David Purdum, ESPN
Already a hot-button issue in the United Kingdom, a controversial bookmaking practice is starting to spread in the U.S.’s growing legal sports betting market, too.
Bookmakers from London to Las Vegas are refusing to take bets from a growing number of customers whose only offense might be trying to win.
The full scope of the issue in the U.K. is difficult to determine, but it’s believed only a small fraction of the roughly 8.5 million “punters” (the European term for bettors) are impacted. Gaming experts say sportsbooks might have closed as many as 50,000 betting accounts in recent years, and just as many punters have had their betting limits restricted to mere pittance.
As one U.K. bettor put it, “If you try to win, they don’t let you play anymore.”
“Yes, bookmakers are severely restricting or closing accounts for what appears to be the fact that these people are winning,” said U.K. gambling consultant Steve Donoughue, secretariat for an all-party parliamentary group that focuses on gaming.
“The hilariousness of it,” Donoughue added, “is that they restricted one of my member’s accounts, and he’s a Lord.”
The profit-minded corporations that have entered the bookmaking game, however, look at it from the perspective of their bottom line and wonder what business would ever choose to cater to customers thought to be “uneconomical.” It’s like encouraging a world-class competitive eater to dine often at your all-you-can-eat buffet.
American sports betting is not immune to the practice. Banning or limiting sophisticated players has been a regular part of Las Vegas sports betting for decades, and, like in the U.K., there’s absolutely nothing illegal about it.
Bettors say the practice is increasing and has even occurred in some of the new states (such as New Jersey) that have entered into the now-legal bookmaking game in recent months.
“Americans should be worried,” said Brian Chappell, a founder for the U.K. bettor advocacy group Justice for Punters. “It’s coming.”
Rest is here…
