I found this a fascinating read: The Inside Story of How One Bookmaker Restricts it’s Customers
For years we have pieced together some of the dos and don’ts when it comes to looking after our valuable bookmaker accounts. The SBC have put together quite brilliant guides to keeping accounts viable for as long as possible, and various tipsters have proffered their advice on the matter too. Time and experience has led to me being able to keep accounts open and usable for much longer than had previously been the case, but even so there was always a feeling that we were all making guesses as to exactly what would draw bookmaker’s attention to our betting activity and invite restrictions and closures, albeit highly educated guesses.
Finally though, we have a real ‘insider’s’ view and a detailed breakdown of how a typical bookmaking firm will go about assessing a customer’s betting activity and their stake factoring of that account. The bookmaker would justify their process as ‘risk management’. Having read this article I’d not use such politically correct language to describe their methods and approach!
The recurring thought as I read through the post however, was that as folk who bet with discipline and a strategy to make long term profit, we must adapt our betting as we go along, or die. The information we now have enables us to really box clever when it comes to maximizing the lifespan of our online bookmaker accounts, but every boxer tires over time and no fight lasts forever. We have to accept that ultimately, no matter how clever we are at looking after our accounts, there will come a time when we have restrictions imposed – that is a fact that we can’t ignore.
Yes, there are people who once one set of accounts are rendered useless open a new set – moving house was a godsend to me in this respect – but even then, and no matter how many times this process might be repeated, it is more savvy to look at other approaches that will allow out betting to continue ad infinitum.
I now use Exchanges more than I ever did. The growth and development of Smarkets and Matchbook is significant and with their low rates of commission and regular ‘no’ or ‘reduced’ commission deals, these have become essential betting weapons to have in our armoury. The traditional monopoly of Betfair is being eroded, and that can only be a good thing. I’m finding I’m placing more and more bets on horses via Smarkets now, and being able to match officially advised odds more and more frequently. I’ve also started to follow lay services which a year or so ago, I wouldn’t have done, simply because it involves laying. It’s not my preferred method of betting, but like I say, adapt or die.
Look at betting on football more, perhaps, particularly into the more liquid markets, and again the exchanges are very useful here. And as account restrictions do bite, then make sure to follow services that acknowledge the difficulties of getting on and make their betting advice as easy to follow as possible, something that Football Service 2 has done with tremendous success.
Your Comments & Questions Welcome
Mindful of the interest in the topic of restrictions – I welcome any comments or questions you might have on it and my portfolio, which I will do my best to answer or highlight in future posts. You can either comment on each post or email them to pete@smartbettingclub.com and he will forward them onto me.
Performance from Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd February
It’s been a decent start to the month, but only three days of betting is not enough for me to get carried away with, so at this point I’ll simply say well done for a good weekend to Racing Service 1, Football Lay Profits, Northern Monkey and Racing Service 3.
Portfolio Performance
‘Main’ portfolio: ROI 24.55%, ROC 2.56%.
‘Starter’ (Football Lay Profits, The Accountant, Racing Service 2, Northern Monkey): ROI 13.7%, ROC 1.98%.
‘Broxchange’ (Football Lay Profits, The Accountant, Golf Insider): ROI 18.1%, ROC 2.97%.
Individual Service Performance
The Accountant: Staked 4pts, +0.482pts, ROI 12.05%.
Racing Service 1: Staked 8pts, +9.475pts, ROI 118.43%.
Football Lay Profits: Staked 44.57pts, +10.9pts, ROI 24.45%.
Golf Insider: Staked 15.2pts, -5.2pts, ROI -34.21%.
MVS (Lite): Staked 4pts, 0pts, ROI 0%.
Northern Monkey: Staked 2.5pts, +3pts, ROI 120%.
Football Service 2: Staked 3.5pts, +0.5pts, ROI 14.28%.
Racing Service 2: Staked 7.5pts, -3pts, ROI -40%.
Racing Service 3: Staked 8.5pts, +4.75pts, ROI 55.88%.
