SkyBet

[sinkov]

I've just received the following email from them.

"Important information about your account
We are writing to you with reference to your Sky Bet account, User ID xxxxxx

Following a recent review by our trading team we have decided that your account requires tighter liability management. Your account remains active but the following restrictions will be applied:
You are still able to place bets but a limit on your permitted stakes has been applied. Further details are provided in the bullet points below.
You will no longer be eligible for any free bets offered as part of any promotion from Sky Bet.
You will no longer be eligible for our 'Best Odds Guaranteed' promotions. Bets that would have qualified for 'Best Odds Guaranteed' will now be settled at the price option taken upon placement.
Please note, the limit on your permitted stakes is active immediately. Your eligibility to free bets and 'Best Odds Guaranteed' will be revoked on Monday 27th March.

Individual accounts are set with varying restriction levels;
As an example, you will still be able to place a bet that would allow you to win a minimum of £200 on a Premier League Football Match Result on the day of the game and £100 on any UK Horse Racing Win Market in the Racecourse Show (approx. 15 minutes before the race is off).
Please be aware that maximum stakes differ depending upon proximity to an event and across different sports and markets.
You will be able to see your personal limits when placing a bet. Place your selection in your bet slip, enter your desired stake, and if it is over the permitted amount a message will appear showing your staking limit. This will only work if you are logged in.
You will still qualify for the £500 minimum bet to win guarantee that is available from 10am on the morning of Class 1 & Class 2 races in Ireland and the UK. The full terms and conditions for the guarantee can be found here."

I've just logged in to check out the limits and indeed I am restricted, I tried to put £25 on Corach Rambler for the National at 7/1, no can't be done, I can have £14.29 and that's my lot, I tried to put £15 on a 10/1 shot, no, I can have a tenner, that's it. I'm allowed to win £100 on any horse racing bet and no more.

I am completely bemused, these limits might make some sense if I ever bet up to them or over them, but I don't, nowhere near, the BOGs don't matter to me, I use SkyBet mainly for the big handicaps when they pay enhanced place terms, and when they do the BOGs don't apply to those races, and I can't remember the last free bet I got off them, so no idea why they are refusing me what I don't get off them anyway.

I've also just checked my account to see if there's anything I've done to frighten the horses over at SkyBet HQ, I currently have £10 less in my account than I had 12 months ago, so I'm not even winning money off them. Absolutely bizarre, and as none of the restrictions they've placed on my account will make the slightest bit of difference to my betting with them, I'll just carry on as before, business as usual.

[kritichris]

Strange. As I started reading I thought you must be taking them to the cleaners. Perhaps it's a new policy to stop Joe public betting too heavily so they can't be criticised for overly encouraging gambling.

[sinkov]

Strange. As I started reading I thought you must be taking them to the cleaners. Perhaps it's a new policy to stop Joe public betting too heavily so they can't be criticised for overly encouraging gambling.

It's not the first time it's happened Chris, I've been restricted by Betfred, BoyleSports and Corals in the past. One explanation I read back then was that it's not that you're taking them to the cleaners, but you're not losing money to them either, and they just don't want your business, it's not profitable for them. At the time Coral's restricted me, Ladbrokes were thinking of buying them out and I believe they had a cull of the accounts, trying to deter the small stakes punters like me, who they weren't making money off and weren't enhancing their profitability. Just trying to make their bottom line look better so they could hold out for a better price from Ladbrokes.

Maybe some other company is now sniffing round SkyBet and they're doing the same. It wouldn't surprise me.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

What's the world coming too when you can't even choose to chuck your hard earned money away? Somethings spooked them sinkov.

I tend to bet in person with Uncle Joe and Betfred and I've been on a good run lately. Online is just not for me.

[sinkov]

Just the thing for you BT, I know you like a bet every now and then and have access to the Spectator, check out Penworthy's tipping column every Friday in Spectator Life. He only started in December, this is the start of his first piece,

"How to make a profit on the horses. A new column from Spectator Life"

"Welcome one and all to this new weekly column on horse racing. The industry is facing some challenging times – low prize money, small fields, rising costs for trainers/owners, a lack of cohesive leadership and more.

But it is not all doom and gloom and Penworthy – the name derives from a character in P.G. Wodhouse’s short story The Purity of the Turf – will try to lift the spirits of those passionate about the so-called Sport of Kings.

This will hopefully be achieved not by solving, or even addressing, any of the above important topics but instead providing some winning bets. For this is a tipping column – it will try to ensure that those who enjoy a bet actually make money from their hobby too."

And has he kept his word, just over three months and he's 45 points up already. I've known a lot of tipsters in my time mon ami, and this guy is good, of course they don't all win, but he knows his horse racing and no mistake. His column usually appears in the LIFE section around lunchtime on Friday, well worth having a peep.

[sinkov]

I tend to bet in person with Uncle Joe and Betfred and I've been on a good run lately. Online is just not for me.

Not for me to tell you how to bet BT, you bet the way you want and the way you enjoy it, but all my bets are online, mostly the night before with Bet365 and their BOG, or in the morning with other firms offering a BOG. The difference it makes is the difference between winning and losing, or winning and winning even more. If you're serious about making a profit and you bet every day, it's the only way.

[The Bedlington Terrier]

Just the thing for you BT, I know you like a bet every now and then and have access to the Spectator, check out Penworthy's tipping column every Friday in Spectator Life. He only started in December, this is the start of his first piece,

"How to make a profit on the horses. A new column from Spectator Life"

"Welcome one and all to this new weekly column on horse racing. The industry is facing some challenging times – low prize money, small fields, rising costs for trainers/owners, a lack of cohesive leadership and more.

But it is not all doom and gloom and Penworthy – the name derives from a character in P.G. Wodhouse’s short story The Purity of the Turf – will try to lift the spirits of those passionate about the so-called Sport of Kings.

This will hopefully be achieved not by solving, or even addressing, any of the above important topics but instead providing some winning bets. For this is a tipping column – it will try to ensure that those who enjoy a bet actually make money from their hobby too."

And has he kept his word, just over three months and he's 45 points up already. I've known a lot of tipsters in my time mon ami, and this guy is good, of course they don't all win, but he knows his horse racing and no mistake. His column usually appears in the LIFE section around lunchtime on Friday, well worth having a peep.

I'll be having a peep at that. Thank you sinkov. I'm old fashioned I guess mon ami, but we have a really good local pub here and two bookies across the road from each other. I'm not in your league but it's not even April yet and I'm about a grand to the good (and that's after pub expenses!) and it get's me out of the house for an hour or two 4 times a week.

[sinkov]

I'll be having a peep at that. Thank you sinkov. I'm old fashioned I guess mon ami, but we have a really good local pub here and two bookies across the road from each other. I'm not in your league but it's not even April yet and I'm about a grand to the good (and that's after pub expenses!) and it get's me out of the house for an hour or two 4 times a week.

Nothing wrong with that mon ami, and I'm certainly not in your league with stakes, in fact If I went into my local and handed my bets to the landlord he'd stand them and not bat an eyelid, which is why it bemuses me that I've been restricted by so many of them. I do win over time but the amounts I'm winning are so small it's hard to credit that they even notice, never mind care.

[Claret_Matelot]

Bet365 have paid out £9000 on my two main bets this season. (Burnley to go up and go up as Champions). If this is a trend with the betting companies then I might also receive a restriction.

[sinkov]

Bet365 have paid out £9000 on my two main bets this season. (Burnley to go up and go up as Champions). If this is a trend with the betting companies then I might also receive a restriction.

Most of my betting is with Bet365 Matelot, 80% of my bets at least, but I've never had a bother with them. I really think with SkyBet they know they can't make anything out of small punters like me, so restrictions are them saying to punters like me, 'sling your hook, we don't want your business,' In your case if you keep winning big you will get restricted or simply closed down. For the moment I would think they'll leave you alone in the hope they'll win it back. They will have flagged your account though without a doubt, their Trading department will be keeping an eye on it.