Avoid Gubbing Ultimate Guide – 24 Tactics to Beat Unfair Bookies

Bookmakers

05th Mar 2023 20th Feb 2019

What’s Gubbing in Betting?

Gubbing means Account Restriction: Especially Removing Promotional Eligibility

For those who are not familiar with Bookmaker’s nasty Action, let us start with the Gubbing definition.

Simply put, “Gubbing” or “Gubbed” is a restriction bookmaker imposes on the customer’s account. Unfortunately, at this moment in time, bookies have the right (legally but not ethically) to make various restrictions on your account such as;

1) ban your participation in promotional offers
2) limit your betting stake up to the level any betting becomes meaningless
3) close your account

And, usually, Gubbing refers to the 1) removing your eligibility to receive promotional offers. Because Gubbing is a matched betting jargon and the underlying concept of matched betting is exploiting bookies’ offers.

Therefore, Gubbing is often used in relation to the restriction on offers. However, people may use it in a broader sense including 2) & 3). In fact 1) could happen together with 2) or even 3).

(BTW, the word “Gubbed” originally came from Scottish slung meaning beaten or thrashed)

We hate UK bookmakers’ such unfair business practice thus developed this very LONG guide, you may want to use the jump links in the contents table at the top for your convenience.

Why Do Bookies Gubb Your Account?

We assume only a handful of punters have experienced “Being Gubbed”. As Flint said ( see the video later) only 3% of Skybet’s customers were restricted. In general, over 95% of punters are said to be recreational players or called casual bettors (means not bet professionally but just for fun). They don’t bet with hedge to guarantee profits (matched betting & sports arbitrage are the betting with hedge) or don’t win constantly. Therefore bookies don’t need to make any sanction but encourage them to bet & loose more & more. However, the rest of less than 5% professional punters a.k.a. “Sharp” accumulate winnings systematically. And as Flint admitted, they are clear threat to the bookies’ profitability, therefore they do eliminate the sharp punters’ capability by gubbing marched betting etc. SBC (Smart Betting Cub) Peter Ling described this situation as;
Bookies want to have their cake and eat it by targeting losing customers for as much as they can, whilst dramatically reducing the business they take from those with a modicum of ability. It’s the ultimate ‘heads I win, tails you lose’ business and it’s no wonder so many firms are making record profits. SBC Email
I fully agree with Peter. In order to understand bookmaker’s business model & the reason why they dislike sharp betters so much, visit Beat The Bookies By Knowing How Your Enemy Makes Money – Secret Of Odds.

How Will Your Account Be Gubbed?

The way to restrict your account depends on each bookmaker though usually follow the 1) to 3) order we previously described.

They specify their entitlement to do so in TOS – Term Of Service. It used to be inconspicuous, but now thanks to the new regulation, they have to do “Clearly outline all prohibited types or patterns of play, with no discretion reserved to the operator after the event.”.

Let me elaborate on the stage of the restriction I briefly explained before;

What they usually do first is not allowing you to participate in any promotional activities they offer. As said, this level of restriction is normally labeled “Being Gubbed”. They send the notice by gubbing e-mail like Bet Bright, see the image below;
Gubbing email example
Then, they restrict your betting limits down to the amounts that are too small to keep betting meaningfully.
Some of them do it dramatically, so one day you will be able to place bets of over £2,000, and then the next day you will be limited to £5. Some of them do it over several steps.
Limiting you to $500 for a couple of weeks and then lowering it down to £5 when you continue to place ‘pro’ style bets.
In any case, they don’t do anything more to your account except a few bookies that close your account.
Importantly, even they close your account, they can’t confiscate your money because you do advantage plays including matched betting & arbitrage unless you are engaged in any illegal wrongdoing separately. Let me quote a few paragraphs related to the CMA & GC new regulation;
Distinguish terms relating to gameplay restrictions from other terms which set out (valid) restrictions connected with allegations of fraud, collusion, use of multiple accounts, manipulation of software, exploitation of loopholes or other technical forms of abuse or other behavior which amounts to deliberate cheating. Provide full explanations to consumers where the application of gameplay restrictions results in the loss of (bonus) winning.
Ensure that promotional play restrictions do not apply to consumers’ deposits or winnings.
Stop offering promotions that include a restriction on the withdrawal of deposit winnings. Stop imposing restrictions on withdrawing unspent deposit funds.

Essentially, restrictions should not be placed on the money that the consumer deposits. Withdrawal restrictions should only apply to the free bet element of the offer.
So, your free bet & free bet winning could be refused to withdraw. But;
if they refuse to credit your free bet because they suspect you are exhibiting one of the prohibited patterns of play, they must clearly explain their reasoning and why they are refusing to pay out on the free bet.
Honestly, I have no clue how they can explain with the evidence that we are engaging in ‘low-risk betting strategies’ or in a manner which the bookmaker considers to be ‘abuse’ of the promotional terms (matched betting is usually classed within these terms). Will they show evidence of spying on our personal activities? No, I don’t think so. They just want the Sharp not to bet anymore & leave.

Bookmaker Insider Voice

Let me quote what Skybet CEO Richard Flint admitted regarding Account Restrictions at Parliamentary Debate,

Flint admitted that it restricted 2% of its customers to bets with a liability of £1,000, while a further 1% were limited to bets winning £100. However, Flint claimed that Sky Bet only close accounts for social responsibility or potential fraud reasons. SBC News

Well, the below interview with Flint shows the real reasons why they don’t close the winning accounts. This video gives you some good insight on the bookmaker’s attitude towards the account restrictions which includes Sports Arbitrage, Oddschecker & Ungubbing, etc. (The original video is 11+ minutes long, I cut it into 6 minutes focusing on the Account restriction topics);

Bet365 Gubbing

The recent bad news is Bet365 Boss Denis earns £323m a year by blocking big winners;

, which reported;

James Poppleton, who worked for Bet365 for 18 months, told ABC News in Australia that the company have a system to make sure they don’t lose big money. He said: ‘Your data tells them how many bets you’ve placed, what sport you’ve put it on, your average bet, your total turnover and your win or loss ratio to the company.’ Mr Poppleton explained that the algorithm would kick in after a victory and would ensure potential big winners couldn’t bet any large amounts. Betting companies have often limited some customers from gambling, usually targeting professional or highly successful gamblers. However, Bet365 is thought to be the first company to use this tactic more widely.

The system Bet365 uses is called “Backdoor Algorithms” and actually most of the UK giant soft bookies are thought to use similar systems – see further details in Bookies Insider Leak.

Is Account Restriction Fair Business Practice?

The good news is, HBF – Horse Racing Bettors Forum (assisted by BHA – British Horseracing Authority) tried to address issues about the closure and restrictions imposed on winning accounts by bookmakers.

And Lay To Lose Guarantee rule that is the Minimum Bet Guarantee has been discussed between HBF and the bookmakers. And Skybet became the biggest online bookie to offer a ‘minimum bet’ guarantee of up to £500 (The Guardian).

We do hope many other bookies will follow suit though, at this stage, only Betfair (suggest use of Betfair Alternatives) Sportsbook, BetVictor, William Hill & BetUK.com are the major Online Bookies to apply this rule.

There are Political Pressure & Lobby Activities on Bookies’ Account Restrictions from the perspective of Unfair Business Practice as you find in the next section.

These are good movements for us, but it takes a long time as witnessed by the above-limited number of bookies that have agreed on a Minimum Bet Guarantee.

Having observed such bookmakers’ nasty action, it’s been some time since the UK authorities started wondering if online bookmakers & casinos conduct the right practice to the consumers as specified here and see the summary below (click “+”);

UK Authorities Action on Bookmakers Unfair Business Practice

Latest Challenge By Authority

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and the local Gambling Commission (GC) worked together and concluded that the online gambling operators are involved in some unethical behavior when it comes to promotions (See here). As a result, the CMA and GC are forcing certain changes in the whole sector.

Since PA – Outplayed (renamed from Profit Accumulator) (see our PA Full Review) summarized the status & insight, I’ll share it – just expand CMA Enforcement Status (since it’s an important change which may affect your account as I quote in the next section, suggest take a look); See PA (Outplayed (renamed from Profit Accumulator)) report as follows;

Who Are The CMA?

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the UK’s primary competition and consumer agency. They are a non-ministerial government department that is responsible for strengthening business competition and preventing and reducing anti-competitive activities. They replaced the function of the Competition Commission and Office of Fair Trading, which was abolished in 2013.

Why Are They Focusing On Gambling?

As we all know, bookmakers aren’t exactly known for having good morals and ethics. Most matched bettors have experienced bookmakers acting in an unfair way. Well, it turns out that normal punters have the same problems as well. So, following a large number of complaints in the last few years, the CMA has decided to focus their attentions on the gambling industry.

What Are The Findings Of the Investigation?

The investigation started in October 2016 and concluded last week when the enforcement action was launched.

Here are some key areas that the investigation highlighted and the CMA/GC want to enforce:

1. Lack of transparency of significant promotion restrictions.

The implications of wagering requirements on the offers aren’t clear or transparent enough. Especially when it comes to things like using your own funds and using multiple bonuses simultaneously.