I will talk about bookmaker restrictions in another tweet. This is also different to maximum payouts (Tweet 50). This is going to be about bookmaker limits per market and how it works behind the scenes and why understanding it is so important.
Let’s take a sport like Soccer. Lets say the market goes on site on the Monday and the match takes place on the Saturday. What you have to imagine is a spreadsheet with Monday to Saturday across the top and then below that amounts that correspond with the actual market.
On the Monday the bookmaker might be willing to lay £2k at the price (Premier League Match Odds). This might then increase to £3k Tuesday, £5k Wednesday, £10k Thursday, £20k Friday, £50k Saturday.
As you can see as we get nearer the start of the event the more the bookie is willing to lay. For a market like Over/Under 2.5 Goals, Correct Score etc it maybe at 50% of that total, with it again increasing nearer the off time. This is why the syndicates wait until as late as possible to place their bets. Much easier when £50k limits rather than £2k limits. Everyone will be saying but I cant win that much, A stake factor (Tweet 18) is then applied to your account which determines your limits.
That’s why if your stake factor is 0.01 it doesn’t matter how big the bookmaker limits are, you will only be allowed peanuts on. This happens across all sports and all markets. Knowing those limits can really help. One thing that is utterly ridiculous is that bookies have now removed the bet max button. Bet365 amongst others used to have a button you could press, which would show the maximum bet you could have on that market. What it means now, is that you deposit money into your account and are then guessing as to whether a bet will be accepted or not. When it comes back saying you can have £2.34, you cancel the bet and try to make a withdrawal. At which point you then have to jump through hoops to get your money back. It sums up the industry perfectly.
No transparency. Awful customer experience. Shocking underhand tactics from bookmakers (shock). It’s why the exchanges are so appealing. The lack of understanding the bookmaker limits shines through with golf tipsters. They will tell you that they want what is best for their subscribers/readers. What has happened though is a ridiculous bun fight to get the bets out first so the best prices can be snaffled up.
It used to be a case that they would come out on a Wednesday. Now it is Monday afternoon/evening. The problem is that it takes a fraction of the money to move prices, than it would do, even a day later. The bookies cards are marked very early and for very little money. Prices are being crashed left right and centre amongst a sea of blue on Oddschecker. I guess it comes back to what I was saying about having skin in the game. If you are not placing bets yourself why would you honestly care.
Bookmaker limits are important to understand though and the later you can leave bets, the better off you will be. Unfortunately, as you get nearer the start time, markets get more efficient. A tricky balance!!
ProPunting 