Bookmakers Restrictions and Bans

If you've been betting on horse racing for long using online accounts, you will probably have realised that the bookmakers are not quite as friendly as they seem in their television adverts. You may have faced restrictions on your bookie accounts or even banned from sports betting completely. If you haven't faced these restrictions, you are either very lucky or the bookmakers have identified you as a likely losing punter.

For those of you who have been restricted, you might recognise these types of emails:

What many people don't realise is that it isn't just winning punters who face these restrictions. Bookmakers may restrict you if you are a losing punter but they think that you are likely to win in the future. They use all sorts of algorithms and analysis of your betting patterns and if they think you may have a winning strategy, you will be heavily restricted.

It may be that you can only bet a maximum of 50p or, more likely, your maximum win is set to £10 so that you can only bet £1.11 on a 9/1 shot. The bookies may stop you from taking fixed prices on horse racing (i.e. you can only bet at SP (starting price) where the bookies determine what odds you get).

Is this all legal you might ask? Yes, unfortunately, bookmakers are one of the few types of business who will ban people for being thoughtful and sensible.

Imagine if that happened at your local supermarket! ‘Sorry sir, after reviewing your buying patterns, we've noticed that you only buy from our ‘own brand’ value range and so, unfortunately, you are now banned from our shop!’

You may be banned from sports betting completely but, no doubt, you will still be bombarded with bookmakers' emails trying to entice you to bet in their casino games where the odds are stacked in their favour.

If you are a price-sensitive bettor (i.e. you only bet when the odds are in your favour) then restrictions are inevitable but Tilt the Odds will give you advice on how to avoid them for as long as possible.

Although bookmakers claim to support responsible gambling, you will find that if you do bet responsibly by seeking out good value and not betting when they are offering terrible odds, they will soon get rid of you!

Check out our blog about our Top tips to avoid getting your betting account restricted or banned

Will you get paid?

If you're an experienced bettor, the chances are that some of your accounts will have been restricted. If that is the case, you may well have fallen victim to ID abuse by the bookmaker.

They will have carried out an identity check with a credit reference agency or perhaps asked you for some ID when you opened your account.

They will let you deposit money using your debit card, bet on sports, play casino games etc.

Most withdrawals from bookmakers are trouble-free. Unfortunately, some bookmakers will indulge in ID abuse when you want to withdraw your money. They've let you deposit using your bank card, they've let you bet - they've been 100% satisfied about your identity.

As soon as you want to withdraw, they don't know who you are and require six different forms of ID. More ID than you would need to apply for a passport, open a bank account or get a mortgage. When you do send the ID, it is rejected as one of the corners has a millimetre missing or the photo isn’t clear enough. You may be asked to make a video of yourself holding your passport or send a photo of yourself taken by your front door!

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