Account gubbings or restrictions are common place for matched bettors. Usually a gubbing will result in loss of promotions for accounts – these typically include BOG, free bets and money back offers.

Why do bookmakers gub you?

The main reasons bookmakers will gub you is down to certain factors that include: Only betting on offers, taking value or arbs (arbitrage betting – where the price at exchange is lower than the bookmakers), winning consecutive bets in a row or betting on obscure markets, for example Ukraine Reserve League.

Your accounts will be reviewed by traders often to keep a tab on your betting activity. These guys are employeed by the bookmakers to not only keep their books in check but to look out for suspicious activity. If you are placing a large bet, this will likely be flagged up for the trader as soon as you place the bet. The trader can then go through your bet history, place notes on your account for weekly review or advise that your account is gubbed or restricted.

What to do if you receive a gubbing

When people receive a gubbing, they automatically think that the account is no longer viable as promotions will not longer be available. However, most bookmakers will only gub you on the sportsbook, leaving promotions still available to you on the other sections of the website (casino for example). In addition to this a simple gubbing will not always mean a restriction to stake limits. This means we can still profit from the bookmaker by taking arbs, including each way arbs with no worry of being gubbed, as we already have.

This being said certain bookmakers will issue an account restriction at the same time as the gubbing. Some bookmakers that do this include Bet365, Ladbrokes and Betway, so try not to lose exploit every promotion that these bookmakers offer to increase longevity.

Another thing to note is some bookmakers will restrict you by sport without gubbing. A great example of this is William Hill. They tend to place restrictions by sport, meaning if you have only been betting on horse racing, you may receive a restriction on horse racing yet your limits on football will be the maximum, yet your are still eligible for promotions. They do not tell you that you have been restricted, you will find that out when you can only place a small stake on an outcome.

How can I prevent a gubbing?

The truth is you can’t. It’s an inevitable part of matched betting that you must accept. There are certain things that may help account longevity and these include:

High profile events/games – Betting on high profile events such as Royal Ascot or the US Masters or high profile football games like the Premier League will help you look more like a real punter.

Punting or mug betting – Bet on your favourite football team whenever they play, if you don’t have one, pick one. Keep stake amounts similar to your usual betting activity and remember to lay off your bets even if it’s for a small loss.

Stake amount – Try to keep your stakes similar – don’t bet £100 each way on a extra place race then stake £5 on your favourite team. If your targeting offers then don’t always bet the minimum to qualify for the offers, consider placing a higher stake, or lower so it doesnt look like your are purely betting for the promotion.

Keep stakes rounded – Don’t bet £11.77 or £23.42 even if you are dutching. Try and round your stake to the nearest £5.

Withdrawals – Try to keep some money in the bookmaker if possible. Every time you make a withdrawal your account is likely to be reviewed. We’re not saying don’t ever withdraw – that also looks very odd! If a punter was to win a sizeable chunk of money they would hit that withdrawal button, but if possible don’t withdraw your whole balance. This makes it look as though your are keen to continue betting with the bookmaker.

Use other parts of the bookmaker site – Spare a bit of your profit and play a few spins on the casino or buy a few lots of bingo cards. The bookmakers love people spending on these parts of the site as they have a massive house edge and will help to profile you as a punter. If you are going to do this, please remember to play resposibley as this is gambling.