Sportsbooks are quick to limit anyone that doesn't fit their profile. Everywhere you look nowadays, you’re probably seeing a sports betting ad. On TV during the games, at the games themselves, at all sorts of media and content outlets – some not even related to sports. Every sportsbook and brand is shouting: “come on in and bet with us!”
What they don’t tell you is that they only want you to come and play if you’re a loser. That’s right, the likes of BetMGM, PartySports, PointsBet, BetRivers, FanDuel and DraftKings will all lure you in but if you happen to make some smart decisions with your betting, they’ll cut you off. As annoying as it seems, it’s a reality and it’s something that bettors need to be aware of.
Betting On Alt Lines
One of the greatest novelties of the sports betting boom is that sportsbooks now carry lines on just about everything. In the late 1990’s, you’d be lucky to find enough outlets that would have anything beyond a spread, moneyline and total. Nowadays, you can bet live on what the next play will be, whether a player will or won’t score a touchdown and bet whatever point spread or total you want.
When it comes to alt lines, places like BetMGM, DraftKings and PointsBet will allow you to choose the line that you want. The world is your oyster, right?
If the Green Bay Packers are a -2.5 points favorite, you can dive into those alts and find anything from Green Bay +14.5 to Green Bay -20.5. Whatever floats your boat. However, play and win too many of these and they’ll cut you off.
The main reason they shut these down is because they’re easy to arb and hedge off elsewhere. The books are careful not to mismatch the main lines. When you start sifting through alts, you can easily find a +275 and -250 or a +210 and -200 at different books. That means you get a risk-free profit.
Whatever the case, betting these at all can put you at risk of being limited, so keep that in mind.
Too Many Player Props
Sure, on Twitter, you’ll see all of the books advertising some 15-leg parlay that had Giannis Antetokounmpo to hit a First Basket and Dalvin Cook to finish with over 75 rushing yards and Bryce Harper to hit exactly two home runs. They love to flash when someone bets $1 to win $250,000 in a parlay. The reality is if you start betting too many player props, books will cut you off.
It seems like every day there are mismatches on Player To Have A Double-Double yes/no at different books where you can catch a nice arb. Or betting on over yards for a player at one book and under at another. However, win too many of these or bet too much and they’ll flag your account. They really only want losers playing these.
Only Taking Advantage Of Promos
Another way to get cut down or cut off from a book is by taking advantage of too many promos. Sure, they’ll dangle them in your face as little carrots to come in and play, but if you use too many of them, you’ll get promo-banned.
Some books might notify you with an e-mail but the vast majority of them will just cut you off with no notice. It’s easy to tell: if you visit a place like BetMGM and you see a lot of sports promos when you’re not logged in, and then see none offered to you when you are logged in, you’ve been promo-banned.
There’s also levels to this as some sportsbooks that offer bonuses like Profit Boosts and Bet & Gets might still allow you to have those sweeteners, but prevent you anytime you try to bet them on a player prop. Usually, this is the first step to send you a sign. The next step is to hit you with low limits for player props. You’ll go to bet $100 and they’ll offer you $5.39. If that’s happening, you’re not in their good books.
Winning Too Much
Of course, there’s the old classic: win too much and you’ll get capped off. Yes, sportsbooks brag about their action and handle, and come at you with different catchphrases to purport that they want all of the bets, but the reality is very far from this. As a matter of fact, the DraftKings CEO said exactly that, indicating that they don’t want players who win.
At the end of the day, it’s sad but it’s well known. There are just a few shops around that don’t kick you out like Pinnacle and Circa. And a number of offshore books like BetOnline and Bookmaker don’t, so that’s why they’ll always have a big part of the market. They're still among the best betting sites. But if you’re looking at these onshore companies, they won’t welcome you with open arms if you keep on winning.
You Don’t Even Have To Win
Sportsbooks can be weird sometimes and simply cut you off because they think you’re not their ideal customer. For example, let’s say you were just coming into take advantage of a deposit bonus and hedge it off elsewhere. Sometimes you can be down at the first book hundreds or even thousands, and they’ll still limit you for other reasons. Don’t assume that you’ll be in their good books because you’ve lost money.
