One downside of the betting industry at the moment is the tendency for bookmakers to ban or limit the accounts of successful punters. Most bookmakers have a “recreational gamblers only” policy and are quick to react to punters who win consistently – either through their own betting acumen or through the acquisition of tips from professional tools and services. Obviously, this is frustrating for punters who have put a lot of work into gaining an edge, only to find they’re unable to exploit it.
Fortunately it’s not all doom and gloom, because there are betting agencies that do not ban or limit the accounts of winning punters. This article surveys the bookmakers and betting exchanges that support winners. It’s worth noting that every service listed here also supports arbitrage betting – something that is typically frowned upon by the rest of the industry.
For those of you who are new to betting, it should be noted that the majority of punters do not get their accounts limited or suspended. This is because they don’t win consistently or they don’t place high enough stakes to concern the bookmaker. This article is aimed at the minority among punters who find their betting activity limited or frozen by bookmakers.
Bookmakers
Pinnacle Sports
Founded in 1998, Pinnacle Sports is located on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean and is licensed by the Government of Curaçao. The company has a good reputation within the betting community and boasts customers from over 100 countries.
The biggest draw card of Pinnacle Sports is its odds. Our bookmaker margin surveys have found it to offer the lowest margins (best value odds) of any bookmaker surveyed. For example, Pinnacle Sports offers 1.952 line odds, compared to 1.90-1.92 with most other bookmakers. The Pinnacle Sports business model is centred on low margins and high turnover.
Pinnacle Sports has a reputation for offering higher limits and accepting arbitrage betting. Crucially, it also has an explicit ‘Winners Welcome’ policy. Pinnacle Sports actively identifies successful punters and then uses those clients to its own advantage by shifting lines and odds based on their wagering activity.
Upsides
- Excellent reputation in the betting community
- Best odds of any bookmaker we’ve surveyed
- Accepts arbitrage betting
- Policy of not banning successful punters
- Good selection of deposit and withdrawal options, including POLi
- Claims to offer the highest maximum limits for Internet betting in the industry.
- They have an Australian bank account, which enables Australians to deposit and withdraw funds without incurring bank fees.
- Credit and debit card deposits are processed in Australian Dollars
- Live online betting
- API for odds and automated betting
Downsides
- Basic interface
- Limited betting selection for each event, with a focus on head-to-head, line and total score markets
- No exotic multi betting
- Website sometimes slow
- No racing markets
- Not licensed in Australia
- Website uses American betting terminology (moneyline, parlay, etc.)
- No sign up bonuses or odds promotions
- Instead of choosing a username, members are assigned a Client ID for logging in
- Failure to meet their deposit roll-over threshold (three times deposit amount) will incur a 3% processing fee on the deposit and any applicable withdrawal fee
View our full Pinnacle Sports review
Betting Exchanges
For those who are not familiar with the differences between a bookmaker and a betting exchange, a bookmaker offer odds on event outcomes and you bet against the bookmaker. Your win is their loss, and vice versa, however they typically hedge themselves by accepting a balanced amount of wagers on each possible outcome, inversely proportional to the odds.
With exchanges, the odds are determined by fellow users within a marketplace. The betting exchange earns its revenue by charging commissions on either member winnings or member turnover. Unlike a bookmaker it never has any exposure to the outcome of the sporting event. Exchange memberships are popular with serious enthusiasts because they support wagering both for and against outcomes. The other key benefit is that, unlike most bookmakers, betting exchanges welcome successful high stakes punters. In fact, they need high stakes wagerers to improve liquidity in their betting markets. Learn more about exchange betting.
Betfair
Launched in the UK in 2000, Betfair has enjoyed a meteoric rise and is now the world’s largest Internet betting exchange. The service currently has over four million customers and employs around 1,800 people. Betfair is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is based in West London. It is licensed in Gibraltar as well as in Tasmania, making it the only betting exchange to hold an Australian licence. Betfair earns its revenue through charging commissions of between 2% and 5% on net winnings for sports and up to 6.5% of net winnings for Australian racing.
Unfortunately, while Betfair members are never banned or limited for winning consistently, they may become subject to additional fees. In 2008, Betfair introduced a Premium Charge for punters whose winnings are deemed to be disproportionately high compared to commissions paid. Betfair insists that the charge impacts less than 0.5% of its members. In 2011, Betfair announced a Premium Charge of 60% for some customers (reportedly 500 of their 3.8 million users at the time). In 2012, Betfair introduced a turnover charge on customers who frequently wager on Australian racing markets. This is to cover the fees it pays to the Australian racing industry.
Upsides
- Can bet both for and against outcomes, which is excellent for hedging
- Excellent tournament betting and correct score odds
- A broad range of sports are covered
- The best liquidity of any betting exchange
- The only Australian licensed betting exchange
- The only betting exchange to offer Australian racing markets
- Odds are often made available before bookmakers
- Access to community forum
- Developer API for the sports exchange
- Low turnover requirements on the sign up bonus
Downsides
- Live online betting is not available to Australian residents (due to Australian law)
- Not as beginner friendly as a standard bookmaker
- Complicated commission structure
- High $5.00 minimum stake for exchange wagering
- 6%-8% market base rate commission for Australian racing
- Complicated turnover charge fee structure for punters who frequently wager on Australian racing
- Premium Charges for Betfair’s most successful customers (around top 0.5%)
By there I want to know you said betfair don’t ban winning accounts
I want to ask how much if we make less than 250000$ a year as said
And we also play on sports book less than 250 markets
Can betfair charge us premium
Also is it safe to put a lot of money 1k$ in a starter account and start winning 50% stake daily will betfair allow it..?
Will they limit or ban account..?
Can they take my money..?
Last thing the premium charges please explain
Thanks
Hi Rafaeo, Betfair is a marketplace rather than a bookmaker, so they have no incentive to ban or limit your account. They’re like a stock exchange. They make their money purely through turnover, so they have no vested interest in whether a certain member makes or loses money.
Betfair only charges a premium to a small minority of members. If you put in $1K and win big, Betfair will have no problem at all, because it’s not their money you’re winning, it’s other members’ money. They will be happy to have you as a member because the more bets you make, the more money they earn as commissions, regardless of whether you win or lose.
Less than 1 in 200 members get charged the Betfair premium charges. You can learn more here:
http://www.aussportsbetting.com/betting-agencies/bookmaker-reviews/betfair/
In the “Services and Features” table, look for “Exchange fees”.
I had a series of 5 line bets on NRL games with Pinnacle Sports, and they all won. Having made a profit of under $1,400 with those 5 bets, they then restricted my bet size to around $20. I withdrew my cash and haven’t bet with them since.