After placing multiple bets on an online sportsbook you suddenly receive that dreaded email: from now on, you are excluded from any promotional offers, such as free bets, and deposit bonuses. In worse cases, the bookie can even limit the size of each bet you are allowed to place. This is called gubbing, and it has been the bane of sports punters for decades.
At ThePuntersPage we do not condone trying to cheat a bookmaker in any way, but in this article, we will explain what happens when a bookie limits your account and why this might have occurred.
Check out: Opening multiple betting accounts.
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What Is Gubbing?
When a bookie gubs you, it means they have limited your account. Usually, this is not that bad, as you are only banned from getting promotional offers, such as free bets or enhanced odds. In more extreme cases, a bookie may even limit the size of your bets, meaning you can only place small bets from now on, or even ban your account completely. Bookies have every right to do this, as there is no law forcing them to accept your bet or offer you a bonus.
Why Have I been Gubbed?
In most cases, being gubbed means you have been flagged for using particular betting strategies, such as betting on rigged events, matched betting, gnoming, and arbitrage betting, amongst others. These strategies are seen as predatory by bookies, who frown on taking advantage of bookie discrepancies, or bonus abuse.
However, another common reason for gubbing is that you are simply too good at winning money. If you consistently win more than you lose, especially for large sums of money, the bookie will believe they can no longer make money from you and try to limit your bets and remove any promotional offers.
Betting Strategies Which Are Likely to Cause Gubbing
While being a cheeky punter may get you gubbed, there are plenty of betting strategies which are almost guaranteed to get you gubbed. Some might even get you banned completely.
Gnoming
Gnoming means betting using somebody else’s account. Usually, players who do this are trying to make the most of bookie promotions with as many accounts as possible. By using a friend’s account to gamble, they hope to get more free bets or other promos.
Another reason players may choose to gnome is if they have already been gubbed by too many bookies.
Of course, gnoming is illegal and is definitely against bookies’ terms and conditions. Pretending to be someone else is fraud. That being said, it can be hard to prove, as anyone is free to give a friend betting tips. Still, a gnome account is likely to be completely deleted, and you will be lucky if you get your winnings paid or your deposit refunded.
Arbitrage Betting
Arbitrage betting or arbing means betting against yourself in order to take advantage of discrepancies between odds offered by different bookies. If you only place bets on arbing opportunities, bookies will figure this out eventually
Matched Betting
Matched betting means taking advantage of bookie promos and free bets in order to get a guaranteed profit. If you see a matched betting opportunity, make sure you do not place your lay bets at your favourite bookie, where you have your main betting account. Alternatively, place them on an exchange betting site.
Value Betting
Value betting can mean smart betting, though there is also value betting software. As the software is used by multiple users, betting companies can easily see a pattern in which bets they advise.
Hedge Betting
Hedge betting is a way to take advantage of movement in odds in order to guarantee a profit. You bet against yourself when the odds have changed, making it similar to arbitrage betting. Always place your hedge bets on a different site than your original bet.
Dutching
Dutching means betting on multiple outcomes. You may use a Dutching Calculator to see: As long as least one of your bets win, you will still have profit. To avoid gubbing due to Dutching, consider placing Dutch bets on multiple sites.
Betting Software
Betting bots or other software are against the bookies’ terms of service. Using them may get you gubbed or even banned from a bookie.
Pay attention to parent companies
Many bookies are owned by the same parent company. If you are placing matched bets or hedged bets on two sites owned by the same company, let alone the same website, you are twice as likely to be gubbed.
Exchange Betting: Avoid Gubbing Altogether
While gubbing exists for regular betting, exchange betting sites usually do not gub players, no matter which betting strategy they use. That is because in exchange betting, players play for each other’s money, and bookies simply take a commission. The more you win, the more the bookie makes. Most offer discounts (lowered commission) to successful punters. That means they will reward smart players instead of punishing them.
This makes betting exchanges like Betfair Exchange, Smarkets or Betdaq ideal for punters who have experienced gubbing before.
How To Be Ungubbed
If you have been restricted from promotional offers due to (suspected) matched betting, there is no reason to panic. As soon as you lose a few bets, the bookie is likely to reinstate bonuses. Of course, if a bookie has severely restricted your bet size, they may be unlikely to remove any restrictions it. In that case, it is better to choose a different UK betting site or switch to exchange betting.
Gubbing FAQs
In general no. As long as you do not break any terms of service, you will probably never be gubbed. Betfair even offers punters with great success a discount on the commission paid.
The two best ways to avoid gubbing are to spread your bets over multiple sites and to use exchange betting sites.
Even if your account have been gubbed, you can still make money with it. While you can no longer receive promos, you can still place bets, which could give you rewards. Even if your bet size is limited, you can still enjoy winnings from smaller bets.
Betting on more than one horse in a race is not guaranteed to get you gubbed. However if, you consistently win large sums due to dutched bets, it could be reason for bookies to limit your account.
Probably yes. If bookies realize you are taking unfair advantage of their free bets and promos, they will be very unlikely to offer you any future bonuses.
Using somebody else’s account to place bets is considered fraud, and is also against bookies’ terms and conditions. This could lead to said account being gubbed or even banned.
ThePuntersPage Final Say
Being gubbed is usually a result of matched betting or other types of predatory betting (from the bookies’ perspective). However, it can also simply be the consequence of being a profitable punter. Many punters recommend mug bets as a way to avoid being gubbed. Still, this is a dubious method and has no guarantees. If you have a controversial betting strategy, you should always pay attention if you are betting at two sites owned by the same company.
We recommend exchange betting if you are looking to avoid gubbing.