Do Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Fact or Fiction?
Win at Soft Sportsbooks Without Getting Banned
It appears to be common knowledge, that if you happen to know how to win the jackpot at US sportsbooks, you’ll find yourself banned from making any new bets. Though this isn’t true with all sports-books, it is so with those we call “soft” sports-books. So what exactly are these soft sportsbooks and why are they so quick to ban winners? First things first, you’ll need to understand how sportsbooks work in the States. Let’s have a butcher…
And you can also learn the basic sports betting tips
What Is a Soft-book?
Also known as a “square-book”, soft-books are aimed at recreational bettors. This makes sense, as your average Joe taking a punt on the weekend football match poses piratically zero threat to your business if you’re running a sports-book. What soft-book hate, is having to deal with professional gamblers. They refer to these punters as “sharps”. We’ll dive into this aspect a little later. Another reason that soft-books are “soft”, is that they offer softer lines than many other sports-books. That’s why it’s in the name. Duh!
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Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Sharp Books
The opposite of soft-books is “sharp-books”. Look at it this way; soft-books don’t make the market, they just react to it. But it’s sharp-books that move the odds. So it’s the sharp-books that set the trends in terms of how the betting lines are moving. And they are more than happy to take bets from professional bettors. They actually use this cash to shape their odds. Because of this, you’ll find that they’re able to offer the most efficient lines in the market place.
So, square-books or soft-books are really the polar opposite of sharp-books. The former will only accept bets from”amateurs” and will do anything within their power to protect their business.
Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Advantages of Soft-books
If you’re after friendly betting lines and let’s face it, who isn’t, then square-books are the way to go. You’ll find much more value with these book-maker odds. But remember that they don’t have any influence on market movement. Sharp-books do that, and then square-books react accordingly. This means that square-books can sometimes be slower at adjusting their odds. They are watching what the sharp-books are doing and so are not able to adjust their lines quickly. They are essentially following the market as opposed to making it.
Because square-books mainly deal with recreational customers, they offer more bonuses. They use these as a means of enticing new customers to their customer base. Here you’ll often find free bets and deposit bonuses. You’ll see all sorts of offers but the most common are the $25 free bet after making your first deposit. With this, if you lose the first wager, you’ll have another free opportunity to win those losses back.
Always play responsibly
How Soft Bookmakers Typically Treat Winners
It’s an unfortunate truth that square-books don’t have any time for winners. They treat then with disdain. It’s no surprise to hear punters say that after winning, they were promptly banned. Maybe that’s going slightly overboard, with the truth of the matter being that they don’t ban everyone just for having a successful day’s betting. But you should look out if you’re one of those lucky constant winners. As technically, you’re digging into their profits, expect them to close the door in your face pronto.
Always pick the right fight to bet on
The first thing the square-books will do is discourage you from betting with them. This is done by imposing strict betting limits on your activity. For example, even very liquid markets like the NBA and NFL will impose betting limits of between $1,000 and $2,000. If you consider that many square-books will allow bets of up to $100,000, then these limits are extremely low. And that’s for the simple reason of keeping a certain type of bettor away.
Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Making the Successful Punter’s Life Harder
On the other hand, it’s the same story with soft-books. If they see that a punter is having consistent wins of $1k bets, they too will have no problem suddenly imposing betting limits for that individual of, say, $200 or even lower. Another thing soft-books do to discourage a successful gambler is to limit their sporting options. If you find yourself winning when betting on football, don’t be too surprised when the sports-book turns around and refuses to take your football bets. Remember that they are all private companies and have no requirement that they have to take your bets. As a successful gambler, you might well find yourself unable to place bets. They’re happy to take your money, but act like spoiled babies the minute you win and they have to pay out.
As a last resort, a soft-book will not hesitate to ban a consistently successful punter. Though by doing such a thing, the sports-book isn’t really doing it’s reputation any good, but, let’s face it, they only care about the bottom line. It’s the simplest solution. But if you consider the overall rate of success when it comes to sports gambling, and how small a percentage of gamblers actually do win their bets, then banning or making life hard for those who do win, comes across as both petty and greedy.
Why Don’t Soft-books Welcome Most Winners
Probably the number one reason why square-books don’t care for winning bettors is that they limit their exposure. If they were running both soft lines and high betting limits, then they’d lose their shirt pretty quickly. And most soft-book just don’t have the cash or liquidity to be able to handle large bets from professional gamblers. And that’s another reason why they try every trick in the book to discourage them from placing any bets. But there are winners and there are winners. It’s important to recognize that there are going to be as many different types of winners as there are different types of bets. Most square-books are not going to freak out over a $25 winning bet.
But there are two types of betting behaviors that make square-books very nervous. These are “arbitrage betting” (arbing) and “steam chasing“.
Arbitrage Betting
This betting technique works by using the differences between different sports-books to its own advantage. Essentially you’re wagering on the same sporting match or contest, but with different sports-books. For example:
Houston Roughnecks +235
DC Defenders -215
If you bet $100 for the Roughnecks. In order to maximize your arb, you’ll need to bet $228.67 on the roughnecks. Then your profit will be $6.33.
Let’s learn how to bet on tennis effectively!
Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Steam Betting
This is when a syndicate or group of professional bettors all place wagers on the same outcome, but at different sports-books. Speed is an important factor here. The steam aspect comes into play because the sports-books need to move their lines very quickly in order to limit their exposure to more professional bettors. These gamblers take advantage of their knowledge and act on the odds before they’re moved. Now most sports-books are aware of this and so make sure to be on top of moving their lines quickly. But they are always a few stragglers who’ll end up paying dearly for their tardiness.
Both arbitrage and steam chasers can make consistent profits. Yes, it’s true that they’re not really using the skills of a sharp, and for that reason, sports-books have no sympathy for them and ban them the moment they recognize their action.
What Can You Do to Keep Winning at Soft-books?
The funny thing is that it’s already hard enough to pick the winner, let alone then be banned for doing so. It’s as if you have two sets of hurdles to jump over, first the odds and secondly, the book-makers themselves. But with the right techniques, you can still be successful even with soft-bookies. Take note of the following jackpot winning tips and tricks to help you evade detection.
Make Smaller Bets
This is a no-brainer. Square-books will instantly sit up if you’re placing large bets up to the betting maximum. As it’s the bookmaker who has to pay for your success, they really don’t want gamblers who will be consistently winning in the thousands of dollars.
Sportsbooks Ban Winners: Mix Up Your Betting Action
Don’t take to many trips to the same well. Often we see successful bettors playing in the same obscure markets, like darts or curling, over and over. The sports-books will take notice and at some point, you’re going to face a banning or have your bets severely limited.
Also, don’t make the mistake of using the same types of bets for all your activities. Remember that all the sports-books will be vigilant and be checking for specific markets and bets. So make sure that you mix things up a little.
Read more on the traits of a successful player
Don’t Chase Steam or Arb
By far the surest means of getting yourself banned is to chase steam or arbing. Yes, we know that both these methods are pretty surefire ways of making a profit. But a sports-book will see things very differently. As there are no real handicapping skills involved, then sports-books don’t see these two methods as having any legitimacy, as so will ban your sorry ass the second you hand in your betting slip. Though there’s certainly no foolproof method of identifying such players, sports-books ban winners after looking in-depth at all factors including bet size, markets and winnings.
Avoid Depositing and Withdrawing Too Often
This is often the red light that’ll get you caught out. As you’re well aware the possibility of making a living with square-books is pretty much zero, as the low betting limits will also limit your profits. But with soft-books it’s a completely different story. Here you can make a decent living. As you wager, there’s always the temptation to move lots of money around. Don’t do it. Any sports-book that sees a lot of cash moving in and out of an account will automatically assume that you’re a for-profit real money advantage bettor.
Conclusion: Sportsbooks Ban Winners
Keep in mind that sports-books are just like any business in that they want to stay afloat. But for that to happen, they have to limit their exposure to sharps, arbors, and steam chasers. It may be difficult to identify some of these types of players, but the sports-books will have their eyes peeled for them.
To that end, they will be vigilantly looking for the tell-tale signs of consistent wins, max bets, and betting on obscure marketplaces. Your job as a for-profit bettor, if to remain under the radar. That should be one of your major jackpot winning strategies. This way you can go on winning without coming up against any banning or betting limits.
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