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In a belated attempt to catch up with what most of us in the betting industry have long known, the Racing Post has been publishing a short series on the issue of betting restrictions this week.

Long castigated for not wanting to rock the boat by criticising the same firms that advertise so heavily with them, it is a step in the right direction, if only the most gentle and tentative of steps.

Yet one of the key topics that these articles fails to address is what this actually means for you as a punter wanting to make money betting.

Does it mean you should stop betting altogether and hang up your punting boots?

Thankfully – it doesn’t, as there is plenty you can do to help your own betting. You just have to be shrewd, adopt the right tactics and bet on the right sports in the right way.

So to help you with that, today I have 5 tips on winning the punters v bookies war…

1) Know Thy Enemy

” If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. ” Sun Tzu, The Art of War

Bookies love to blur the lines when it comes to the simple fact of betting…they only make money when you lose.

They want to lull you into a false sense of security, encourage brand loyalty (so you bet with them as you like them rather than getting best price) and make you forget about their true intentions.

So for all the friendly bluster, funny twitter feeds and TV ads encouraging you to ‘have a bang on that’ – never forget that this it is all simply a ploy to help you lose money so they can win.

2) Cover Your ‘Betting Tracks’ With A VPN

Bookmakers these days are able to identify you as a shrewd punter via your IP (Internet Protocol) address and once flagged you will be quickly cut adrift. The solution therefore is to use one of the many VPN (Virtual Private Network) solutions out there to prevent this.

A VPN simply allows you to mask your IP address location and are widely used by those affected by geo-blocking (E.g. Enabling you to watch Sky Go while outside the UK for example).

One very easy to use VPN is called Zenmate, which is a free add on to your internet browser and you can turn it on and off in an instant.

A VPN like Zenmate will also help you if opening up new bookmaker accounts, as it will hide your IP address and ensuring the bookie cant link your past restricted account with your new ‘clean one’.

As a footnote to this point – I do advise reading our special feature on VPN’s and other bookie tracking devices cookies in SBC 89 and 90 for the full lowdown on this topic.

3) Behave Like A ‘Mug Punter’

Prevention is always better than cure and often the best way to avoid restrictions is to pretend to be a mug punter.

For example, Bet Victor like to see their customers play in the online casino for the simple reason that the vast, vast majority of people who do, lose money and help swell their shareholders coffers.

Therefore the simple act of spinning £10 or £20 on the roulette or blackjack table every couple of weeks can help keep up the charade that you might not actually know what you are doing. Even if you actually do.

4) Increase Your Betting on Football

Most of the difficulties punters face getting on these days revolves around horse racing, where bookies are very wary of taking bets on the sport.

This has also lead to many punters frustrated by horse racing to turn to football, where it is a heck of lot easier to get on and make money betting.

In fact, football is awash with bookies and exchanges willing to take your bets on the sport (such as Matchbook & Smarkets) with many of them offering competitive odds, high stakes and who actively welcome winners.

It is one reason why many SBC members after maximising all they can via horse racing, look to football to expand their profits.

5) Look To The States

It’s not just football capturing punters imagination these days but US Sports such as NBA, NFL & NHL which offer some fantastic opportunities for shrewd punters to win money without restriction.

If you have never bet on some of these sports or have no idea how they work, then rest assured they are actually very easy to follow indeed. The markets again offer great liquidity, competitive odds and make the horse racing betting market look prehistoric.

With BT Sport now showing NBA games and Sky making a big splash on their Sunday evening NFL action, betting on US Sports is only going to get more popular.

To cater for this interest – we recently launched our first ever US Sports Reports in October, to help uncover some of the best Stateside tipsters.

More punters than ever are turning to the US betting markets and its easy to see why.

It’s Hard Work If Betting Alone

With the problems facing racing punters and the increasing interest in US Sports & football betting, it is easy to see why the likes of the Racing Post should be worried.

If punters start to move away from racing, then why would they need their paper?

Certainly without proper advice and guidance on how to play the racing bookies at their own game, it is very difficult to win on the sport long-term.

A racing punter without applied knowledge on things like cookies and VPN’s or how to bet like a mug, really stands little to no chance to make sustained profits.

Help Is At Hand

Help is at hand for those of you keen to find out more not just on sustainable racing betting but football and US Sports with a Smart Betting Club membership.

In our bookie special magazine released earlier this year we helped reveal:

• How the bookies really work (as explained by our bookie mole)
• 8 ways you can pretend to be a mug-punter
• The truth about why your account might be limited (and how to avoid this!)
• The 5 stages of profitable betting – how to go from total novice to pro (by time-served experts)
• The pro punter with 15 years experience beating the bookies

PLUS we also recently published a special feature on using Virtual Private Networks to beat the bookies which discusses:

• How to safely open new betting accounts.
• How VPN’s work and why they are so useful.
• The best free & paid-for VPN options.
• How they can keep you winning long-term.
• Other ‘bookie tracking’ security concerns

All of which is accessible with a Smart Betting Club subscription – available now with a full money back guarantee if in anyway not satisfied by our service.

Sign-up For Your Instant SBC Membership