Betting Restrictions and Account Closures

[SirIvor]

Good morning – I am writing in my role as Chair of the Horseracing Bettors Forum – I am interested in how many punters are finding their accounts restricted (stakes or removal of perks such as BOG) with a particular emphasis on stakes (I was limited to 23p with bet365 before they closed my account through lack of use). If anyone is willing to share such information with me it would be much appreciated in confidence to comments@ukhbf.org – all I am after is the rough amount you found yourself restricted to and any bonus removals, I do not need or want names, account numbers, or any personal details – thank you.

[value31]

I bet to small amounts (maximum £10 per bet). At tbe beginning of the 2025 flat season my bookmaker told me they could no longer offer ‘best odds guaranteed’ (BOG). So I stopped betting on the horses. The bookmaker lost out because although I used to get a kick out of beating the odds, over a season I lost Now I lose nothing.

Instead I follow football, where you find value betting during the game. For example Manchester United were 4/7 to beat Crystal Palace before the game started, but moved to 6/5 after CP scored. Then when MU went 2-1 up the draw was priced at 11/1 A saver on the draw guaranteed winning. Having an even smaller stake on CP winning at massive odds ensured it was impossible to lose.

My view is that if you must back horses concentrate on races with 4 or fewer runners. If you feel you can eliminate one of the runners you have a fair chance of winning as the overall margin will not be against you.

[Kendicate]

Hi Sir Ivor, Its been a while since restrictions hit me but from memory:

Ave stake per race would have been £10 to £50.

Skybet were first to restrict, removing BOG and then restricting me to 50p max stake per bet (think this was circa 2023)
Then Betfair Sportsbook and Paddy power followed suit- Again limited to £1 per selection maximum

Best 365 restricted after that- 25p per race max stake

The tote then started asking for proof of affordability. As did Betfair exchange.

All these accounts are now closed apart from Betfair which I still use to watch racing for free.

After that I curtailed my betting on horses. I still follow the jumps season and if I fancy a bet I go to the local William hill shop but probably gamble less than 1% of the total stake I used to now. I don’t bet on any other sports.

[Oscar]

Since I began to record my bets 7 or 8 years ago, (seldom more than £10 or £15 per race) I recall Skybet were first to withdraw promotional perks then restrict me to about 50 pence, swiftly followed by Betfair Sportsbook. Next to restrict were Boylesports (again to 50 p or so) then Betway, then Bet365, who actually closed my account. Having not bet with 888sport for years I deposited £20 , had one losing £10 bet with them when the bastards closed my account and ignored my requests to have my remaining £10 returned!

[gamble]

There is very little formal historical record of small postal bookmakers from the 1950s, so firms like “McLaughlins” often survive only in local memory or newspaper advertisements rather than official histories.
However, there is some anecdotal evidence that a bookmaker called McLaughlins operated in Glasgow (Maryhill area) in the mid-20th century. Local recollections describe them as a neighbourhood bookmaker who:
Took bets from a shop and a lane entrance,
Operated before betting shops became legal (1961 Betting and Gaming Act),
Occasionally had police raids, which was common for bookmakers taking cash bets illegally at the time. �
Glasgow West End
This fits the typical pattern of bookmakers in Britain during the 1940s–50s:
Cash betting shops were illegal until 1961.
Legal betting was usually postal or credit betting.
Many local bookmakers ran semi-legal operations in back rooms or shops.
Police raids were common, especially in working-class districts.

Past infringements in the good old days may be outside your area of interest. However I was banned by these cowboys after 39 consecutive winning bets. It was a conditional bets system I developed at the age of eight and Paw opened it for me in his name. I used to walk to the Post office and get postal orders to the value of my bets and made sure they were crossed for safety. They often used to send the winnings back in real cash a fiver plus the rest in a small postal order to save money. You had to catch the early post because the time of posting obviously had to be before the first race you bet on.
The postal service was totally reliable back then and postmen in those days were honest and slept well.
Later on I bet quite large amounts in shops in the 90’s and I often left my winnings to be picked up a few days later to dull their memory of the snatcher.

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