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
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 NewsWell, 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.
What bookies have been asked to do in response to the concerns:
- Ensure all significant terms and conditions are provided to consumers in a clear, timely, intelligible, unambiguous, transparent, non-misleading, and prominent manner, including within the advert and with the headline offer on all relevant landing pages and sign-up pages for the promotion, and on any other advertising on any medium for the promotion.
- Ensure that all terms and conditions relating to a promotion, including terms which apply to all bonuses, are accessible before the consumer signs up, within a single click from all relevant landing pages, and once play commences, within a single click from the bonus tab on the consumer’s account page.
2. Restrictions on withdrawing deposit winnings and funds.
Basically, the wagering requirements were being applied to a ‘shared pot’ (the free bet amount and the customers’ own deposits), so you had to go through wagering requirements even to release your own money (deposit winnings or deposit funds).
What bookies have been asked to do in response to the concerns:
- Stop offering promotions that include a restriction on the withdrawal of deposit winnings.
- Stop imposing restrictions on withdrawing unspent deposit funds.
- Ensure that terms clearly and prominently articulate the right to withdraw deposit winnings and funds.
- Ensure that consumers can clearly distinguish between ‘play with’ funds that are subject to restrictions and ‘play with’ unrestricted funds.
- Ensure that consumers can clearly distinguish between play with bonus funds that are subject to restrictions and play with their own money which is not.
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.
3. Fairness and transparency of play restrictions
There are concerns about the fairness and transparency of specific terms which set out restrictions on particular types of gameplay.
This includes restricting consumers that the bookmakers deem to be engaging in ‘low-risk betting strategies’ or in a manner which the bookmaker considers to be ‘abuse’ of the promotional terms. Matched betting is often classed within these terms.
What bookies have been asked to do in response to the concerns:
- Ensure that promotional play restrictions do not apply to consumers’ deposits or the winnings.
- Clearly outline all prohibited types or patterns of play, with no discretion reserved to the operator after the event.
- 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 behaviour which amounts to deliberate cheating
- Provide full explanations to consumers where the application of gameplay restrictions results in the loss of (bonus) winning.
4. Withdrawing free bets or reducing their value.
Bookmakers may sometimes remove a consumer’s entitlement to a free bet, despite the customer having placed all or some of the necessary qualifying bets required under that promotion.
Or, where consumers are informed after placing all or some of the qualifying bets, that a restriction is being imposed on them which may make it harder to complete the remaining qualifying bets or reduce the value of the free bet.
What bookies have been asked to do in response to the concerns:
- Operators should ensure that they are not seeking to enforce account restrictions that would either remove a consumer’s entitlement to a bet or reduce its value, where a customer has already placed all or some of the qualifying bets under the promotion.
- Not seeking to enforce account restrictions that would either remove a consumer’s entitlement to a bet or reduce its value, where a consumer has already placed all or some of the qualifying bets under the promotion.
5. Compulsory publicity.
Some offers have certain conditions specified in the terms that mean the bookmaker can use the consumer’s name, location, and other personal data in their marketing.
What bookies have been asked to do in response to the concerns:
- These types of terms cannot be enforced. If they want to use your data for marketing comms, they need your permission.
What Happens Next?
The CMA have outlined their suggestions and now bookmakers have to respond with acknowledgment, or mount a legal challenge if they think it’s unfair.
As of the 1st February 2018, Ladbrokes Coral, William Hill, and PT Entertainment (Titanbet) have committed to change how they offer bonus promotions to customers playing online.
On the 1st March 2018, the CMA launched enforcement action against an unspecified number of online gambling firms in respect of practices that may place unfair obstacles in the way of people withdrawing their money (whether as part of a promotion or not).
In particular, these were the areas of concern:
- Daily, weekly or monthly limits on withdrawing funds that appear unreasonably low.
- Potentially arbitrary short deadlines on the time customers have to verify their identity as a condition of withdrawing funds, sometimes providing for forfeiture of consumer’s funds if missed.
- Dormancy terms allow firms to confiscate funds or impose apparently excessive charges after a certain period of inactivity.
So, in the coming months, we will see more bookmakers publicly and officially recognizing the areas highlighted in the CMA and the GC investigation, and eventually, all the points they raised will be implemented.
None of the points raised seemed overly restrictive or hard to implement, so it doesn’t seem there will be any legal challenges from bookmakers on the ruling.
How Does This Impact Matched Betting?
It’s always a little worrying when investigations like these start because any increase in regulation might impact the number of offers that bookmakers give out. In an ideal world, we would want to keep going exactly as we are because matched betting is still currently very profitable. The value of the offers may not be as high as they were a few years ago, but I think we’d all be happy if things were to stay as they are.
The reality is that the majority of the suggestions from this investigation are about improving transparency, and that won’t actually impact the offers themselves. The bookies can still run the same offers, they just have to have the terms in a more prominent place.
There are some specific things that will change, these will include:
- As mentioned in point 2 – bookies will have to stop offering promotions that include a restriction on the withdrawal of deposit winnings. So, there will now be no withdrawal restrictions on the money you deposit. They can only implement those restrictions on the free bet amounts.
- As mentioned in point 3 – all the prohibited patterns of play must be clearly outlined in the terms. Then, 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.
The good news is that bookmakers are now being held more accountable for their actions, which for consumers (and that includes matched bettors) is a good thing. Gone are the days when bookies could remove free bet offers or block withdrawals from you for no good reason. The bookies will have to start acting in a fairer way basically – which is good.
One potential threat could be that if some of these bookmakers fail to adhere to the rules, they will get fined (probably heavily). This could mean that they might have less money to put towards marketing (free bet offers are a marketing cost) and they also might be more cautious about giving out free bet offers for fear of getting another fine.
The Main Takeaways.
- This investigation didn’t focus directly on free bet offers, so matched betting was never going to be affected too much. However, they may have kept the free bet promotions purposefully separate so they can revisit them in more detail in the future.
- The main thing that’s going to change is greater transparency on terms and conditions.
- It’s focused on making the industry fairer for consumers, which is a good thing.
- Any increase in regulation has the potential to impact how many free bet offers bookies give away, but on the face of it, these regulations won’t have that much of an impact. Obviously, time will tell if it has an effect, but based on the findings I would say the effect will be limited.
- The CMA has to deal with a wide range of different industries, so I doubt they will revisit the gambling industry any time soon (because they have already addressed some of the main issues with this investigation). This is good because it means that any big rulings specifically on free bet offers are not likely to happen very soon.
So all in all, time will tell but in our opinion, the rulings won’t impact matched betting that much. This feels more like a tightening of the existing rules to make things fairer, which to anyone that has been matched betting for a while now will tell you, is probably long overdue.
Key PointsFor further information, check the UK Government site of Online gambling: the investigation so far and next steps.
Lobby Activities
On top of the authority’s challenge, in the UK, there is a lobbying activity to the officials asking for Implementation of Bookmaker Fairplay with the following contents;
To ensure that all punters are treated fairly, the Bookie Fairplay Campaign is lobbying for 2 proposals to be introduced by bookmakers, namely:
- 1) Bookmakers must accept stakes of at least £20 on any bet they advertise either online or in print media from all punters – this has been addressed in the form of Lay To Lose Guarantee (Minimum Guaranteed Stake) agreed by several major bookies including Skybet, Betfair (suggest use of Betfair Alternatives) Sportsbook, BetVictor & William Hill as explained before.
- 2) Bookmakers to provide a clear warning to all new customers that they may have their accounts closed or limited in stakes if they are considered unprofitable.
This campaign is lobbying the UK Gambling Commission and the abb (Association of British Bookmakers) to introduce both these proposals as standard by all bookmakers, which is driven by SBC (Smart Betting Club).
It gathered over 600 supporters to this petition if you’re interested visit HERE. SBC launched Better Betting Campaign and issued a detailed survey summary. BTW, SBC is probably the most reputable Tipster Proofing & Rating service, when you have time suggest visit our Smart Betting Club Review – Inside Analysis Of Ultimate Sports Betting Method.
How Do Bookies Censor Your Account & What Will Get You Flagged?
Gubbing Betting Tracking Criteria
It depends on each bookmaker’s own guidelines. However judging from the information of various sources including bookmaker employees, they keep tracking all accounts with a customized system.
Sharp Punter’s Behavior
A few thinkable indicators bookmakers use to detect the sharp punter are;
- Number of Bets: Smart players must diversify their risk and bet on a portfolio by placing many bets.
- Systematic Betting: Smart punters are characterized by planned action, specialization, and a systematic approach, some professionals will exclusively bet on value and others specialize in outsiders markets, etc.
- Frequency Of Money Transfer: Arbitragers usually make a lot of in & out of their funds, therefore with only this behavior, you could be on a blacklist. Remember, bookmakers incur quite significant banking costs and they don’t normally pass on to customers if you use bank cards.
- Profitability: Professional gamblers are profitable, that’s why they are defined as professionals. How high the reporting threshold probably varies from bookmaker to bookmaker.
- Length staying in account: Professional punters do not hang around. For example, they are not interested in watching live matches, a few horse races, or a tennis match between their bets. They find their way around the bookmaker’s site quickly. They log in, locate their bet(s), place the stakes, and then move on to the next bookmaker.
- Multiple accounts: Well, I don’t have to elaborate on this, bookies are very concerned about the customers who try to abuse bonuses & referral commission, etc, therefore they track every customers’ IP address and cookies store all your activities
Besides, they regularly monitor social network media such as Facebook & Twitter to collect personal information about smart punters like tipsters & insiders & employees from other bookmakers, etc, which produce a sort of blacklist.
They match their existing customers as well as the prospective customer with the blacklist, which means when the blacklist customer tries to open a new account, he/she could be rejected immediately.
Gubbing Software
It is a no longer surprising fact that many bookies use anti-fraud (remember we are not doing any fraud / illegal activities) software Ethoca.
It detects not only unusually profitable accounts but also unique betting behaviors typically observed in arbitragers.
More lately IESnare becomes the popular one (ICO investigated bookies), which is spyware provided by a firm called iovation.com, big players in the world of online fraud management.
Stake Factoring – Bookie Insider Leak
It’s a fresh surprise with the Stake Factoring Table leaked by the bookie insider. What surprised us was the amount of detail that goes into a Stake Factoring decision. For a full list, go How Bookmakers Restrict Your Account – Insider Leak. It covers indeed everything to your betting activities. It’s safe to assume that many major soft bookies do more or less the same.
SAR (Subject Access Request)
You can request every bookmaker on all your personal information they hold, see how below (click “”);
SAR - The Way You Get Your Personal Data from the Bookies
As you are aware since May 2018, GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) came into force, which impacts everyone in the European Union and companies outside the EU who deal with EU citizens.
One of the benefits for the punters of GDPR is “The right to be forgotten” which means you can ask for erasing your data to the bookies. However, UKGC still demands that gambling companies should retain customers’ data for five years after the relationship ends, therefore no betting companies will meet what we demand.
However, every gambling site must provide you with various data, which enables you to know why & how they restrict your account. Justice for Punters prepares the template which you can send to the betting site that restricted your account. I’m copying that letter for your convenience as follows;
Subject access request (SAR) template
Please feel to copy, paste and update the text below. Best of luck if you decide to submit a SAR. If you’ve ever had an account restricted or closed you should. If you don’t you and just giving the bookmakers an easy time; why would you?
Your address: enter
Tel: enter
Date: enter
Data Protection Officer
Gambling company address: enter
Dear Data Protection Officer,
Re: Subject Access Request for personal data held by entering the name of company or website address relating to account username enter a username
I received an e-mail from entering name of company Support in entering the month, year advising me that my account was no longer eligible for bonuses and concessions including Best Odds Guaranteed (or enter your exact experience, e.g. stakes factored, account closed. NB: You may or may not have received an email, so you should use, “I noticed in entering the month, the year that my account was”).
Despite attempting to establish the reasons for these restrictions being imposed enter the name of the company refused to provide any. I see little point in again asking the reasons for this decision having previously met with a veil of secrecy. I believe the best prospect of establishing the reasons enter the name of the company would wish to restrict/close my account is to submit a Subject Access Request (SAR), which I am entitled to do under the United Kingdom Data Protection Act (1995) (Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003 in Ireland).
I am requesting this SAR to enable me to establish the full extent of the data and information held about me (enter username) by entering the name of the company and who this information has been shared. As you are aware enter name of the company is required to provide the information to me within 40 (21 or 40 days in Ireland, the webpage linked to later is contradictory) calendar days of receiving my request.
This request includes, but is not solely limited to:
- Data held from the date the account was opened to the current
- All electronically and clerically held data.
- Details of all transactions including deposits, withdrawals, bets placed, bets proposed but declined as a reduced price or stake was offered, and account adjustments including free bets.
- Data held by entering the name of the company that does not specifically relate to my enter name of company account (for example {but not restricted to} – activity on other gambling company websites).
- Details of all organizations (e.g. Iovation) enter the name of the company have shared my personal data with and the reasons for doing so. NB: I’m aware that the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has recently ruled that device data held by Iovation, e.g. IP address, device identifier, geographical location, etc., become personal data when it is combined with personal data that a company holds about the person who uses the said device. This means any base and analytical data generated by/from Iovation, plus company decisions based on this data is personal when it is provided to a company that already holds traditional personal data, e.g. name, address. I, therefore have a right to see all this detail.
- Contact details of all the organizations enter the name of the company have shared my personal data with.
- Details of the reasoning behind the decision to restrict/close my account (Page 7 of Subject Access Code Of Practice, “An individual can also request information about the reasoning behind any automated decisions taken about him or her, such as a computer-generated decision to grant or deny credit, or an assessment of performance at work…”).
I’m aware there may be a charge of up to £10.00 (free or maximum 6.35 Euro in Ireland, the webpage linked to later is contradictory) for providing this information. Please let me know the amount of the charge and how this can be paid to enter the name of the company. I look forward to receiving all the information requested within 40 calendar days (21 or 40 days in Ireland) of you receiving this letter.
Yours faithfully,
Your name
Username: enter
e-mail: enter
Notes for consumers: This letter should be sent by recorded delivery to either the registered or head office of the company concerned. Do not accept no for an answer, you are within your rights to receive all that is requested in the text. You may wish to send this as an email instead, but try to resist this temptation, because emails rarely reach the correct person.
If you are resident of the Republic of Ireland you may also want to read: https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Making-an-Access-Request/963.htm However, we think we have covered the two major differences from the UK.
Justice for Punter
How To Avoid Being Gubbed – List Of Essential & Advanced Tactics
In this guide, we focus on How To Avoid Being Gubbed As Long As Possible, which means the actions we take while the account is still intact and healthy.
We draw 10 Action Plans As Essential, 3 As Advanced Tactics, and 11 Guidelines for Mug Betting in this document.
If your account is Gubbed or restricted in any form, go to the separate special guide we have prepared as 21 Methods To Make Money From Restricted Betting Accounts. So, don’t worry you have many contingency plans to keep making money even after all your accounts are gubbed.
10 Essential Tactics to Avoid Being Gubbed
Who Suffers First?
Generally speaking, inexperienced & uninformed punters tend to suffer from this issue disproportionately because they do not take sensible precautions to protect their accounts. So, you can at least avoid such amateur mistakes by following the essential tactics.
The key concept is disguising your activities and not make it obvious that you are a professional/sharp bettor.
Offer Related Tactics
1) Welcome Bonus
Make your first deposit with a larger amount than the minimum deposit required to be eligible for a welcome bonus. Say ‘Bet £10 Get £30’ like William Hill, then you deposit £20 or £30 rather than a minimum of £10.
2) Reload Offer
Don’t always bet the maximum stakes. Stick to around 70-80% or less of the max. For example, when you take in the max £ 25 refund offer, don’t bet £25 every time but try to be £20.
Account-Related
1) Withdrawal
Don’t make frequent withdrawals (after every bet) & Don’t withdraw entire balances (in one go).
Bet Placement Related
1) Ensure Round Number Never bet decimal but round numbers means never pennies/cents (round up the nearest £/$5)
2) Avoid Minor League
Don’t bet on low-tier, foreign leagues. Keep your bet in the major league such as England Football Premier League rather than expanding into division 3 badminton in China.
3) Consistent Sports Category
Don’t bet on many kinds of sports in an inconsistent manner – this makes you look like a price seeker. Because bookies see most people (a casual bettor) bet for interest in the game associated with the bet as they will have some knowledge about the game.
So preferably stick to 3-4 major sports (leagues) such as football, horse racing, tennis, and golf, etc.
4) Never Bet Palpable Error
The Palpable Error (palps) are usually spotted by arbitrage software. Many less experienced or greedy arb traders grab such opportunities. Never place the palpable error.
If you do, you are in effect openly admitting that you take full advantage of any weakness of the bookies without mercy. Most bookmakers will respond to this by limiting your account to relatively small bet volumes.
5) Radar Avoidable Stake Amount
Reportedly, bookmakers seem to be relatively comfortable with stakes around the £30 – £50 per bet. It could be a bit small for arb trading but would well suit matched bettors. Just a guideline.
6) No multiple bet in the same market.
Don’t place over 2 bets in the same market at the same bookmaker unless that is horse racing. For example in a football arbitrage, don’t bet the draw and one team at the same bookmaker.
Security Related
1) Manage Your PC
Don’t open multiple bookies accounts at the same time but clear your cookies regularly, and Don’t open bookmaker & betting exchange or software in the same browser but assign them into a separate browser because bookies track your activities using cookies.
3 Advanced Tactics
The followings are some of the advanced techniques.
1) Place ACCA and Scorecast bets
Bookies love punters who regularly bet ACCA, simply because it is very profitable due to the multiple over-round (so is Scorecast bet which is a combination of the first goal scorer & the correct match score). In case you’re not familiar with how to lay off multiple bets, see;
ACCA Instructions
We GEM made some experiments through the cooperation with our members to check how frequent MODEST arbitrage can improve matched betting profit while positively contributing to retaining accounts as mug betting (we will explain later).
Some big bookmakers with thousands of high street shops often provide their own Card that can connect your online account & in-shop bet placement.
There is no guarantee but many players reported that applying for such cards and place bets not only online but also in-shop tend to not being gubbed quickly. Examples are Paddy Power Big Reward Card, Coral Connect Card, Ladbrokes Grid Card, and William Hill Credit Card, etc.
Some bookies make next-to-no money from their sportsbooks and the only reason it exists is to funnel people through to their casino. Thus, my advice is to spend a little bit of cash in there every few weeks or so. The purpose of this isn’t to win money but to put down a marker that says hey I’m a casual punter.
Wait, actually you can make money from the casino. We have the following strategy papers & instructions which allow you to conduct Advantage Gambling in various bonus conditions.
Since many casinos offer Slot related bonuses, there is an excellent simulator called EV Maxmiser
This is the Casino product of Mike Cruickshank. Click the above image then you will be navigated to the video Mike explains how it works. In short, it does all the calculations to work out;
It goes far beyond the simple casino calculators when it comes to information provided, features and accuracy. So, it’s a very useful tool and essential for casino bonus raking because many casino offers involve Slot Machines. Remember, this is an advanced strategy with high risk, so unless you feel comfortable, put it on the back burner.
Mug Betting is Placing a Bet WITHOUT OFFER. This simple betting behaviour will help you look like an average casual punter, who bookies love.
BTW, how does the average punter (Mug Punter) exactly behave? Typically, placing a bet on football impulsively via mobile (obvious insight read from Bet365 ad)
, while drinking & watching the match in the pub (are you aware of the fact that you can find at least 1 pub within 300 meters from a high street betting shop in the UK? This is the bookies’ geographical strategy).
Let me list up the standard actions customized for matched betting players as follows;
Lastly, below is the list of Gubbing Bookmakers that may help you prioritize your Mug Betting efforts. It is ranked based on both the level of importance (especially from the matched betting perspective means attractive promotional offers) and sensitivity on the sharp (means quickness of gubbing);
The below bookmakers are more or less at the same level of attractiveness of promotions and will gub you if they feel they think you’re taking too much value even though you make a lot of mug betting. So, don’t seem to be worth spending a lot of time on mug betting;
Bookmakers are our enemies and many UK giant bookies have been accumulating record profits with the unethical business practice of Gubbing.
However, there are also positive legislative movements to change their unfair practice and we have a decent amount of arsenal to protect ourselves to prolong the life of our account as you have seen in this document. So our key suggestions are,
– This is absolutely the most important bookmaker you don’t want to be gubbed. As shown in my 
– Their continuous offers including 
– You don’t want to easily give up their continuous promotion including horse racing refunds. They are getting quick gubber lately thus regular mug betting is essential. The same story as Paddy Power comes that if you register their Grid card (for in-shop use) they may not swiftly gub you, off-course no guarantee.
– Exactly the same importance & suggestion as Ladbrokes. Their wide range of promotions including
– Their offer is quite important but they are relatively quick to gub. We include the video interview on Skybet CEO Richard Flint in 
– Don’t be confused with Exchange where you will never be restricted. I’m talking about their sportsbook that constantly offers lucrative promotions such as 
– Very lucrative thus important promotion provider. Same as Paddy Power whose slow odds adjustment is a juicy element for advantage players. They regularly provide a money-back offer for customized bets called “Pick Your Punt” which you may not be able to lay thus use the 
– They actually provide very tasty promotions as well as slow odds adjustment. See 
– Their offer is so-so, but no matter what you do, they will gub you, no need to do anything but exploit the offers as much & quickly as possible before being restricted.
– Although their continuous 
– Ditto
– They really don’t like smart punters, although their price is competitive and extremely quick to gub, don’t waste your time.
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