Bookies Closing Down
Action: Having a wager on a game.
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ATS ('against the [point] spread'): If a team is 5-2 ATS, it means it has a 5-2 record against the point spread, or more commonly referred to simply as the 'spread.'
Backdoor cover: When a team scores points at the end of a game to cover the spread unexpectedly.
Bad beat: Losing a bet you should have won. It's especially used when the betting result is decided late in the game to change the side that covers the spread. Also used in poker, such as when a player way ahead in the expected win percentage loses on the river (last card).
Beard: Someone who places a wager for another person (aka 'runner').
Book: Short for sportsbook or bookmaker; person or establishment that takes bets from customers.
Bookie: A person who accepts bets illegally and charges vig.
Buying points: Some bookies or sportsbooks will allow customers to alter the set line and then adjust odds. For example, a bettor might decide he wants to have his team as a 3-point underdog instead of the set line of 2.5. He has then 'bought' half a point, and the odds of his bet will be changed.
Chalk: The favorite in the game. People said to be 'chalk' bettors typically bet the favorite.
Circle game: A game for which the betting limits are lowered, usually because of injuries and/or weather.
Closing line: The final line before the game or event begins.
Consensus pick: Derived from data accumulated from a variety of sportsbooks in PickCenter. The pick, and its percentage, provides insight as to what side the public is taking in a game.
Cover: The betting result on a point-spread wager. For a favorite to cover, it has to win by more than the spread; an underdog covers by winning outright or losing by less than the spread.
Dime: Jargon for a $1,000 bet. If you bet 'three dimes,' that means a $3,000 wager.
'Dog: Short for underdog.
Dollar: Jargon for a $100 bet. Usually used with bookies; if you bet 'five dollars,' that means a $500 wager.
Edge: An advantage. Sports bettors might feel they have an edge on a book if they think its lines aren't accurate.
Even money: Odds that are considered 50-50. You put up $1 to win $1.
Exotic: Any wager other than a straight bet or parlay; can also be called a 'prop' or 'proposition wager.'
Favorite: The expected straight-up winner in a game or event. Depending on the sport, the favorite will lay either odds or points. For example, in a football game, if a team is a 2.5-point favorite, it will have to win by three points or more to be an ATS winner.
Fixed: A participant in a particular game who alters the result of that game or match to a completely or partially predetermined result. The participant did not play honestly or fairly because of an undue outside influence.
Futures bet: A long-term wager that typically relates to a team's season-long success. Common futures bets include betting a team to win a championship at the outset of a season, or betting whether the team will win or lose more games than a set line at the start of the season.
Halftime bet: A bet made after the first half ended and before the second half begins (football and basketball primarily). The oddsmaker generally starts with half of the game side/total and adjusts based on what happened in the first half.
Handicapper: A person trying to predict the winners of an event.
Handle: The amount of money taken by a book on an event or the total amount of money wagered.
Hedging: Betting the opposing side of your original bet, to either ensure some profit or minimize potential loss. This is typically done with futures bets, but can also be done on individual games with halftime bets or in-game wagering.
High roller: A high-stakes gambler.
Hook: A half-point. If a team is a 7.5-point favorite, it is said to be 'laying seven and a hook.'
In-game wagering: A service offered by books in which bettors can place multiple bets in real time, as the game is occurring.
Juice: The commission the bookie or bookmaker takes. Standard is 10 percent. Also called the 'vig/vigorish.'
Layoff: Money bet by a sportsbook with another sportsbook or bookmaker to reduce that book's liability.
Limit: The maximum bet taken by a book. If a book has a $10,000 limit, it'll take that bet but the book will then decide whether it's going to adjust the line before the bettor can bet again.
Lock: A guaranteed win in the eyes of the person who made the wager.
Middle: When a line moves, a bettor can try to 'middle' a wager and win both sides with minimal risk. Suppose a bettor bets one team as a 2.5-point favorite, then the line moves to 3.5 points. She can then bet the opposite team at 3.5 and hope the favorite wins by three points. She would then win both sides of the bet.
Money line (noun), money-line (modifier): A bet in which your team only needs to win. The point spread is replaced by odds.
Mush: A bettor or gambler who is considered to be bad luck.
Nickel: Jargon for a $500 bet. Usually used with bookies; if you bet 'a nickel,' that means a $500 wager.
Oddsmaker (also linemaker): The person who sets the odds. Some people use it synonymous with 'bookmaker' and often the same person will perform the role at a given book, but it can be separate if the oddsmaker is just setting the lines for the people who will eventually book the bets.
Off the board: When a book or bookie has taken a bet down and is no longer accepting action or wagers on the game. This can happen if there is a late injury or some uncertainty regarding who will be participating.
Over/under: A term that can be used to describe the total combined points in a game (the Ravens-Steelers over/under is 40 points) or the number of games a team will win in a season (the Broncos' over/under win total is 11.5). Also used in prop bets.
Parlay: A wager in which multiple teams are bet, either against the spread or on the money line. For the wager to win (or pay out), all of them must cover/win. The more teams you bet, the greater the odds.
Pick 'em: A game with no favorite or underdog. The point spread is zero, and the winner of the game is also the spread winner.
Point spread (or just 'spread'): The number of points by which the supposed better team is favored over the underdog.
Proposition (or prop) bet: A special or exotic wager that's not normally on the betting board, such as which team will score first or how many yards a player will gain. Sometimes called a 'game within a game.' These are especially popular on major events, with the Super Bowl being the ultimate prop betting event.
Push: When a result lands on the betting number and all wagers are refunded. For example, a 3-point favorite wins by exactly three points. Return on investment (ROI): In PickCenter, ROI is the amount (according to numberFire) that a bettor should expect to get back on a spread pick.
Runner: Someone who makes bets for another person (aka 'beard').
Sharp: A professional, sophisticated sports bettor.
Spread: Short for point spread.
Square: A casual gambler. Someone who typically isn't using sophisticated reasoning to make a wager.
Steam: When a line is moving unusually fast. It can be a result of a group or syndicate of bettors all getting their bets in at the same time. It can also occur when a respected handicapper gives a bet his followers all jump on, or based on people reacting to news such as an injury or weather conditions.
Straight up: The expected outright winner of the money line in an event or game, not contingent on the point spread.
Teaser: Betting multiple teams and adjusting the point spread in all the games in the bettor's favor. All games have to be picked correctly to win the wager.
Total: The perceived expected point, run or goal total in a game. For example, in a football game, if the total is 41 points, bettors can bet 'over' or 'under' on that perceived total.
Tout (service): a person (or group of people) who either sells or gives away picks on games or events.
Underdog: The team that is expected to lose straight up. You can either bet that the team will lose by less than the predicted amount (ATS), or get better than even-money odds that it will win the game outright. For example, if a team is a 2-1 underdog, you can bet $100 that the team will win. If it wins, you win $200 plus receive your original $100 wager back.
Vig/vigorish: The commission the bookie or bookmaker takes; also called the 'juice.' Standard is 10 percent.
Wager: A bet.
Welch: To not pay off a losing bet.
Wiseguy: A professional bettor. Another term for a 'sharp.'
With more and more cases of winning bettors complaining about having their accounts closed or severely restricted by leading bookmakers, what are the reasons behind this off-the-record practice? Read on to find out what can get your betting account closed and why this will never happen to you at Pinnacle.
In the past two decades, the spread of the Internet changed the gambling industry landscape for good, making online betting the most popular way for placing wagers.
With an increasing number of sites making historical data and statistics available to the public, more and more well-educated people turned to sports betting not only as a means of entertainment, but also as a means of living.
Main indicators that flag an account and can lead to closure or severe restrictions are: bet size, free bets and bonuses, user behavior and profitability.
Professional bettors have a strong understanding of the mathematics of bookmaking and manage to make long-term profits by applying arbitrage strategies and bet hedging.
Despite claims to the contrary, a common off-the-record practice among mainstream bookmakers in an attempt to exclude winning players from their business, is to close or severely limit winning accounts.
While some bookmakers go as far as cancelling accounts and literally barring profitable bettors from their e-premises, others effectively end their relationship by limiting the stakes to ridiculously small amounts such as $2 per bet.
Criteria for limiting/closing accounts
With more and more bookmakers looking to attract square punters (those who bet more than they win on a daily basis), professional bettors are the anathema to leading sportsbooks. But how do bookmakers know who bets for a living?
Below are the main indicators that flag an account as professional and can lead to closure or severe restrictions of betting amounts:
- Bet size: Professional bettors do not experiment with their money. They often calculate the exact amount of money they need to place on a market in order to ensure winnings. Odd stake amounts such as $79.34, for example, indicate arbitrage, which is a common strategy among professional bettors.
- Free bets & bonuses: Professional bettors are rarely interested in specials offers. They will only take them if they fit into their business plan, which is rarely the case as free bets and bonuses come with a long list of terms & conditions.
- User behavior: Professional bettors don’t bet for fun, they bet for a living. You will rarely find them hanging around the website watching live matches. They login, place their bets and move on to the next bookmaker.
- Profitability: Last but not least, professional bettors take more money out of a bookmaker than they put in.
Surprisingly enough, profitability is not the first factor a bookmaker looks at. In order to know who is profitable in the long run, you have to let time pass and then it might be too late.
Refusing to accept a bet at the advertised odds may break the spirit of fair game, but it does not break any law.
What bookmakers try to do is detect professional bettors before they manage to take money out their pockets. For that reason, they develop guidelines for risk groups and profiles on players based on their behaviors and betting patterns.
Betfred Closing Down
This rigid style of investigation can catch out bettors who are not professionals but to eliminate risk, bookmakers take the better-safe-than-sorry approach. This means that in many cases, casual bettors can have their accounts shut down or heavily curtailed for no apparent reason or any further explanation other than:
We are writing to you to inform you that a business decision has been taken by our senior traders and your betting account has now been closed. No further business may be executed on your behalf. As explained in our Terms and Conditions, a trader's decision is final and will not be overturned.
Is closing betting accounts illegal?
Refusing to accept a bet at the advertised odds may break the spirit of fair game, but it does not break any law.
There are several organisations that are involved in the regulation of the gambling sector, however their primary role is to adjudicate on bets that have been placed, not arbitrary account closures or betting limitations.
Until the industry’s regulations change, so that a bookmaker’s unfounded refusal to accept bets is a reason to lose their licence, it is down to the individual to choose who they entrust their money with.
Why Pinnacle allows winning accounts
Bookies Closing Down 2020
Bookmakers must manage their risk to stay in business. For that reason bookmakers set limits on how much money they are willing to accept on each market. However, managing risk is one thing and playing unfair quite another.
Until the industry’s regulations change, so that a bookmaker’s unfounded refusal to accept bets is a reason to lose their licence, it is down to the individual to choose a reliable bookmaker.
At Pinnacle, we don't just believe that it is important to treat bettors fairly. We are on a mission to educate players on how bookmaking works, so that they can choose smart when deciding what is the best sports betting deal online.
As opposed to the practices of mainstream bookmakers, Pinnacle is known for offering zero bonuses. Instead of throwing our money into expensive marketing campaigns, we invest it in risk management.
Our unique model not only allows us to guarantee you an account no matter how much you win, but it also enables us to offer the highest odds in the online betting industry. When mainstream bookmakers offer rounded odds of 2.00, 3.40 or 1.70, don't be surprised to see Pinnacle offering odds as precise as 2.23, 3.826 or 1.92. To find out more about how Pinnacle can do that, read The maths behind Pinnacle’s winners welcome policy.
William Hill Shops Closing Down
But don't take our word for it. We encourage you to compare us to other bookmakers, before you decide for yourself which sportsbook offers the best deal. That’s why Pinnacle is the number one choice of winning bettors.