Betting shops in the UK

[football_trader]

Hi guys.

I've been placing bets for many years but only online. I've never been to betting shops. Do you have any experience in betting in betting shops?
I know there are 5 large betting shop chains- betfred, coral, paddy power ladbrokes and william hill.

Do those companies have the same odds online on their websites and in their betting shops?

Once they open early lines on certain events on their websites, does it mean those odds will also become available in their betting shops?

And what are the limits in betting shops? If I want to place an early bet in a betting shop immediately after the odds become available, but only on top markets like English football premier league, Bundesliga, Spanish La Liga etc, what limits will there be? How much will I be allowed to stake?

And which betting shop chain among those five (betfred, coral, paddy power, ladbrokes, william hill) is the best for such an action? Where will I be allowed to place the biggest stake?

Thank you

[Alpha322]

Stay away do your stuff from the comfort of your own home. Many have undesirables in there and the ones who are betting their Benefits away , then they will ask you for a Tenner, or the other ones who tip up the fruit machines when they dont pay out. Infact all this made me pack in for a good 8 Years, i came across Betfair via a friend was very interested in the Lay feature, but found out its the same as backing, over time one loses more but discovered Bet Angel that erased that with the Green up feature now 4 screens later and a screen to watch the action am a profitable Trader and only that, the only Gamble is calling the market in ones favour which took me 6 years of sweat.
So i would avoid them to be honest, thank god for the Internet

[football_trader]

Stay away do your stuff from the comfort of your own home. Many have undesirables in there and the ones who are betting their Benefits away , then they will ask you for a Tenner, or the other ones who tip up the fruit machines when they dont pay out. Infact all this made me pack in for a good 8 Years, i came across Betfair via a friend was very interested in the Lay feature, but found out its the same as backing, over time one loses more but discovered Bet Angel that erased that with the Green up feature now 4 screens later and a screen to watch the action am a profitable Trader and only that, the only Gamble is calling the market in ones favour which took me 6 years of sweat.
So i would avoid them to be honest, thank god for the Internet

But unlike online betting, you can avoid getting limited in betting shops.

[Wrightie]

No harm in giving the betting shops a bash. Sometimes the odds are the same, sometimes they are worse - but you can check before placing the bets. Be aware though, if you start going in all the time and placing suspicious (to them) bets you can get gubbed by shops. Once you are barred they will recognise you and stop you placing bets. The trick is to blend in, and rotate shops. Also don't put huge amounts on in one shop, split it up so as not to draw attention. Also make friends with shop employees - they are often poorly trained and treated and welcome a chat and a tip for their help. As for how much you can get down, I think it varies but have heard of people putting down several hundred (too rich for me!). The bigger the sums the more you draw attention. Shops are definitely a viable route to make money as long as you don't abuse them, and have plenty of shops to choose from. In my experience Coral/ Ladbrokes are shite, so main choices are Hills and Paddy.

[ANGELS15]

Stay away do your stuff from the comfort of your own home. Many have undesirables in there and the ones who are betting their Benefits away , then they will ask you for a Tenner, or the other ones who tip up the fruit machines when they dont pay out. Infact all this made me pack in for a good 8 Years, i came across Betfair via a friend was very interested in the Lay feature, but found out its the same as backing, over time one loses more but discovered Bet Angel that erased that with the Green up feature now 4 screens later and a screen to watch the action am a profitable Trader and only that, the only Gamble is calling the market in ones favour which took me 6 years of sweat.
So i would avoid them to be honest, thank god for the Internet

But unlike online betting, you can avoid getting limited in betting shops.

??????

Are you kidding?

You can get barred very quickly if you're successful.

Betting shops have cameras so they can take your picture and circulate it to all their other shops. They can restrict you as surely as online operators.

[football_trader]

Stay away do your stuff from the comfort of your own home. Many have undesirables in there and the ones who are betting their Benefits away , then they will ask you for a Tenner, or the other ones who tip up the fruit machines when they dont pay out. Infact all this made me pack in for a good 8 Years, i came across Betfair via a friend was very interested in the Lay feature, but found out its the same as backing, over time one loses more but discovered Bet Angel that erased that with the Green up feature now 4 screens later and a screen to watch the action am a profitable Trader and only that, the only Gamble is calling the market in ones favour which took me 6 years of sweat.
So i would avoid them to be honest, thank god for the Internet

But unlike online betting, you can avoid getting limited in betting shops.

??????

Are you kidding?

You can get barred very quickly if you're successful.

Betting shops have cameras so they can take your picture and circulate it to all their other shops. They can restrict you as surely as online operators.

I didn't know they use such methods. Thanks for letting me know.

[football_trader]

So several hundred quid is already a red flag for betting shops even if it is a big market like English football premier league or championship?

[football_trader]

If I win, can betting shops refuse to pay my winnings until I show them my ID?

[ShaunWhite]

If you use bookmakers you're condoning their sharp practices. With no customers they're have to provide a decent offering, but punter solidarity and affirmative action isn't something people do these days if they think they might miss out on something. File dubious social media company owners in that drawer too. Don't feed the beast.

[football_trader]

There are also several Jennings Bet shops in London. Has anyone had any experience with them? As far as I understand, unlike other betting shop chains like betfred, paddy power, coral, ladbrokes and william hill, they don't even provide online betting services, they have only betting shops without any website so it is not even possible to check their odds online

[Alpha322]

So several hundred quid is already a red flag for betting shops even if it is a big market like English football premier league or championship?

Exactly when Cheltenham, Ascot are on i can put through £5000 for a beautiful return the other side (Market in ones favour) imagine 5K down in the shop Thats why i love proper orderflow Trading from my swanky comfortable office. I have a Ladbrokes account with a decent bit divided up for Yard certain value bets

[wearthefoxhat]

If I win, can betting shops refuse to pay my winnings until I show them my ID?

If you win an amount over a certain threshold, they may ask you for ID for their KYC check. (Know Your Customer). Could be a passport or driving licence and maybe a utility bill. They may use this as reason to withhold payment, especially if the bet includes 3 Barney Curley runners that haven't run for 3 years and you've captured all the early morning double digit odds....(there's no legal reason to withhold any winnings, although they may threaten to)

Even if you've done a KYC, and you place increasing amounts, during a set period, they may ask for an affordability check, even if you are winning. It's the pattern of bets and increasing amounts that would trigger this as they should be looking out for a customer that could be vulnerable and chasing losses or out of control. Problem is, they misinterpret the GC guidelines (maybe on purpose) and that's where the problem lies.

There are bet stations in some shops that have worse odds than their paper football coupon. Their paper coupon have worse odds than pinnacle on-line, which most Betfair market makers use as a guide. So for value, Betfair is always the best option for football odds.

Be careful if you go to a betting shop in a quieter street/location. Some "customers" are looking out for anyone that pulls out a large of wad of cash and is betting bigger than normal. They will likely look out for you next time, before you place a bet, and you could get rolled. This also applies when you pick up a large win at the counter.

[Fugazi]

Nope, a profitable strategy I have that gets gubbed online can't do it in the shops, prices much worse. If you are profitable in the shops, you can mitigate getting banned by limiting your stakes and paying cash. Perhaps 100 quid cash at 4 different bookermakers is almost worth the hassle

[football_trader]

100 quid per one betting shop. So if I need to place 1k quid, I need to visit 10 shops. Sounds unrealistic. Waste of time:(

[wearthefoxhat]

100 quid per one betting shop. So if I need to place 1k quid, I need to visit 10 shops. Sounds unrealistic. Waste of time:(

Unless, you have a trusted group that can put the bets on for you. Some Pro-gamblers have to resort to this, but there can be problems getting money spread around and collecting, causing cashflow issues.

There are around 6000 betting shops in the UK (down from 16,000 at their peak), so plenty of scope.