Black Markets have been talked about a great deal recently as an unintended consequence of the new proposed affordability checks. I thought I would share my experience of one bookmaker within that sphere. I have said before I haven’t had much need for Black Market bookmakers but given what is potentially coming I thought it prudent to look at further options. It is really important that the likes of Andrew Rhodes and Lucy Frazer read the story to truly understand the consequences of what they are planning. What they will be forcing people to do.
I have generally stayed well clear of these types of bookmakers and they come in very different shapes and sizes. I have had enough issues with the biggest bookies that I was going into this with my eyes wide open. This isn’t companies on the right hand side of Oddschecker.
First port of call was to type into Google the name of a small Caribbean island and ‘bookmakers’. This island by the way has it’s own Gaming Commission who issues various licenses. I was a bit blown away by one aspect of the results. The 3rd, 4th. 5th and 7th websites listed all did so under the premise of them being ‘Non Gam Stop’ bookmakers. That means they are specifically targeting customers who may have been signed up for the Gambling Self Exclusion scheme Gamstop. If that doesn’t send alarm bells ringing it should do. Huge massive alarm bells. It has taken me less than 30 seconds to find dozens of bookmakers I can use that aren’t part of the Gamstop scheme. So when someone tells you that the use of such services is going to stop a determined gambler I say hmm.
The original site I signed up for was good. Had no issues. In many respects was far superior to the UK regulated bookmakers. Things like displaying stake limits. Just the small things. I ended up being restricted there. Deposits and withdrawals had been excellent. I am now awaiting some withdrawals but that is because it is over the monthly limit. Let’s wait and see if they are paid without issue. It should be noted that withdrawals were instant. As in returned to your bank account within 5 minutes. Again putting the regulated UK industry to shame.
Given they offered certain markets I thought it prudent to look for some ‘skins’ on the same network. Essentially they are bookmakers who use the same back end software to generate and manage the markets/prices. I found one and thought I would open an account with them. The deposit bonus was only £100 instead of £500 so I didn’t think too much of it. I really wasn’t that bothered by it. It wasn’t why I wanted the account. When I initially tried to deposit I put no bonus code in. The debit card was rejected. I thought that was strange. I tried again. Same again. I ended up using a credit card to deposit. If that doesn’t send more alarm bells ringing to everyone involved I don’t know what will. I was thinking I would probably get screwed over on exchange rates so I just wanted one deposit for now. I deposited £1000 and pressed the £100 bonus button. I thought no biggie. This is my fault in that I hadn’t read the T&Cs as thoroughly as I should have. They said that you had to 10x both the deposit and the bonus. So I would have to turnover £11k to release the £100. Had I deposited £100 I would have had to turnover £1100. I understood there were rules about bets not being sub 1.8 to qualify for the bonus. Again, no huge issue. Despite the ridiculous turnover requirements there were three other T&Cs that caused issues.
The first was that you could only withdraw a maximum of £1k from your bonus funds. So they are expecting you to turnover the bonus 110x and the maximum you could withdraw was £1000. I only became aware of this when the bonus account had about £4.5k in it. Despite asking customer services on three separate times I was unsure if I would get my original deposit back. i.e. I would have that and the £1k rather than just the £1k bonus. It was a question they could not answer and I still don’t know the answer.
I thought ok lets place a big football acca. For £2.5k. Some mug teams but making sure it was above 1.8. Hopefully that would get the bonus released. I had already placed more than £10k worth of bets on the account. Nope. Ended up bloody winning when you couldn’t care less. When speaking to customer services I became aware of another clause that isn’t in the original T&Cs.
It was that the maximum you could redeem towards your wagering turnover was 50% of the original bonus. i.e. I could place a bet for £500 but it would only count as £50. I am then told I am still £4800 short of meeting the turnover requirements. The balance on the sports bonus account is at £8.9k at this pt. All genuine bets but I am thinking there is no way I can take out more than £2k at most. The £1k winnings and £1k stake. I dont know for sure about the stake.
So I then embark on a wild and wonderful evening of placing £6.9k in bets on all and anything I can find where I can try and meet the wagering requirements. I bet on Tennis, Football, Ice Hockey, Basketball, Volleyball, Baseball. E Sports. You name it. It didn’t matter. The biggest bet was £200 with most in the £100 region. Points totals. Over/Unders. All bets at prices at 1.8+. I just thought I would place them all and whatever happens happens. It didn’t matter as I couldn’t get any money out otherwise. I also only have 30 days to meet the requirements.
I am able to place £7k worth of bets in a 30 minute period on a whole wide spectrum of sports. Literally betting on anything that moves. No checks or stops obviously. More than 50 bets. Late at night. The practices regarding bet delays were scandalous. I cannot even see on the website what bets I have actually placed. I am trusting them to settle them correctly. I can only see my winnings from my account balance. It is one of the crazier situations I have ever found myself in.
I am told I am still £2.4k short to reach the bonus total. So we will embark on another spree of utter ridiculousness to try and get the bonus out. Still no clue about the original deposit. As it stands though I have placed more than £20k worth of bets and still not that close to meeting the turnover requirements for a £100 bonus.
It will become the norm though for thousands of UK punters who are forced to go down this route, This isn’t something that should just be associated with affordability checks. It should also be linked to account restrictions. Every time one of the big bookmakers makes a decision to restrict an account because it might have shown signs that it might make a profit they are forcing people to these unscrupulous companies. Is that what this industry has become? Just to summarise these are companies who actively seek those who have problem gambling issues, accept credit cards for deposits, scandalous bonus terms and conditions, no checks on problem gambling, no account statements to see bets, scandalous operating methods (In play delays). Who even knows if we will even get paid…
The Gambling Commission is supposed to be protecting UK citizens and providing them with a platform where they can bet with regulated companies (Jobs/tax revenues etc). Confident there is recourse if issues occur. Getting paid. Tools in place for those who maybe vulnerable. The Gambling Commission needs to rip up what they are proposing and start again with something that makes even the slightest bit of sense. The damage they are doing both to the industry and the punters will be catastrophic. This was just one small example of the Black Market that the Gambling Commission is forcing punters towards.
ProPunting 