ByRebecca Marston
Business reporter, BBC News

Denise Coates, the billionaire boss of Bet365, added another ₤ 323m to her wealth today after the yohaig code business her household founded racked up another year of huge profits.

She's been called the UK's most successful lady, with a fortune that Forbes publication puts in the region of ₤ 9.3 bn.

Most strikingly, she has made that mostly herself.

Bet365 is Stoke-on-Trent's largest economic sector employer, with more than 4,600 personnel. It offers its countless worldwide consumers sports wagering, poker, casino, video games and bingo. The company 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 dad Peter is the company's chairman, but Denise Coates owns half the company and there's no doubt the success is mostly hers.

LISTEN: Profile: Denise Coates

Bet365 manager sees pay rise to ₤ 265m

Serious bettors tend to have a "system", a supposedly foolproof method that will continue bringing rewards. So what's her "system"?

Go back to the 1990s and there aren't many who would have gambled on the small family-run chain of regional betting shops growing to such a size.

A lot is down to her mathematical talent, which was exceptional from an early age. David Owen taught her at secondary school in the 1980s.

"She got everything right, only asked pertinent concerns and was angelically acted. She was clearly off the scale. If we were talking Mensa, she 'd be in the top 1%," he told the BBC.

'More ladies'

She attained a first-class degree in econometrics and trained as an accountant within the household firm, building even more on the understanding of the little chain that she got while working part-time during high school.

Along with a really eager eye for figures - the heart of any effective bookmaker - she is also a moderniser.

Among her colleagues, Debbie Tatton, told the BBC: "When Denise came, she desired a closer relationship between the personnel and the consumers. We became a lot more expert, a lot more customer-focused. A lot of younger people began coming in, as well as a lot more girls."

In 2000, Ms Coates upped the stakes and convinced the family to mortgage the business to allow them to establish new software application.

Her bro says she became focused on the capacity for online gambling and became a leader in that service.

Setting up headquarters in a temporary structure in a parking area, Ms Coates called it the supreme gamble, buying the domain Bet365.com so that she might drive business in that instructions.

'Innate knowledge'

"She's highly intelligent and extremely determined," states Warwick Bartlett, from global wagering and video gaming experts GBGC.

"She is likewise capable of taking a look at the huge picture. Betfair was the innovator in in-play betting, however she was essentially the first to harness mobile technology, recognising that bettors anywhere would have the ability to bank on sporting events."

A substantial 70% of earnings now comes through banking on tablets and phones.

She is assisted, Mr Bartlett says, by the truth that she, uniquely, truly knows the industry. "The Coates family are third-generation bookmakers. They have actually found out the organization from parents and grandparents.

"She has an inherent knowledge of what the bettor is searching for. A great deal of the business these days have supervisors that may have come from [other sectors] They are expert managers who attempt to apply their understanding gained from offering beans or margarines."

Ad controversy

Mr Bartlett states close knowledge of another organization has actually assisted with the in-play football income: Bet365 owns regional club Stoke City.

"Owning a football club offered them an insight into the way the Premier League worked. Stoke City, not so successful itself, has actually played teams that actually are," he states.

"On top of the contact with the specialists they take advantage of protection through the sponsorship of the team. Bet365 has excellent direct exposure every time Stoke are included."

Ms Coates' daddy is chairman of Stoke and has a higher public profile than she does.

But the name best connected with Bet365 is, obviously, Ray Winstone, whose gravelly tones utilized to urge punters to "wager in play - NOW!" before the ads were pulled.

Again, Warwick Bartlett says, Ms Coates got it right. "Using Ray confirms my point about 365, they know their customers. He's a middle-aged guy and a bit of a geezer.

"Cleverly, Bet365 usage similar types to attract their clients in other markets. In Australia, it's Samuel L Jackson - he comes throughout in the advert as a really cool guy."

Bet365 continues to keep one step ahead. It's moving into the US as the market there opens up.

But while Denise Coates' business brain believes worldwide, she herself is most likely to stay rooted in Stoke.

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