Minimum Bet Guarantee

The ‘Mystery’ of the £500 William Hill Lay to Lose Guarantee

Posted on by Peter Ling

As part of my promise to keep you up to speed on developments on bookmakers offering minimum bet guarantees for betting on horse racing, I have news to share on the ‘mystery’ behind William Hill’s new £500 guarantee offer.

I have spoken with several punters who have been notified of and used this William Hill £500 bet guarantee, yet there has been no official announcement from William Hill, nor can any documentation about it be found on their website.

To find out more, I reached out to the guys at Justice For Punters who in turn had spoke to a trusted source who confirmed that: For every UK & Ireland horse race William Hill agree to lay a horse to win £500 (where a price is available). 

Furthermore, this guarantee covers win bets only (So no each way bets) and can be taken up from when a price is first made available. I.e. unlike with other firms, there is no ‘start time’ when this offer kicks in. At the moment it is also only available to UK customers.

So it seems, there is most definitely a £500 guarantee available, although it seems to be something Hills are not at all keen to publicise – perhaps for fear of being ‘filled in’ by shrewd punters.

Whatever the reasons behind the lack of publicity, I wanted to share this news with you to keep you fully informed on what if accurate, is possibly the very best Minimum Bet Guarantee offer currently available.

Early experiences of the guarantee have led to suggestions that William Hill are now very quick to move odds on well supported bets and are now less likely to be top price or equal top price on any given horse. If true, this is likely to be expected and as we have seen with Bet Victor’s own guaranteed market, the trade-off we are likely to have to accept with bookmakers offering such guarantees is slightly worse odds.

I will share more news on this as and when I get it. Keep an eye too on the SBC Twitter Feed as through this I regularly share further MBG updates of note as and when they come across my desk.

The William Hill Offer In Full

Below you can find the full text of the £500 offer as sent on to one member of the SBC team a few days ago:

As part of our new William Hill Fair Play policy, we are looking to cater for as many of our customers as possible and as such we have extended our lay to lose guarantee:

  • William Hill guarantee to lay horses on win singles to win a minimum of £500 as soon as prices are available on ALL UK and IRE horse racing after the final race declarations
  • This applies to bets placed online and in Retail (excludes SSBT’s).

William Hill Terms and Conditions

1. UK customers only

2. Applies to all UK and Irish horse racing

3. Applies only to bets struck after final declaration stage (final field confirmation)

4. Win Singles Only

5. Main Win Markets Only

6. Excludes derived markets like Place Only, Insurance, Betting w/o, Match Bets , Specials etc

7. Excludes Ante Post bets

8. Only 1 bet per customer (household) which includes the following:

  • 1 IP address
  • 1 registered address
  • 1 Device per customer

9. Races with enhanced e/w terms may not qualify for this offer

10. SSBTs (self-service betting terminals) are excluded from this minimum bet pledge

11.We reserve the right to withhold this offer from automated trading tools/systems (bots).

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Minimum Bet Guarantees State Of Play

Alongside this new William Hill £500 offer, you can find a rundown on the other firms offering a Minimum Bet Guarantee on the SBC Blog.

If you are after more detail on this topic, then you will want to read the special new SBC report exploring the various Minimum Bet Guarantee offers now available to restricted punters.

Subscribe NOW to the Smart Betting Club.

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

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BetUK.Com Remove Their Minimum Bet Guarantee

Posted on by Peter Ling

News reached me earlier today that BetUK have announced the removal of their £500 Minimum Bet Guarantee on all UK & Irish races with immediate effect.

The decision seems to impact ALL customers and as yet, no explanation has been given for its removal aside from a notice on their website and the following email:

The BetUK guarantee lasted a little over 2 months following its launch on the 21st February and takes the number of firms offering online guarantees back down to 3. I have reached out to BetUK for comment but no reply as yet has been forthcoming.

There is some speculation that William Hill may be launching their own guarantee in coming days and if this is indeed true, I will share news on this if and when it launches.

Min Bet Guarantee State of Play

Here then is the current state of play as per MBG’s.

Bet Victor – By far the most extensive offer initially, Bet Victor have rolled out a ‘Bet Guarantee’ market for every UK/Ireland race, where you can win up to £500 from 11am onwards. Both win and each way betting is allowed.

Those of you who have had Bet Victor accounts closed in the past are also welcome to apply to have them reopened to use in the guarantee market. More than a dozen of you have emailed me to confirm previously closed accounts are now usable once again.

Despite initially offering the same odds in the ‘Bet Guarantee’ markets as in their normal racing markets, you can now expect to find worse odds with higher over-rounds and lower value prices.

Therefore, do be sure to double-check the odds being offered in the Bet Guarantee market and how they compare before placing your bets.

Skybet – They will lay a bet to lose up to £500 from 10am onwards, although this is for win bets only and in class 1 & 2 races so is the most limited in scope.

Betfair Sportsbook – Initially offered a £500 lay to lose guarantee for all class 1 and 2 races for UK and Ireland, although this was  expanded on the 30th November to cover ALL races.

You can bet up to £500 on all races win only from 10am and those of you previously restricted by Betfair Sportsbook should be able to get on without issue. Unlike Bet Victor’s offer there is no separate ‘guaranteed’ market and you simply bet as you would do in the regular Betfair win racing markets.

I say you should be able to get on as one growing issue with Betfair’s offer is the fact they have been closing some accounts down for ‘arbing’, which their T&C’s prohibit. Here is how they describe arbing:

“Examples of betting behaviour which indicates that a customer may be arbing includes (i) customers consistently or systematically placing qualifying bets when the price is greater than the corresponding back price on the same selection on the Betfair Exchange at the point of bet placement.”

I have heard from several customers who have had their account closed down for this apparent reason – even though all of them are claiming not to be engaging in arbing in a systematic or consistent basis. Some have been closed down within the space of a few winning bets at short prices. The allegation some are making is that these customers are being tagged as ‘arbers’, simply because they are winning too much, rather than actual arbing – and that this is a rather convenient excuse to close such accounts down.

For the timebeing – its worth simply being aware of this issue if using Betfair and their Minimum Bet Guarantee.

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More Updates As They Come…

If and when there are further updates as per Min Bet Guarantees I will of course keep you updated.

Keep an eye too on the SBC Twitter Feed as through this I regularly share further MBG updates of note as and when they come across my desk.

Explore The Value From The 3 Existing Minimum Bet Guarantees

If you are after more detail on this topic, then you will want to read the special new SBC report exploring the various Minimum Bet Guarantee offers now available to restricted punters.

Based on odds data collected over several months, the report presents our findings on the Minimum Bet Guarantees (MBG’s) currently available from Bet Victor, Skybet & Betfair Sportsbook and answers key questions surrounding them including:

  • What kind of value do MBG’s offer punters?
  • How do the odds available in MBG markets compare with odds from other bookmakers?
  • How useful are MBG’s for punters and how best to use them?
  • Which bookmakers offers the best and worst value MBG’s?
  • What are the issues to be aware of with Betfair’s MBG offer?

This report is available now for immediate download to all Smart Betting Club members. Sign-up now to gain instant access

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

Pete_HeadShot_SMall

How useful are the current Minimum Bet Guarantee offers? We investigate…

Posted on by Peter Ling

If you bet on Horseracing, then you will want to read the special new SBC report exploring the various Minimum Bet Guarantee offers now available to restricted punters.

Based on odds data collected over several months, the report presents our findings on the Minimum Bet Guarantees (MBG’s) currently available from Bet Victor, Skybet & Betfair Sportsbook and answers key questions surrounding them including:

  • What kind of value do MBG’s offer punters?
  • How do the odds available in MBG markets compare with odds from other bookmakers?
  • How useful are MBG’s for punters and how best to use them?
  • Which bookmakers offers the best and worst value MBG’s?
  • What are the issues to be aware of with Betfair’s MBG offer?

This report is available now for immediate download to all Smart Betting Club members. Sign-up now to gain instant access

What Is A Minimum Bet Guarantee?

For those of you not familiar with Minimum Bet Guarantees – below is a quick explanation to get you started…

A Minimum Bet Guarantee (MBG) in its simplest form is where a bookmaker will allow you bet to win up to a certain amount – usually around £500 without stake restriction. They are used primarily on horse racing, where the issue of restrictions is currently at its greatest, although in theory a MBG can be applied to any market or sport required.

A punter offered a MBG that allows them to win £500 can place as much as £50 on a 10/1 bet or £250 on a 2/1 shot. The simple premise is that your stake allows you to win up to but no more than £500 on any given bet – usually only single bets.

Here are the 4 current MBG offers available:

SkyBet – Any Class 1 or Class 2 race can be backed to win up to £500 from 10am (win bets only)

Betfair Sportsbook – All races can be backed to win up to £500 from 10am (win bets only)

BetVictor – slightly different in that they offer a separate ‘guaranteed market’ from 11am to win up to £500 (this can be a win or each way bet). The odds in the guaranteed market are often worse than the regular markets.

BetUK.com – All races can be backed to win up to £500 from 11am (win bets only)

More information on each of the above can be found via this link.

Best Regards,

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

pete

If you have any questions on this article or a Smart Betting Club membership in general, you can contact me directly via pete@smartbettingclub.com. I respond to all emails as quickly as I can!

Minimum Bet Guarantee Update – BetUK.Com

Posted on by Peter Ling

There was more good news for Horseracing punters today with the announcement from BetUK.com of another £500 Minimum Bet Guarantee on all UK & Irish races.

This new guarantee allows all new and existing BetUK.com customers to win up to £500 on any racing bet in the win only markets from 11am each day. Those of you who might have been restricted by BetUK.com will also be able to bet into this market without issue.

BetUK.com was relaunched in August 2018 as a Sportsbook following its purchase by the Swedish based LeoVegas group and they are the current shirt sponsor of Swansea City FC. Little is known about their operation as yet but this new Minimum Bet Guarantee will no doubt see plenty of interest in their service in coming weeks and months, which will help inform opinion.

Min Bet Guarantee Round-Up

BetUK.com are now the 4th firm offering an online £500 Minimum Bet Guarantee – below you can find details on the other 3, including an update on Betfair and issues raised with certain MBG accounts being closed lately.

Bet Victor – By far the most extensive offer initially, Bet Victor have rolled out a ‘Bet Guarantee’ market for every UK/Ireland race, where you can win up to £500 from 11am onwards. Both win and each way betting is allowed.

Those of you who have had Bet Victor accounts closed in the past are also welcome to apply to have them reopened to use in the guarantee market. Indeed already a dozen or so of you have emailed me to confirm previously closed accounts are now usable once again.

Despite initially offering the same odds in the ‘Bet Guarantee’ markets as in their normal racing markets, you can now expect to find worse odds with higher over-rounds and lower value prices.

Therefore, do be sure to double-check the odds being offered in the Bet Guarantee market and how they compare before placing your bets.

If you want a bet that is 3/1 in the regular market but only 2/1 in the Guaranteed market, then you probably won’t take it. But if its 3/1 or indeed 11/4, it might still be worth it if restricted in your choices of where you can bet.

Skybet – They will lay a bet to lose up to £500 from 10am onwards, although this is for win bets only and in class 1 & 2 races so is the most limited in scope.

Betfair Sportsbook – Initially offered a £500 lay to lose guarantee for all class 1 and 2 races for UK and Ireland, although this was recently expanded on the 30th November to cover ALL races.

You can bet up to £500 on all races win only from 10am and those of you previously restricted by Betfair Sportsbook should be able to get on without issue. Unlike Bet Victor’s offer there is no separate ‘guaranteed’ market and you simply bet as you would do in the regular Betfair win racing markets.

Watch For Betfair’s T&C’s

One area of concern I must raise with Betfair’s offer are allegations that they have been closing some accounts down for ‘arbing’, which their T&C’s prohibit. Here is how they describe arbing:

“Examples of betting behaviour which indicates that a customer may be arbing includes (i) customers consistently or systematically placing qualifying bets when the price is greater than the corresponding back price on the same selection on the Betfair Exchange at the point of bet placement.”

Only last weekend, I tweeted about one customer who had their account closed down for this apparent reason – even though he was not engaging in arbing in a systematic or consistent basis. He was simply placing a handful of bets each day from 10am onwards, which just so happened to be profitable and on occasions did shorten in price (equally some bets also did drift in price).

As luck would have it (and very likely connected to the negative press my tweets raised on the topic), Betfair then contacted the customer on Monday to apologise and re-open his account with them. He was told it was down to a “an automated system error”, which also impacted a number of customers over the weekend.

Good news for this one customer, but I have no idea if the others impacted by this ‘system error’ have had their accounts re-opened and if you too have been impacted by a Betfair closure (and are not willfully arbing), then I invite you to get in touch with me, so I can investigate.

For the timebeing – its worth simply being aware of this issue if using Betfair and their Minimum Bet Guarantee.

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More Updates As They Come…

The launch of the BetUK.com offer brings the total number of bookmakers offering an online £500 Min Bet Guarantee to 4 and its encouraging to see another firm rolling it out.

Whether or not other firms, including some of the bigger UK names join the throng, remains to be seen but as and when any other bookmakers roll out such offers, I will keep you updated.

Keep an eye too on the SBC Twitter Feed as through this I regularly share further MBG updates of note as and when they come across my desk.

Discover more on how the Smart Betting Club can help you and your betting.

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

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Minimum Bet Guarantee Update – Betfair, Skybet & Bet Victor

Posted on by Peter Ling

There was a very welcome announcement last week on the topic of Minimum Bet Guarantees with news that Betfair have decided to extend their own £500 guarantee to cover all races from 10am onwards each day.

Previously, Betfair were only offering this guarantee on Class 1 and 2 races, so the fact it’s been expanded onto all UK and Ireland meetings is certainly a positive step for shrewd punters looking for places to bet.

This news also counters the reduction in value we have noticed from Bet Victors own offer and the fact their Bet Guarantee market overrounds have been steadily increasing since their introduction a few months back.

I will get into more on the changes with Bet Victor shortly, but first of all a quick update on the online firms offering £500 Min Bet Guarantees as it stands:

Min Bet Guarantee – The Current State of Play

Bet Victor – Offer a separate ‘Guaranteed Bet’ market for every UK/Ireland race, where you can win up to £500 from 11am onwards. Both win and each way betting is allowed.

Those of you who have had Bet Victor accounts closed in the past can also apply to have them reopened, so you can bet into this Guarantee market.

Betfair Sportsbook – Recently expanded to cover all race meetings in the UK and Ireland, you can now bet to win up to £500 from 10am onwards. Win only and those of you ‘stake factored’ (i.e. restricted) in the past can bet without issue.

Skybet – Their own guarantee covers Class 1 and 2 races only and they will lay a bet to lose up to £500 from 10am onwards.

Bet Victor Guaranteed Market Update

As referenced above, we have noted a number of changes in Bet Victor’s own £500 Guaranteed bet offer, specifically regarding the overrounds and quality of odds available in this market.

When this offer was first launched, Bet Victor confirmed to me that their ‘Guarantee’ market odds were identical to those offered in their ‘normal’ racing markets.

If you logged on at 11am and could only place a bet in their guaranteed market, you would get the exact same price as everyone else betting at Bet Victor.

It then became quickly apparent that this initial policy had changed with a gradual decrease in the odds offered if betting into the Guaranteed market compared to elsewhere on the Bet Victor site.

As time has worn on, the Guaranteed market odds have continued to drop and this recent study by the TAPS website outlines the increase in overround and thus reduction in odds value that Guaranteed market punters are seeing.

Examining the first 18 races on one Sunday last month, they found a 117% overround in the normal Bet Victor market, compared to a 126% overround in the Guaranteed market. Quite the difference with 131 out of 189 horses on that day at shorter prices.

How To Use The Bet Victor Offer

Whilst I don’t agree with the TAPS authors assertions that Bet Victor’s offer is a ‘publicity stunt’ and of no value – what is clear is that if betting into their Guaranteed market, you need to check the odds on offer first.

If you want a bet that is 3/1 in the regular market but only 2/1 in the Guaranteed market, then you probably won’t take it. But if its 3/1 or indeed 11/4, it might still be worth it if restricted in your choices of where you can bet.

How many of you unable to bet due to restrictions would take 11/4 instead of 3/1 if it meant you could win money long-term? As long as you don’t lose your profitable edge taking a lower price of course.

So whist the Bet Victor guaranteed bet market is clearly no silver bullet for restricted punters – it is of value if the odds on offer stack up for you.

From the outside looking in, it seems that Bet Victor’s original intention to offer the same odds was not deemed sustainable and ultimately if we want Min Bet Guarantees to work, then higher overrounds is the price we might well have to pay to achieve that. I do wish Bet Victor could have communicated these changes better as simply changing the odds without making it clear why only serves to frustrate and make punters wary that their intentions are genuine.

Without legislation compelling Min Bet Guarantees from all bookies, no firm is going to voluntarily offer a market if it makes them a loss, so we have to be realistic in our expectations.

Don’t forget either that Bet Victor are the only firm offering both win and each way bets – with the latter allowing punters to punt in well known ‘each-way thievery’ races and get preferential terms.

Will SkyBet Commit Further?

As it stands, only Betfair, Bet Victor and Skybet have £500 online Minimum Bet Guarantee offers, although the clear hope from those liaising with them, such as the Horseracing Bettors Forum, is that more firms join the party.

Betfair’s offer is the best for win-only betting from 10am onwards, whilst those of you betting each-way can use Bet Victor from 11am – although being sure to check the value odds on offer when doing so.

The Skybet offer is a way behind, covering as it only does Class 1 and 2 races thus far. You would like to think with their high profile commitments to responsible gambling, one aspect of this would be to expand this offer to allow all punters to bet with them – both winners and losers. Otherwise, how responsible is it if Skybet only take bets from losing gamblers? Not at all in my opinion.

As and when any other bookmakers roll out or update their own offers, I will keep you updated.

You can also follow the Smart Betting Club on Twitter (@sbcinfo) where I also share all breaking news on topics such as this.

If you have any questions on the above or how a Smart Betting Club membership can help you, please contact me directly via pete@smartbettingclub.com and I will be only too happy to speak with you.

Best Regards

Peter Ling

Smart Betting Club Owner and Founder