“It’s easily the biggest problem I face as a bettor…”
Not my words.
I was chatting on WhatsApp with a colleague of mine.
He’s a full-time professional football bettor. Probably one of the top guys in the UK.
A few seasons ago he was averaging £19,238 per month (big stakes, of course). But recently his livelihood has come under fire.
For years he’d had a kind of “gentlemen’s agreement” with the bookies. An unspoken understanding that they’d let most of his bets fly if he didn’t push things too far.
Now, things have changed.
He told me, “It’s easily the biggest problem I face as a bettor. Finding the bets is fine, getting the bets on is not so easy!”
He’s constantly having to persuade family, friends, even friends of friends, to open new accounts and place his bets in their names. Then he has to give each of them a cut of the profit before those accounts ultimately get shut down or restricted too.
(He asked me to put on a bet for him, but I had to decline as most of my accounts are already restricted thanks to matched betting!)
And it’s not just high-rollers like my colleague getting stung any more. As he says…
“Restrictions have got so bad that even average punters are having their accounts restricted after having a win or a few wins.”
Perhaps, like me, you’ve already had a few betting accounts restricted or outright banned? You’ll have received an email like this one…
I’ve been working with professional bettors for over a decade now. And I’ve watched the conversation with average punters go from “What’s the secret to beating the bookies?” to “What’s the secret to getting a bet on with the bookies??”
If you’ve ever tried matched betting you’ll understand exactly what I’m talking about. People are having their accounts restricted or banned – AKA, “gubbed” – on a daily basis.
Like these people from a matched betting Facebook group I’m part of…
Sure, there are workarounds, like persuading friends or family to open accounts for you, but eventually those accounts will get restricted too – even if you’re not betting as big as my professional colleague.
So, we’re left with an uncomfortable reality…
Even if you find a winning strategy, it’s next to impossible to put it into action for any period of time.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional bettor, a weekend punter, or simply an ordinary person trying to make a little extra money on the side, the bookies have launched what feels like an all-out war on all of us – including you.
So, what do you do?
Keep banging your head against the same wall and stuffing money in their pockets? Give up and take up gardening?
Well, that’s one option, but the other is to adapt.
And a small part of the betting community has already found an answer that doesn’t involve the bookies at all.
Instead of trying to beat a rigged system, these people have stepped completely outside of it.
They’re not worried about having their accounts restricted or banned, because they’re not worried about the bookies at all.
I’m not talking about betting on Betfair, where the odds are so narrow a samurai sword couldn’t find an edge. Betfair’s had its heyday, and while good at the time, for most people it’s over.
I’m talking about a brand new way to bet that’s taking a small corner of the betting community by storm.
That said, like all new, revolutionary inventions, it’s not going to sit well with some people – perhaps even most.
Especially those who have been at war with the bookies for years and are entrenched in the view that beating them is the only way to make a profit from their favourite sports.
This will take a mindset shift that some people simply won’t be ready to make.
And that’s fine, that’s up to them.
I’m not here to tell anyone what to do.
But if you’re fed up with the current status quo with the bookies and you’re ready for something different, then that’s very good news.
Because this change is happening whether we like it or not. And it’s already started.
Keep an eye on your inbox tomorrow for Part 2 of this series. It’s called:
“Part 2: The Ugly Truth About Bookmaker Odds”
