddy Power Betfair.