Self Exclusion

News, chat and debate about the Betfair betting exchange.
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cmuddle
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:12 pm

Hi everyone,

one of my mates excluded himself from betfair thinking that he was gambling too much.
Now he wants to unblock his account but realised he blocked it permanently. There are like different time frames starting with 6 months.

Does anyone of you know or have experience with that?
Can he reopen or open a new account on his name?
Does he need to contact third party like GamCare that runs these services?

Appreciate your help.

Cheers
rik
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Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2014 5:16 am
Location: London

from what i read if you self excluded yourself for life betfair honor that and would also close any new accounts on the same name
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Derek27
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Location: UK

You can get good advice about trading on this forum from experienced and profitable traders, but I reckon we lack knowledge and expertise about gambling problems and self-exclusion. ;)
puntinrolls
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Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 3:01 pm

They will not remove the self-exclusion until the end of the time period.
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Dallas
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Location: Working From Home

I'm sure if you self exclude Betfair automatically do it for life.

Seem to remember seeing a few people in the past state they thought they'd done so for 6 months but were never able to reactivate it.

I think there's mounting pressure on all bookmakers/gambling sites to do begin to do this now
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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

Bookies get severely punished for re-opening an excluded account so they will do everything to avoid it.
spreadbetting
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Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

I'd imagine they treat it a bit like an alcoholic thinking he can start drinking again. Not worth their while to open the account again, your mate should just get on with being a non gambler and find a new hobby.
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xtrader16
Posts: 411
Joined: Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:00 pm

I've self-excluded twice from Betfair in the past 10 years and each time, at the end of the 6 months, they re-opened the account with little questioning.

At the same time, I self-excluded from Betdaq and they refused to reopen my account even though my account was in profit over a 5-year period. I still cannot understand their rational. :?:

If punters are feeling they need a break from gambling or trading they are in their rights to ask for a 6-month self-exclusion from the company in question. If at some point an individual feels like they are losing to much money but also understand that if they self-exclude they will NEVER get the account open again why would they ever self-exclude. It is counterproductive.

I will never self-exclude my accounts ever again as you dont know if they will be reopened. Lucky for me I have my trading under control, it was not always this way.

Why should a short temporary difficult time last a lifetime. It makes no sense to me at all.
spreadbetting
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Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

xtrader16 wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 2:53 pm


Why should a short temporary difficult time last a lifetime. It makes no sense to me at all.
As far as I'm aware the self exclusions are set periods 6 months upwards to 5 years not a lifetime. I think the 5 year max is probably tied into the old DPA where records were supposed to be retained for 6 years.
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Derek27
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xtrader16 wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 2:53 pm
At the same time, I self-excluded from Betdaq and they refused to reopen my account even though my account was in profit over a 5-year period. I still cannot understand their rational. :?:
Why did you self-exclude when your Betdaq account was in profit?

I agree there should not be a lifetime ban in the same way that not all alcoholics need to stop drinking for life.
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cmuddle
Posts: 160
Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2017 7:12 pm

there is an option now to self-exclude permanently and your details will be saved for 7 years,
theoretically one could start again after 7 years.

I guess the idea is to put at least some road blocks to gamblers on their way losing too much again.

My friend says he (accidentally) excluded himself forever and wants to try to reopen his account after 6 months which is in February.

The logic is still strange because he still can access all the other bookies and exchanges, he just wanted to take a rest from his trading career :lol:
Trader Pat
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Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:50 pm

When I started out 'trying' to trade I blew quite a few banks over a sustained period of time and took a step away from the markets for a few months at a time. But I never once felt the need to self exclude myself from the exchange.

If you take that step to me it says you're admitting that you have a gambling problem. And from that point of view I can see why Betfair and bookies would be reluctant to let you re-open your account.
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xtrader16
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Trader Pat wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 6:54 pm
When I started out 'trying' to trade I blew quite a few banks over a sustained period of time and took a step away from the markets for a few months at a time. But I never once felt the need to self exclude myself from the exchange.

If you take that step to me it says you're admitting that you have a gambling problem. And from that point of view I can see why Betfair and bookies would be reluctant to let you re-open your account.
There are many reasons why somebody would use the self-exclude option. Maybe a death in the family has put them in a temporary grief cycle and gambling/trading is not the best idea right now. So, to PREVENT losing huge amounts they self-exclude until they feel better. Why would you immediately assume that people who self-exclude have a gambling addiction?

If the bookies or the exchanges fail to re-open peoples accounts after the temporary exclusion ends (6 months) people are NEVER going to self-exclude themselves as they will be aware that the account might never be re-opened. So self-exclusion becomes obsolete.

I closed my Betdaq account that was in profit to prevent me using it as a secondary exchange whist my Betfair account was suspended they failed to reopen it. Shit exchange anyway.....honestly dont see why they persist.
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Derek27
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xtrader16 wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:32 pm
There are many reasons why somebody would use the self-exclude option. Maybe a death in the family has put them in a temporary grief cycle and gambling/trading is not the best idea right now. So, to PREVENT losing huge amounts they self-exclude until they feel better. Why would you immediately assume that people who self-exclude have a gambling addiction?
When a close relative dies you take some time off work, cancel the piss-up with your mates, and take time off gambling. You neither have the urge or the time to gamble. Anyone who has to self-exclude to stop themselves must surely have a problem.
Trader Pat
Posts: 4327
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:50 pm

xtrader16 wrote:
Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:32 pm
Trader Pat wrote:
Sun Dec 27, 2020 6:54 pm
When I started out 'trying' to trade I blew quite a few banks over a sustained period of time and took a step away from the markets for a few months at a time. But I never once felt the need to self exclude myself from the exchange.

If you take that step to me it says you're admitting that you have a gambling problem. And from that point of view I can see why Betfair and bookies would be reluctant to let you re-open your account.
There are many reasons why somebody would use the self-exclude option. Maybe a death in the family has put them in a temporary grief cycle and gambling/trading is not the best idea right now. So, to PREVENT losing huge amounts they self-exclude until they feel better. Why would you immediately assume that people who self-exclude have a gambling addiction?

If the bookies or the exchanges fail to re-open peoples accounts after the temporary exclusion ends (6 months) people are NEVER going to self-exclude themselves as they will be aware that the account might never be re-opened. So self-exclusion becomes obsolete.
I think its a pretty safe assumption that the majority of people who use the self exclude feature have a gambling problem or at least believe they do. Why else would you use it? When I was blowing banks left right and centre I never felt the need to self exclude because the money I was gambling was earmarked for gambling. When I got my wages every month I set aside money for bills, living expenses and money for social activities and I never once touched any of that money for gambling. Now if I didn't trust myself not to use that money for gambling then I may have considered self exclusion and would have admitted to myself that I had a gambling problem.

I don't understand your logic of 'temporary grief cycles'. If gambling/trading isn't the best idea at a certain point in time, then don't do it. If you need a 3rd party to prevent you from gambling/trading then you have a problem whether you're willing to admit it to yourself or not. If I come home from the pub pissed and get a craving for a Big Mac its probably not the best idea to jump in the car and go to the drive-thru, so I don't do it. I don't ask somebody to hide the car keys in advance, just in case...

There are plenty of full time traders/gamblers who have had deaths in their family, or are going through a particularly tough time for whatever reason but they don't feel the need to put 10k on the favourite in the last at Wolverhampton just to make themselves feel better. The bottom line with self exclusion is you use it if you don't believe that you have the self control to stop yourself doing something stupid.

What I do agree with you on is if Betfair are offering temporary self exclusion periods then they should stick to them and re-open the account after that time has passed. But if bookies and exchanges are under increasing scrutiny to curb problem gambling then I can see why they're reluctant to reopen accounts.
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