168. Bookmaker Shops (4)

A little update to my last tweet. I talked about an ongoing dispute between myself and an unnamed bookmaker with regard to being paid out. I wanted to be paid in cash and they had locked the betslips and were refusing to do so. The update is rather simple. I have been told that unless I provide ID they will not pay out the bets. When they do pay out the bets they will only pay out by cheque and not cash. It clearly leaves me in bit of a quandary as to how to proceed.

I asked on what grounds they needed the ID. I was told they didn’t need to provide me with any. Essentially they can do as they please. I asked where it says that I would need to provide ID or may be asked to provide ID to collect winnings. No answer. Were there AML issues? No. I asked if they ask all the customers who collect winning bets for ID and refuse to payout if they don’t provide it. Obviously the answer is no. No one is questioning the validity of the bets placed or the monies owed. 

It raises some interesting questions in my eyes. What if I didn’t possess any ID? There is no stipulation in the shop before I place a bet that I must have a valid form of ID. Unlike online. The shop could ask for ID when I enter but they consciously choose not to do so. There are many parallels with the online world here where bookmakers are told they cannot ask for ID verification at a later date if it could have been reasonably done so earlier. I am not sure why this is any different. They are only asking because I am a winning punter. 

Some of the feedback from the initial tweet were things like ‘you knew you would have issues so you get no sympathy from me’ or ‘why would you put yourself through the inevitable issues’ or ‘they were using CCTV footage 8 yrs ago’. Those sorts of responses. Let’s be really clear. I am not looking for sympathy. I am just trying to give examples of how it is in the real world, with real money on the line. I want to bring awareness to the way the industry actually operates. I believe I have helped do that with some of the tweets I have written.

Why is it important? I think the thing that has surprised me having not done it for several years is just the sheer levels of acceptance towards practices such as using CCTV footage to track and monitor winning players. The acceptance you must provide ID to collect winnings. That simply wasn’t the case 7/8 years ago. It may have been going on but it wasn’t widespread and certainly wasn’t accepted or the ‘norm’. Maybe the rules have changed. Part of the problem we have as punters and where we have to be super careful is this. All these little changes that happen in the favour of the bookmaker whether it be online or in retail shops are to the detriment of the punter. No one questions these things or raises awareness of these issues. The bookies are able to do as they please.

As is so often the case these additional powers are introduced by the bookmaker under the guise of helping problem gamblers or those who are self excluded. What ends up happening is that the bookmakers utterly abuse this for their own gain. There is a good argument that says CCTV cameras can help with problem gambling. There is no good argument that says that technology should be abused and used to track winning players. That was not the purpose it was brought in for.  Affordability checks and any variations of Single Customer View will eventually be used by the bookmakers for their own financial gain. It’s just the way the bookmakers operate and are allowed to. It’s their modus operandi.

I am told I have to get the money in the form of a cheque. Maybe I don’t have a bank account. Maybe I don’t want my partner to see that I have been placing bets or had a big winner. Who knows. Could be lots of different reasons. I genuinely struggle to understand the whole paying cash into machines and then withdrawing with cheques and how it doesn’t trigger all sorts of AML flags. This is what the bookmaker is insisting I do remember. I don’t have a choice. 

To put some context on the frustrations and the fact bookmakers literally do as they please. I was told the following story from a friend a few weeks ago. I cannot verify it but I also have no reason to doubt it either.  A person was allowed to ‘lose’, not stake, almost £40k in cash through machines in a single shop over a period of about three months. They weren’t asked once if they were ok, who they were or what was happening. The shop was just happy to keep taking the money. Now the punter in question is a big winner so no real issues but it says everything to me. The shop didn’t know who he was. They didn’t care. They didn’t know his situation. It took place in the last 12 months. Not 4/5 years ago. This is the sort of industry we are dealing with.