There is a ugly side to gambling which the bookmakers have successfully kept well hidden form the public at large. Increasingly common and at odds with the proliferation of TV ads urging US to 'BET NAW". Yes, it is the restricted account.
If you have been around for a while and won a lot of money off a bookmaker you may expect to have your account closed. Maybe a nice letter telling your account is not 'econmically viable' and that it will be closed. A badge of honour and that was the way thing used to work, but not anymore.
Now you do not even have to win money off a bookies to have your account restricted, not closed, but your maximum stake limited to such a pathetic amount that in effect, it is closed.
If you have decided that the best way to make bettig pay is to become a specialist in one or two sports, that is enough to flag your account up as undesirable, even if you have lost. Too many bets on golf match bets? Restricted. Too many on minor sports? Restricted. Bet lots of correct score accas on footy, or super yankees on the nags? Your more than welcome and while your here have some free cash to get addicted to our vitual casino and Poker.
Some of the 'big' named top rated bookies on here are prime examples. Just this weekend I wanted just £40 on a 5/4 F1 bet, hardly a massive liabilty for a company the size of William Hill, but no, maximum bet allowed was £28. But at least thats better then Paddy Power who offered me 40p on a bet earlier that week but that was for an 80/1 shot so they were only going to 'risk' losing £32.
I wonder what the general public would think if they were educated as to just how the modern day bookmaker operates? I understand they are there to make money and do contract my services to bookmakers to help them do so but the times they are a changing. Do bookmakers really want to be in the business of betting on sports at all? At the moment they have to, but they are trying to move customers away from the traditional markets into new, low risk, high profit products which are good for the bookie but dangerous for the punter.
Fixed odds betting terminals have saved the high street bookmaker but ruined many more vulnerable punters. Instant hits of adrenalin in short succession is a good way to get someone hooked to playing what is in effect a rigged game. The bookmaker cannot lose in the long run and just needs to cover the cost of the machine, premises, staff and overheads. And those machines do that and plenty more.
The modern betting shop still shows horse racing and dog racing but increasingly you will look at the screen and find that the nags in question are running in a computer generated 'race'. To the punter that just needs a fix this is accpetable, but just like the FOBT's the game is riggged to make sure the bookie wins a nice risk free profit margin, and turnover can still survive a winter cold snap.
The added benfit of these games for the bookmaker is that you do not need to employ expensive odds compilers and risk managers, you are not at risk of being the victim of a well planned gamble or even corruption and cheating on a grand scale. You just get a steady cash flow and skim off your required marging, pay your tax and everyone is happy. Except the punter.
The nature of FOBT's for example is that they said to be the 'crack cocaine' of the betting world. If you are predisposed to becoming a gambling addict, and there are plenty that are, you should not play these machines because after just a few games, you can be lost to them. The reason that boomakers are taking over the high street is a result of the success of these machines making money. But have a look at who playes them and where those shops tend to be. The well to do middle class profession with the money to burn? Or the unemployed, under employed, under educated person struggling to make ends meet? Shops clustered in leafy avenues or the more run down inner city areas were the economy is grinding to a halt?
The New Boomaker is a million miles away from the public perception of the traditional bookie. They do not want you as a customer if you show any signs of being remotly intelligant or having thought about what you are going to bet on. But if you are just addicted to getting that rush from having a gamble then its come on in, your just the sort of mug we want and we don't care if you can't really afford it.
The prospect is that if you like betting on sport and are lucky enough to only lose a little of your money, you will have your account restricted, unless you want to play the virtual stuff, or poker, or in the casino of course. On the other hand the gamblers with addiction problems will be accomodated and encouraged. Do not be fooled into believing all the guff on websites about them supporting 'responsable gambling' just take a look in your local betting shop. They do not want 'responsible gamblers' they want unreasonable gamblers and addicts.
There are now two types of 'problem gamblers'. Those that cannot get a decent bet on and whose chance of winning money is severly restricted. And those who become addicted to the high profit margin games. The second you may hear of on programs like Panorama now and then, the first, another dirty secret of the bookmaking industry.
If you have been around for a while and won a lot of money off a bookmaker you may expect to have your account closed. Maybe a nice letter telling your account is not 'econmically viable' and that it will be closed. A badge of honour and that was the way thing used to work, but not anymore.
Now you do not even have to win money off a bookies to have your account restricted, not closed, but your maximum stake limited to such a pathetic amount that in effect, it is closed.
If you have decided that the best way to make bettig pay is to become a specialist in one or two sports, that is enough to flag your account up as undesirable, even if you have lost. Too many bets on golf match bets? Restricted. Too many on minor sports? Restricted. Bet lots of correct score accas on footy, or super yankees on the nags? Your more than welcome and while your here have some free cash to get addicted to our vitual casino and Poker.
Some of the 'big' named top rated bookies on here are prime examples. Just this weekend I wanted just £40 on a 5/4 F1 bet, hardly a massive liabilty for a company the size of William Hill, but no, maximum bet allowed was £28. But at least thats better then Paddy Power who offered me 40p on a bet earlier that week but that was for an 80/1 shot so they were only going to 'risk' losing £32.
I wonder what the general public would think if they were educated as to just how the modern day bookmaker operates? I understand they are there to make money and do contract my services to bookmakers to help them do so but the times they are a changing. Do bookmakers really want to be in the business of betting on sports at all? At the moment they have to, but they are trying to move customers away from the traditional markets into new, low risk, high profit products which are good for the bookie but dangerous for the punter.
Fixed odds betting terminals have saved the high street bookmaker but ruined many more vulnerable punters. Instant hits of adrenalin in short succession is a good way to get someone hooked to playing what is in effect a rigged game. The bookmaker cannot lose in the long run and just needs to cover the cost of the machine, premises, staff and overheads. And those machines do that and plenty more.
The modern betting shop still shows horse racing and dog racing but increasingly you will look at the screen and find that the nags in question are running in a computer generated 'race'. To the punter that just needs a fix this is accpetable, but just like the FOBT's the game is riggged to make sure the bookie wins a nice risk free profit margin, and turnover can still survive a winter cold snap.
The added benfit of these games for the bookmaker is that you do not need to employ expensive odds compilers and risk managers, you are not at risk of being the victim of a well planned gamble or even corruption and cheating on a grand scale. You just get a steady cash flow and skim off your required marging, pay your tax and everyone is happy. Except the punter.
The nature of FOBT's for example is that they said to be the 'crack cocaine' of the betting world. If you are predisposed to becoming a gambling addict, and there are plenty that are, you should not play these machines because after just a few games, you can be lost to them. The reason that boomakers are taking over the high street is a result of the success of these machines making money. But have a look at who playes them and where those shops tend to be. The well to do middle class profession with the money to burn? Or the unemployed, under employed, under educated person struggling to make ends meet? Shops clustered in leafy avenues or the more run down inner city areas were the economy is grinding to a halt?
The New Boomaker is a million miles away from the public perception of the traditional bookie. They do not want you as a customer if you show any signs of being remotly intelligant or having thought about what you are going to bet on. But if you are just addicted to getting that rush from having a gamble then its come on in, your just the sort of mug we want and we don't care if you can't really afford it.
The prospect is that if you like betting on sport and are lucky enough to only lose a little of your money, you will have your account restricted, unless you want to play the virtual stuff, or poker, or in the casino of course. On the other hand the gamblers with addiction problems will be accomodated and encouraged. Do not be fooled into believing all the guff on websites about them supporting 'responsable gambling' just take a look in your local betting shop. They do not want 'responsible gamblers' they want unreasonable gamblers and addicts.
There are now two types of 'problem gamblers'. Those that cannot get a decent bet on and whose chance of winning money is severly restricted. And those who become addicted to the high profit margin games. The second you may hear of on programs like Panorama now and then, the first, another dirty secret of the bookmaking industry.