BetUK.Com Remove Their Minimum Bet Guarantee

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

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

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

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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

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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2 must-watch video interviews on a minimum bet guarantee & bookie restrictions

For those of you following the ongoing topic of bookmaker fairness and a right to bet without restrictions (AKA Minimum Bet Guarantees), then I want to point you in the direction of 2 excellent video interviews published recently by the bookmaker, Star Sports.

Firstly, we have the ‘ordinary punter’ viewpoint with 3 fascinating interviews with Brian Chappell (AKA Jimmy Justice) from the Justice For Punters pressure group on the fantastic work he and his organisation have undertaken on behalf of bettors.

Across the series of 3 videos, Brian discusses the need for Minimum Bet Guarantees and why he feels this is the best way forward for punters looking to ‘get on’ with traditional bookmakers. He also reveals plenty on the negative tactics some bookies and casinos have employed and continue to employ to frustrate punters. Brian and the other volunteers at Justice For Punters have also been able to get some very high profile stories on bookies behaving badly covered by the likes of the BBC and the Times (a front page story no less) and credit must go to Simon Nott of Star Sports for the interview.

Brian’s approach to gambling and demand for ‘fairness’ is in direct contrast to that from another very recent Star Sports interviewee – Skybet head honcho, Richard Flint, who in 3 more videos tackles a series of hot betting topics including why Skybet don’t accommodate winning punters.

By my reckoning, this is the first time a bookie CEO has openly stated they don’t wish to take bets from winning punters as part of their business model. They only want losers.

Whilst I certainly don’t agree with many things Richard says, especially when it comes to why such a profitable business as Skybet can’t afford to accommodate the tiny proportion of gamblers that win, his willingness to engage on the topic should be noted and encouraged.

Keeping Up The Min Bet Guarantee Pressure

Both Richard and Brian’s interviews are important as they keep the conversation going on the topic of Minimum Bet Guarantees and the need for all punters to have the right to get a fair bet on.

Only last year a meeting was held in parliament to discuss the problem of restrictions (amongst other topics) and it’s a story that is continually being covered by the mainstream media who like most of us, find it hard to understand why it’s not a level playing field for all.

Richard Flint’s firm – Skybet are in fact one of three bookies currently trialing Minimum Bet Guarantees with the public – although it is Bet Victor who are leading the charge on this front with the most extensive offer. Their ‘Bet Guarantee’ markets are available for every UK/Ireland race, where you can win up to £500 from 11am onwards backing both to win and each-way.

According to a recent article published in EGR Intel, Bet Victor are persevering with the Guarantee despite some ‘bad business’, specifically surrounding those taking advantage of bad each way races. This in turn has led to them at times offering different odds in their ‘Guaranteed Bet’ markets compared to those on offer via their traditional racing markets. A move that makes sense, especially if it leads towards the long-term adoption of such Guarantee Bet markets by Bet Victor and other firms – many of whom will be watching the results of their trial very closely indeed.

For more on the current situation with Minimum Bet Laws, Brian Chappell has also written an interesting Justice For Punters update on exactly where we stand from his perspective, which outlines several points including questions on the legality of restrictions.

For those of you interested in this topic, I will continue to keep you in the loop on all major developments including any changes or new additions to the Min Bet Guarantee ranks.

If you want to join in the conversation, you can find SBC on twitter (@sbcinfo) and you can also read a full lowdown on the 3 main Min Bet Guarantees here.

Best Regards
Peter Ling

Smart Betting Club Owner and Founder

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The Latest on £500 Minimum Bet Guarantees & Sky Bet’s New Offer

Minimum Bet Guarantees have been in the news recently and last week the biggest firm yet – Skybet joined the throng with the unveiling of their own £500 ‘lay to lose’ offer – available to those betting on all Class 1 and 2 races from 10am each day.

Whilst it was welcome news that such a large bookie as Skybet had put up its own guarantee, their offer is not as extensive as some of the others available, yet is still another step in the direction for those of us fed up of restrictions and closures.

I covered the topic in more depth in my article on Min Bet Guarantees a couple of weeks ago and the hope is that these offers could be the start of a more widespread acceptance of bets from all punters (not just losing ones).

Especially if stories like this article in the Daily Mail continue to raise awareness of unfair bookmaker practice in limiting winning bets.

Min Bet Guarantee Round-Up

(Updated 30th November 2018 in light of Betfair’s expansion to offer the guarantee on all races)

To help keep you informed, I have penned a quick summary of what is on offer from each of the 3 firms offering these guarantees and the different terms and conditions. Please note – this covers online betting only.

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 at times, especially for smaller race meetings or those with unfavourable each way terms. Evidence seen by us recently suggests the ‘Bet Guaranteed’ market is now working regularly to 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.

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 will 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.

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.

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

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6 More Places To Bet In This Unique Guide

For those of you after further recommendations on the best places to bet, especially some of the lesser-known options, then you can find a very detailed rundown on 6 firms in the latest Smart Betting Club publication: The 2018 Exchange, Bookmaker & Bet Broker Guide

The 6 firms included in this guide might not be household names, yet they offer some of the best value odds, lowest commission rates & best of all – they welcome winning gamblers. You will never have your accounts closed for being successful at betting

Offering solutions for punters on all sports including but not limited to Horse Racing, Football, Golf, Tennis and all major US Sports like NBA or NFL, this guide will help show you the best firms to bet with to make long-term sustainable profits.

You can access your copy of the 2018 Betting Exchange, Bookmaker & Bet Broker Guide with any Smart Betting Club membership (Silver, Gold or Platinum). As soon as you join the Smart Betting Club service, you are granted instant access to the guide.

Sign-up today and gain instant access to the Smart Betting Club

See you on the inside.

Peter Ling
Smart Betting Club Editor

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