Zeljko Ranogajec

Zeljko Ranogajec (born 22 May 1961) is a businessman and professional gambler from Australia. The London-based Ranogajec is known for horse betting, blackjack and other forms of advantage gambling.

Early life Ranogajec was born in Hobart, Australia, in a family of Croatian immigrants. He was a Commerce and Law student of the University of Tasmania, studying tax, finance and banking, when he began card counting in Blackjack at the Wrest Point Casino. While there, Ranogajec met his future wife and business partner, Shelley Wilson, who was a full-time employee. Eventually, Ranogajec was banned from most casinos in Australia, starting with Wrest Point, the Jupiters Casino on the Gold Coast, and then, after he moved overseas, in the United States as well. Ranogajec, by that time, was already moving to other areas of advantage play, in any area of gambling where an advantage could be identified.

In 2011, Ranogajec was inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

Keno In 1994, Ranogajec reportedly won a $7.5 million Keno jackpot at the leisure and entertainment complex North Ryde RSL Club, of New South Wales, after reportedly betting "significantly more than $7.5 million" to win it but coming out ahead due to the additional, smaller prizes awarded along the way to winning the jackpot.

Horse racing Ranogajec, according to insider accounts, A TabCorp spokesman stated, in response to the media reports, that the corporation "investigated the incidents" and found "no evidence of illegal activity", but reminded the betting public that "the offering of tote-odds betting products by corporate bookmakers has inherent risks of pool manipulation [by large bettors]." His betting on Betfair is believed to account for one third of the company's Australian operations.

Ranogajec has gradually organised an extensive network of spotters, analysts, bettors and administrators, directing activities from office space he is allegedly occupying in the Fox Sports building at 235 Pyrmont Street, in Sydney's inner suburb of Pyrmont. It is known that he contracts many companies to provide information and does not employ anyone directly. However indirectly due to his information requirements, to gain the edge, he provides employment to over 300 people in Australia.

Rebate controversy Ranogajec's success has been revealed to be based upon favorable discounts and rebates that he has negotiated with betting pool operators. In 2011 it was reported that the commercial failure of Tote Tasmania was partly due to the large rebates that Ranogajec had received on his betting turnover. Subsequently, the business was purchased by Tatts Group.

Downfall of Tote Tasmania In 2012, Ranogajec was named as being the leader of a gambling syndicate which had profited from a rebate arrangement with Tote Tasmania Pty Ltd which was a Tasmanian state-owned company. The profits paid to Ranogajec and his partners virtually wiped out the profits of the Tote Tasmania Pty Ltd, to the extent that Treasurer of Tasmania was reduced to selling off the entire business to Tabcorp Holdings. for gambling syndicates in Australia. His business partner David Walsh believes that he does not owe them money as gambling on horse racing has never been a taxable source of income in Australia. The ATO deal remains confidential but it understood to relate to the years 2004–2011 only.

Gaming career since leaving Australia Since leaving Australia, it was reported in 2019 that Ranogajec is based in Europe, mostly UK and the Isle of Man. an international racing and sports event company.

In the United Kingdom, Ranogajec is a co-founder of Colossus Bets along with Bernard Marantelli. Colossus Bets had announced a new venture partnership with the consortium Britbet comprising 55 British racecourses to operate horse betting racing pools and become a "major competitor in Tote service". On 12 June 2018 it was announced that the Britbet project with Colossusbets as a partner, had been terminated. In October 2020 Bernard Marantelli resigned as Chief Executive Officer of Colossusbets. He was also replaced as a director of the company by Eva Karagianni-Goel.

Personal life Ranogajec rarely gives interviews. and on the 2020 Rich List, also at 600 million. His net worth increased to 610 million on the 2021 Rich List.

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