ByRebecca Marston
Business press reporter, BBC News
Denise Coates, the billionaire employer of Bet365, added another ₤ 323m to her wealth this week after the company her household founded acquired another year of big profits.
She's been called the UK's most successful woman, with a fortune that Forbes publication puts in the region of ₤ 9.3 bn.
Most strikingly, she has made that largely herself.
Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's biggest private sector employer, with more than 4,600 personnel. It provides its countless worldwide clients sports betting, poker, casino, games and bingo. The firm had a ₤ 3bn turnover in the year to the end of March and a revenue before tax of ₤ 791m.
Ms Coates' brother John is joint president and her father Peter is the firm's chairman, but Denise Coates owns half the business and there's no doubt the success is mostly hers.
LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates
Bet365 boss sees pay increase to ₤ 265m
Serious gamblers tend to have a "system", a supposedly sure-fire approach that will keep on bringing rewards. So what's her "system"?
Return to the 1990s and there aren't lots of who would have gambled on the little family-run chain of regional betting shops growing to such a size.
A lot is down to her mathematical talent, which was amazing from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.
"She got everything right, just asked significant concerns and was angelically acted. She was plainly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd be in the leading 1%," he told the BBC.
'More women'
She attained a superior degree in econometrics and trained as an accounting professional within the household firm, constructing even more on the understanding of the small chain that she got while working part-time during high school.
As well as a really eager eye for figures - the heart of any effective bookie - she is likewise a moderniser.
One of her colleagues, Debbie Tatton, informed the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a more detailed relationship between the personnel and the consumers. We became a lot more professional, a lot more customer-focused. A great deal of more youthful people began can be found in, in addition to a lot more ladies."
In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and persuaded the household to mortgage business to permit them to develop brand-new software.
Her bro states she became fixated on the potential for online gambling and ended up being a pioneer because company.
Establishing head office in a momentary building in a car park, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, buying the domain Bet365.com so that she could drive business in that instructions.
'Innate knowledge'
"She's extremely intelligent and very identified," states Warwick Bartlett, from international wagering and gaming consultants GBGC.
"She is also capable of taking a look at the huge picture. Betfair was the innovator in in-play wagering, but she was essentially the first to harness mobile technology, acknowledging that bettors anywhere would be able to wager on sporting occasions."
A big 70% of income now comes through banking on tablets and phones.
She is assisted, Mr Bartlett says, by the that she, uniquely, truly understands the industry. "The Coates household are third-generation bookies. They have learned the service from moms and dads and grandparents.
"She has an innate understanding of what the yohaig code bettor is searching for. A lot of the companies these days have managers that may have originated from [other sectors] They are professional managers who attempt to use their understanding gained from selling beans or margarines."
Ad controversy
Mr Bartlett states close understanding of another service has assisted with the in-play football income: Bet365 owns regional club Stoke City.
"Owning a football club provided an insight into the method the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so effective itself, has actually played groups that really are," he says.
"On top of the contact with the professionals they take advantage of protection through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has excellent direct exposure each time Stoke are featured."
Ms Coates' daddy is chairman of Stoke and has a greater public profile than she does.
But the name best associated with Bet365 is, of course, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones used to urge punters to "wager in play - NOW!" before the advertisements were pulled.
Again, Warwick Bartlett states, Ms Coates got it right. "Using Ray validates my point about 365, they understand their consumers. He's a middle-aged guy and a little a geezer.
"Cleverly, Bet365 usage similar types to attract their clients in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he stumbles upon in the advert as an extremely cool guy."
Bet365 continues to keep one step ahead. It's moving into the US as the market there opens.
But while Denise Coates' organization brain believes international, she herself is likely to stay rooted in Stoke.
UK's best-paid employer makes ₤ 265m
21 November 2018
Online betting employer made a CBE
31 December 2011