Betfair Account Restrictions & closed accounts - Getting them removed and accounts reopened

[gazuty]

When I logged in yesterday was confronted with a pop up screen asking me to set a max deposit limit.

Did that happen for other users and did it happen for any aust based users?

I chose to skip setting a deposit limit (mainly because I don’t make deposits, only occasional withdrawals - in a zero interest rate environment I’m “happy” to take the risk on betfair insolvency for my balance).

[Euler]

Not seen anything myself.

I am still getting regular messages from people affected though. I think Betfair has done a terrible job on this. It's difficult to comprehend what a bad job they have done. Catching too many people in the net and not acting quickly enough to reverse blatantly poor decisions.

[Buz]

When I logged in yesterday was confronted with a pop up screen asking me to set a max deposit limit.

Did that happen for other users and did it happen for any aust based users?

I chose to skip setting a deposit limit (mainly because I don’t make deposits, only occasional withdrawals - in a zero interest rate environment I’m “happy” to take the risk on betfair insolvency for my balance).

Yes, same thing happened to me. My TAB account has been giving me the same prompt every time I sign into it for the past couple of weeks, don't know of any change to any relevant laws so I'm guessing there was a court case somewhere recently that found in favour of a problem gambler.

[Derek27]

I've become immune to "set deposit limits" or "when the fun stops stop". It's like an annoying record that's constantly being played in the background.

[Hastings101]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

[MobiusGrey]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

Wow this sounds horrific, I don't know much about this area but aren't there any kind of "work arounds" you can pull off. Obviously I'm NOT saying you should do this and someone who definitely isn't me used to do matched betting and when this person's accounts were restricted this person opened other accounts in their wife's name and just carried on?

[Trader Pat]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

£100 a month seems a very low limit to put on someone with that kind of dough especially If you've made 200k in the lifetime of your account, they'd be able to see that.

Have they asked to see proof of the 150k sitting in your bank account?

.

[Hastings101]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

Wow this sounds horrific, I don't know much about this area but aren't there any kind of "work arounds" you can pull off. Obviously I'm NOT saying you should do this and someone who definitely isn't me used to do matched betting and when this person's accounts were restricted this person opened other accounts in their wife's name and just carried on?

I did look into this when they introduced the premium charge but didn’t want to risk getting caught.

Another issue now is with these limits being introduced, the level of stakes I use would raise red flags which would lead to deposit limits being imposed very quickly on a friends account. Id love to know what Betfair deems acceptable use (deposits, bet size) is for some on say a 40k salary

[Hastings101]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

£100 a month seems a very low limit to put on someone with that kind of dough especially If you've made 200k in the lifetime of your account, they'd be able to see that.

Have they asked to see proof of the 150k sitting in your bank account?

.

Someone from the responsible gambling team is supposedly going to call me. But both the initial woman who called and the customer service chat woman were both clear it’s about your guaranteed income.

Common sense should mean sending proof of the £150k would be enough, but I don’t think much common sense is being used. I’ve paid of my mortgage so my outgoings are limited as well

[Euler]

My situation:

I’m a tennis short odds punter rather than trader. I’ve made £210,000 lifetime profit and been caught by the premium charge for £5,000 though not paying any at the moment, though I’m £40k away from their super premium charge.

This is my full time job, though I’ve been less successful recently I’m still in profit since Jan by £1,500, though it’s possible if you look at the last 12 months I might be down with Betfair

I made a £5k deposit on Friday to make sure I had enough funds for Wimbledon and got a call from responsible gambling that evening. I said I was a full time gambler, this was the wrong answer and that with no guaranteed income I’m now restricted to £100 a month.

Just been on their chat function who basically said there is no way they can increase my limits as gambling income isn’t guaranteed. I said I have £150,000 sat in bank accounts so I obviously afford more than £100 a month and was told it doesn’t matter

I’m crushed I’ve been a full time gambler since 2007 and will likely have to get a “proper” job through no fault of my own. I have no idea what employer would be willing to employ me after 14 years out of the work market

That's insane. It really does feel like Betfair have outsourced the compliance to a bog standard team who have no understanding of how the exchange works. Just totally insane.

[LeTiss]

Betfair have made a right bollox of all this

If you have a lifetime profit of £210,000.......then what the hell are they quibbling about?
That alone should be proof of you not being a problem gambler

Having a guaranteed income means jack shit......somebody might enjoy trips to casinos, or be a shopaholic, or have massive debts to service......the list goes on

The people being caught in the loop doesn't make sense

[Trader Pat]

Doesn't look like there's any end in sight for these restrictions.

[MobiusGrey]

Found the below quite an interesting read. Sites like BetDaq and BetFair could quite easily separate things out, just have 1 site where you can trade on an exchange with no links to anything else, no sports book, no casino, poker etc.

It would then be nice if they then deemed this 'trading' rather than gambling and stuck it under the FCA the same as spreadbetting.

Strict new affordability checks for gamblers will become the reality in Britain in a move likely to hit Paddy Power owner Flutter Entertainment, among others, one industry figure believes.

British betting regulator the Gambling Commission is proposing that gaming companies carry out mandatory affordability checks on customers who lose £100 (€113.96) or more a month, to limit harm, sparking heated debate with the industry.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, co-founder of Gamban, which has developed digital aids for problem gamblers, believes the debate on the issue is over. The question is now simply the level at which checks will apply.

“Operators are supposed to do them anyway, but they only do them where someone has lost tens of thousands,” he explained. “If you look at data on disposable income, £100 is probably about right.”

Mr Zarb-Cousin dismissed the argument that checks involved an invasion of betting company customers’ privacy as “operators already hold lots of data” on their punters.

A deadline on responses to the proposal passed last Tuesday. Betting companies and other groups argue that it is unrealistic and will damage their businesses.



Horse racing
British racing, partly funded through a levy on betting, believes the checks could cost the sport £60 million a year.

The British Horseracing Authority, along with groups representing trainers and owners, warned last week that this damage could be inflicted at a time when their industry was trying to recover from a £250 million loss from Covid-19 restrictions.

The £100-a-month affordability check could also hit Irish gambling giant Flutter, owner of Paddy Power, Betfair and Skybet, which operate in the British market.

Flutter chairman Ian Proctor argued in British newspaper City AM last week for a three-step approach.

He said this should involve applying appropriate spending limits at registration for customers with financial red flags, monitoring clients through safer gaming controls and applying a spending backstop on the “rare occasions” where the other two steps have missed something.

Gamban has developed an app that prevents problem gamblers from accessing betting sites. It is available free via treatment providers in Britain and Norway, while the company works with Irish charity Extern. Individuals can also download the app themselves and pay €2.50 per month to use it.

According to Mr Zarb-Cousin, 5 per cent of British customers account for 60 per cent of digital betting profits.

He argues that online slot machines and casino games are a key cause of problem betting.

Operators cross-sell these to customers who bet on racing and other sports. Mr Zarb-Cousin suggests that affordability checks could be less stringent if companies offered sports betting and casino games on separate sites, or required customers to use different “digital wallets” for each.

[Naffman]

If they really did limit everyone to £100 loss per month these companies would go broke so quick, something isn't adding up

[Derek27]

People who worked for Debenhams, BHS, etc. all had so-called guaranteed incomes.