Winning Against the Odds: My Life in Gambling and Politics

Author:   Stuart Wheeler
Publisher:   Quiller Publishing Ltd
ISBN:  

9781846892950


Pages:   278
Publication Date:   26 September 2019
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Winning Against the Odds: My Life in Gambling and Politics


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Overview

Winning Against the Odds tells the fascinating, eccentric story of one of England's most fascinating and eccentric men. Stuart Wheeler went to Eton and Oxford. He was an officer in the Welsh Guards, a barrister, an investment banker and a major donor to the Conservative Party. You might think that he has led a life of impeccably conformist upper-class respectability. You'd be wrong. For Wheeler is also an illegitimate child adopted at the age of two, a maverick businessman who made his fortune on the back of `the most brilliant idea that anyone had had of his generation' and a devoted gambler who has been thrown out of more than one Las Vegas casino. He played cards with Lord Lucan two nights before his infamous disappearance, effectively invented spread-betting with the creation in 1974 of IG Index and gave William Hague's Conservatives GBP5 million (still the biggest political donation in British history) before being expelled from the Tories, joining UKIP and becoming a key figure in Vote Leave during the Brexit referendum campaign. Forthright, principled and always entertaining, Winning against the Odds is a story of bets won and lost, of outrageous personalities and dramatic events, and of a singular mind that engages with the world around it in a completely unique and compelling way. AUTHOR: Stuart Wheeler was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and completed National Service in the Welsh Guards. After practising for three years as a barrister, he spent ten years in merchant banking before founding the spread-betting company IG Index in 1974. A tireless campaigner against torture, he is a supporter of, amongst others, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Reprieve. In 2001, Stuart gave GBP5 million to the Conservative party, the largest donation in British political history. He was subsequently UKIP's treasurer, and was also on the board of Vote Leave. He has three daughters, and divides his time between London and Chilham, Kent. b/w photographs

Full Product Details

Author:   Stuart Wheeler
Publisher:   Quiller Publishing Ltd
Imprint:   Quiller Publishing Ltd
ISBN:  

9781846892950


ISBN 10:   1846892953
Pages:   278
Publication Date:   26 September 2019
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1. A Curious Start in Life 2. You'll Find It Gets Better Next Half 3. Put Your Books on Your Head 4. You Must Stop Playing Because You Will Lose 5. Something Even More Disreputable 6. I Don't Mind Paying for a Man's Racehorses 7. Eleven Hundred to a Thousand, Stuart? 8. Oh God, It's the Car I Was Being Rude to Earlier 9. We Don't Care for That Type of Play Here 10. Let's Give It Nine Months 11. Well, At Least He Is Witty 12. Get Off the Ledge and Give Us The Money 13. That Wasn't a Very Good Bet, Was It? 14. This is Meant to Be Fun 15. Banging on About Europe 16. Taking Back Control 17. A Clean Brexit After All? Epilogue Acknowledgements Appendix: A Ten-Minute Guide to Playing Blackjack Better Than 90 per cent of the Population Glossary A Note on Money

Reviews

Wheeler's colourful and varied career means he can draw on a wide range of stories and anecdotes, which he tells in a characteristically forthright style. He is very blunt about the weaknesses of the politicians and business leaders he has met along the way. Even those politicians he admires, such as Nigel Farage and political strategist Dominic Cummings come in for some trenchant criticism about their leadership qualities. Wheeler holds himself to the same standards... [This book] is a bit like attending a good after-dinner talk by a speaker who has an interesting story to tell and is willing to throw caution to the wind. If you have an interest in gambling, politics or finance, or all three, you should enjoy it. -- Matthew Partridge * Money Week *


Wheeler's colourful and varied career means he can draw on a wide range of stories and anecdotes, which he tells in a characteristically forthright style. He is very blunt about the weaknesses of the politicians and business leaders he has met along the way. Even those politicians he admires, such as Nigel Farage and political strategist Dominic Cummings come in for some trenchant criticism about their leadership qualities. Wheeler holds himself to the same standards... [This book] is a bit like attending a good after-dinner talk by a speaker who has an interesting story to tell and is willing to throw caution to the wind. If you have an interest in gambling, politics or finance, or all three, you should enjoy it.--Matthew Partridge Money Week


Author Information

Stuart Wheeler was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford and completed National Service in the Welsh Guards. After practising for three years as a barrister, he spent ten years in merchant banking before founding the spread-betting company IG Index in 1974. A tireless campaigner against torture, he is a supporter of, amongst others, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty and Reprieve. In 2001, Stuart gave £5 million to the Conservative party, the largest donation in British political history. He was subsequently UKIP’s treasurer, and was also on the board of Vote Leave. He sadly passed away in July 2020, leaving behind three doting daughters.

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