Pathetic and Petty Betfair !!

Very good point TS -I had an account with a local independent about 15 years ago and to cut a long story short anyone punting over €50 a race could get on over the phone on a credit basis -the deal was accounts were settled in cash on a Saturday morning.This guy loved taking each way bets and was happy to tell you about the big bets he had taken.
Ultimately I stopped doing business with him for 2 reasons -I was having too many bad each way bets and I think psychologically deep down I wanted to win a few quid off him but not take him to the cleaners.It is nice to talk to someone and hear about the big gambles of the previous week.
 
The game changed irrevocably with the internet and the exchanges.

It's now so quick and easy to place a bet that there are all sorts of people looking for ricks in a book that can be exploited without running up against the palpable error rule. Unfortunately the newer breed of bettors (as distinct from gamblers) are apt to take advantage of these ricks because "it's a war innit" but then complain when the bookie doesn't want their business under those rules of engagement. Any deal is only a good deal when both sides are happy in retrospect.
 
Don`t disagree, Archie. But it`s appalling Customer Service to withdraw such offers without prior notice or explanation. Shows contempt for us customers.
 
The whole situation with reserves in Irish races is a pain.

The intention was to allow a bit of flexibility so that connections desperate to run in a race might get a last-minute opportunity if some other horse has to pull out. But the deadline for declaring reserves comes so late in the day that for morning punters it is seldom clear whether a reserve will get in or not, and they seem to remain priced up all day long on Oddschecker regardless. And that's before we even mention the deliberate manipulation of the system by some owners.


The situation is also wide open to manipulation by bookmakers. In J J 's example, however, the delay in posting the full result of the race suggests that PP simply hadn't clocked that Mr Smith had got into the race, and therefore wasn't in their IT system. If that is the case they should probably have voided all bets on the race or else treated it for betting purposes as if Mr Smith was indeed a non-runner.
 
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Desperate Dan said:
Yesterday I had the rare satisfaction of having 20 quid on the Stewards Cup winner. My bet was on the Betfair Sportsbook platform and as it was an ITV televised race I fully expected to receive the usual £20 Sports Bonus as it`s SP was over 3/1. As it was never credited I queried it with them and was told as from a week ago I was excluded. Nothing sent to me notifying me of this and, as far as I could see, nothing on the website mentioning changes.

What an appalling example of "customer service." I`m a low stakes punter who mainly bets on Saturdays and have been a Betfair customer for many years and have certainly not made much, if any, profits. Legally, they may be entitled to do this but ethically it`s appalling. They offer these incentives and then withdraw them at a whim and without notification. What a petty and pathetic outfit!!
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Betfair have millions of customers ad you hit a nerve and the computer......her name is Alice and lives next door to me..........it was her that excluded you.

Betfair warned you these things can and will happen when you didn't read the conditions....who does.?.........simple phrase....WE reserve the right" means you have been already warned.cruel world but it's only money
 
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Betfair "Sportsbook" is known for quick restrictions. One of the worst if you hit bonuses or free bets. They were like this even before Paddy Shower took over them.
Should have notified you though.
 
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Desert Orchid said:
Today I was in touch with William Hill because they didn't settle a winning bet yesterday at best odds. They said it was because I placed the bet on Friday evening and their BOG doesn't apply until the day of the race, a situation that has been in place since May. I make 95% of my bets via oddschecker and when I checked tomorrows betting, the BOG is ticked above the Hills logo. When I pointed this out to the operative he said it's Oddschecker's issue. I lost out twice in the race as not only did I miss out on the better price but I was also hit with a R4 due to a non-runner which came out much earlier in the day.

I've asked for one of the managers to call me back but I won't hold my breath. If they stand their ground I'll probably just zero that account and look elsewhere. I'm more than halfway to quitting altogether anyway so it's no big deal.
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WH got back to me today. They said that since this is the first time I've ever contacted them to complain they would settle the bet at best odds as a goodwill gesture but asked me to check in future. However, they were still going to take off the R4 and when I politely told them that to settle at SP (ie the best odds) R4 wouldn't apply as the non-runner had come through much earlier in the day, after another consultation with the 'escalation team', they agreed and have settled the bet fully.

I passed on dvds2000's advice re ASA and UKGB and asked WH if somebody could make sure the situation that brought about the dispute doesn't arise again. They said they would look into it.

Pleased to have the matter settled in my favour but disappointed that I had to take it as far as I did.

The positive messages and advice on here are also appreciated.
 
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JJ. said:
Bottom line is the horse was a declared reserve, so should have been priced up. As he wasn't, he should have been ignored for settling purposes - i.e. anyone who backed the second should have been paid as a winner. For them not to do this is actually disgraceful in my view.
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https://www.racingpost.com/news/lat...g-well-backed-galway-winner-in-betting/394438

So four days later they 'move to rectify' matters when in reality it should have been done immediately. Very much doubt all the shop customers who backed the runner up will be back to claim their winnings either.
 
I know this thread is about Betfair Sportsbook but please stick to the main ones (even Paddy).
Hills, Fred etc.
If you venture into the 10Bet, 12Bet, 888Bet etc, you really are at risk.
Ive done them all over the last god knows how many years and two times Ive been stung: 138, 12Bet Fun etc Cheltenham fiasco years ago (got paid) and 10Bet last year (money stolen), absolutely did nothing wrong except do a withdrawal request for £500.
Horror stories about new books using new UKGC regs for their own benefit requesting source of income proof and notarised documents (100% only after a withdrawal)
Moplay, PWRBet, RoyalPanda and books who just steal...1xBet (who use football clubs like Barca to look legit)
Beware any book with Curacao license as they are high, high risk.
Punters have absolutely no protection from the regulatory bodies that are supposed to protect them....IBAS.

Look at Justice 4 Punters website to see the truth and stay away from the new bookmakers if you want to keep your money.
 
Absolutely the worst experience I suffered at the hands of a bookie, despite restrictions, closures etc. was Pokerstars/Betstars. I deposited £1,000 instead of £100 by mistake and they wouldn't let me withdraw the difference until I'd gambled it.

They claimed this restriction was on the basis of AML which is utter bollox because I work in financial investments and money laundering doesn't occur by depositing into a third party from your own bank account and then withdrawing straight back into the same account.

As a warrior for "Responsible Gambling" I contacted every regulatory body I could find. The cash was largely irrelevant, I put it on something like a 1.02 shot, it was the ******* cheek of it.
 
wilsonl said:
Absolutely the worst experience I suffered at the hands of a bookie, despite restrictions, closures etc. was Pokerstars/Betstars. I deposited £1,000 instead of £100 by mistake and they wouldn't let me withdraw the difference until I'd gambled it.

They claimed this restriction was on the basis of AML which is utter bollox because I work in financial investments and money laundering doesn't occur by depositing into a third party from your own bank account and then withdrawing straight back into the same account.

As a warrior for "Responsible Gambling" I contacted every regulatory body I could find. The cash was largely irrelevant, I put it on something like a 1.02 shot, it was the ******* cheek of it.
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A lot of non UK Bookies/Casinos have this rule, and all use the AML excuse. If you ask them to point to the exact part of the regulations, none can, because they don't exist. If anything, the UK bookies should have this rule as they tend to let you withdraw by any method you like, rather than last used deposit method! Like Coral/Will Hill etc let you deposit by cash instore, then withdraw to a card, nice clean cash there :)
 
harry said:
I know this thread is about Betfair Sportsbook but please stick to the main ones (even Paddy).
Hills, Fred etc.
If you venture into the 10Bet, 12Bet, 888Bet etc, you really are at risk.
Ive done them all over the last god knows how many years and two times Ive been stung: 138, 12Bet Fun etc Cheltenham fiasco years ago (got paid) and 10Bet last year (money stolen), absolutely did nothing wrong except do a withdrawal request for £500.
Horror stories about new books using new UKGC regs for their own benefit requesting source of income proof and notarised documents (100% only after a withdrawal)
Moplay, PWRBet, RoyalPanda and books who just steal...1xBet (who use football clubs like Barca to look legit)
Beware any book with Curacao license as they are high, high risk.
Punters have absolutely no protection from the regulatory bodies that are supposed to protect them....IBAS.

Look at Justice 4 Punters website to see the truth and stay away from the new bookmakers if you want to keep your money.
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Totally agree with this. You can blame the UKGC for a lot of it though. They are stuck between a rock and hard place when it comes to AML stuff. The UKGC advice on the matter is very vague to say the least, but they are quick to hand out multi million £ fines for any failings, and its hard to blame license holders for being cautious.
Daub £7 mil https://www.gamblingcommission.gov....laundering-and-social-responsibility-failures
Ladbrokes £5.9 mil https://www.gamblingcommission.gov....tistics/news/ladbrokes-coral-group-to-pay-59m

I think the problem with books is that the smaller ones don't take proper traders on and rely on third party software to run the books, and don't have a full understanding of how they work and how to manage risk properly. You mention Royal Panda, they are part of LeoVegas who are one of the largest Casino groups out there and you rarely see legitimate complaints about them. However, both LV and RP sportsbooks are terrible for prices and they can limit you quite quickly if you dare to win.
I wouldn't bet with any firm without a UK license, 1x Bet in particular are dodgy as ****, how the hell they got a license is beyond me. The UKGC seem to give licenses out to anyone who asks. 21bet for example. The .com site was proven to be using pirate NetEnt and Novomatic casino games, yet the .co.uk site got a UK license, as apparently they aren't connected. Never mind the contact email for the .co.uk site is support@21bet.com. How the hell do the UKKGC not see stuff like that.
Blacktype are decent, I've met Craig, who part owns it, a few times and he is a decent bloke and certainly knows what he's doing. Only downside is they are using the FSB license, so you can expect source of wealth requests at some point, especially if you do higher stake bets. They use traders to risk assess bets too, rather than using an algorithm, which seems quite rare these days.
 
Blacktype are the prime example of con artists: they launched with the promise that they would never restrict and would lay all bets. Pretty soon they restricted customers with the lame excuse that we were using “Bots” whatever they are and were against t&cs.
Your “good bloke” is a joke
 
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harry said:
Blacktype are the prime example of con artists: they launched with the promise that they would never restrict and would lay all bets. Pretty soon they restricted customers with the lame excuse that we were using “Bots” whatever they are and were against t&cs.
Your “good bloke” is a joke
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Thsts interesting to hear Harry, thanks. I'll mention that I've seen on the internet (so no names) that they do restrict bets when I see him next, will see what sort of reaction I get ;)
 
I've just had the e-mail I've been dreading for a while, down to one bookie now and they've just been bought out by Paddy Power (who restricted me ages ago). I'm not an exchange player and have little interest in revisiting betting shops so collectively they are literally forcing me out of the game :(

Really annoyed because I don't take the p1ss and have never arbed, or hedged my position to the point of locking in small profit.

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Commiserations, but what have you against using the exchanges? No one will restrict you there.
 
Lack of familiarity and understanding I guess Grey. I've used Exchanges but not heavily.

Last time I used BF, there was a tbp market but not an e/w one. I presume that is always based on industry standard terms and if so, are the prices bigger (relatively) to reflect the lesser places available when compared to the concessions the like of Skybet and Hills offer ?
 
wilsonl said:
Lack of familiarity and understanding I guess Grey. I've used Exchanges but not heavily.

Last time I used BF, there was a tbp market but not an e/w one. I presume that is always based on industry standard terms and if so, are the prices bigger (relatively) to reflect the lesser places available when compared to the concessions the like of Skybet and Hills offer ?
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They have an each way market in the exchange now. I don't tend to use it though as I prefer the benefit of greater odds on the win part and will accept the lower odds of the tbp market. You see 4 place markets but again, I haven't used them - nothing on the scale of the 8 place stuff available from the bookies.

Personally, I think the far greater odds available for the win part of any bet outweighs the benefits of extra places, but each to their own I suppose!
 
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