Eskander's Betstar

About

There's not much that's conventional about Betstar's rise to prominence. Or its figureheads, father and son bookmakers, Michael and Alan Eskander.

For a start Michael Eskander hails from Egypt, which is not particularly noted as a breeding ground for bookmakers. He immigrated in 1966 and worked in a number of industries before being granted his first bookmaker's license in 1984. Since then he's been fielding on the Rails at race meetings across Australia.

And you could say Alan Eskander, Michael's son, graduated from university to the track. He took his Bachelor of Commerce (majoring in Economics), and started fielding at country races in 1997 when he received his first bookmaker's license. Three years later he was granted his metropolitan rails license to become the biggest on course bookmaker in Melbourne. In 2007 Alan and Michael joined forces and set up Betstar.