THE INTERVIEW: Sportingbet boss who once risked arrest over gambling laws is on a roll

By SARAH BRIDGE FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY Updated: 17:07 EST, 7 May 2011

Getting through US immigration can be a nerve-racking process, but for Sportingbet's Andy McIver it used to be a particularly fraught affair.

As chief executive of an online gambling company he saw his former chairman spend several weeks in an American prison accused of illegal online gambling.

A change in US law in 2006 meant that its citizens were banned from betting online and a crackdown on gambling companies began, with several gaming company executives being arrested.

Gambling man: Sportingbet's chief executive Andy McIver admits feeling nervous on a trip to the United States where another online gaming boss was sent to jail

For McIver, it meant that trips to the US were off the agenda for several years. 'My family went to America on holiday, but I certainly didn't,' he says.

'The only time I went was to be interviewed by the Department of Justice and I had a letter from the Attorney General saying why I was there.'

Did he not worry whether he would be allowed back home?' McIver smiles. 'There were butterflies, yes.'

The butterflies should have gone now as Sportingbet last year paid a £21 million fine to the US authorities that lifted the threat of prosecution and, says McIver, should draw a line under the whole lengthy process.

But there was no popping of champagne corks. 'It's always a bit of an anti-climax when something like that is finally settled, but it was a no-brainer that we should pay the money and move on,' he says.

'If we hadn't done, people would have always thought that there was some reason why. And it paves the way for the future. We'd love to go back into the US if it opened up again,but we'd only go back if it was fully regulated.'

McIver, 48, is no stranger to business dramas. He joined High Street jewellery chain Ratners in the early Nineties just after former chief executive Gerald Ratner's infamous comments about one of its products being less than wonderful, which caused huge damage to the company.

'We spent a lot of time talking to banks,' says McIver, proud that he helped stop the company from going under. 'I like working with companies where you can really make a difference,' he says.

Since 2001 he has been with Sportingbet, a time he describes as 'the ultimate rollercoaster'.

From the start the company decided to focus on sports betting.

'We focused on it right at the beginning and that's what we focus on now,' says McIver, who dismisses online poker as a 'fad'.

'You look at newspapers and the number of pages they dedicate each day to sport and it's all that blokes talk about when they're together.' Sportingbet has 250,000 regular customers who stake about £15 a time and McIver says: 'We're aimed at keen fans for whom gambling is an important part of their sport.'

The website also has casino games such as roulette, poker and slot machines, but mainly to keep customers on the site while the match or race they've wagered money on is under way.

Now, of course, there is the popular 'in-running' betting, which means punters can bet while an event is in progress and even while walking down the street, thanks to smart phone apps.

This weekend will be a big one for the bookmakers as there are many crucial Premiership matches as the season reaches a climax.

With an expected 35,000 bets an hour, Sportingbet aims to come away with 10p profit for each pound wagered. Almost £2 billion was gambled last year on the site.

A team of 100 maths experts and sports fans work out the probabilities and set the odds, which 'is a great job but there's a lot riding on it'.

Although it is a British-based business, only five per cent of its £207 million turnover, on which it makes £7 million profit, comes from Britain, with its main markets being Australia, Greece, Turkey and Spain.

Domestic income is too low to pay tax on, although the company voluntarily pays its share of the Horseracing Levy. However McIver is keen to remain in Britain. 'It's a highly regulated betting market and in terms of history, one of the most sophisticated in the world,' he says.

Having dealt with the US situation, Sportingbet is never far away from merger rumours, having talked to Bwin and Unibet in the past. But there is nothing going on at the moment, says McIver, although he says the financial reasons for a consolidation are 'compelling' because of the potential cost savings.

Meanwhile, McIver, who lives in Guildford, Surrey, with his wife, Jacqui, and their two teenage sons, is putting his own money in the industry, owning two racehorses and a stake in a third.

'It's all about hope, which is good because I'm an optimist,' he says. 'But if I bet on them I'm going to do so through my competitors, so I can take their money.'