Today is the just the start of what will be a massive change in the Australian wagering landscape. From today (September 1st), all bookmakers need to accept bets on all NSW races from everyone. This is a big day for many punters whose accounts have been limited or closed because they dare to make a profit from their punting. Today is the first step in a betting utopia, where if you want to place a bet on something, you can. It’s pathetic that the previous statement is seen as a utopia and not the way things are. We start with NSW racing and in the next year I’m positive the other states will come on board. Then we take the fight over to all Australian sports.

In June I wrote an article about the sleazy ways bookmakers would try and get around these new rules. You can read that article here. In a nutshell I said they would do a few things to stop profitable gamblers and get around these new rules.

I said they would

• Close accounts
• Increase their over-round (give worse odds to certain customers)
• Remove fixed odds
• Add deposit fees
• Charge customers a turnover tax
• Have tiered accounts.

I will keep updating this blog post all month until all bookmakers come into line with the new rules. We have already seen a few dodgy operators and some that are complying with the new rules.

Unibet Australia

A pathetic attempt from Unibet the night before the new rules are implemented, closing down accounts of any profitable punter.

@racing_nsw Unibet closed my account last night which seems to be against the requirements outlined in the policy. Just so you know.

— Breaking Dad (@ShortHalfHead) August 31, 2014

Tomwaterhouse, Sportingbet and Centrebet

Why would they even think they could get away with this? This group have simply made tiered accounts as I mentioned in the previous post, which is completely against the rules. Any winning punter will see the correct odds if they are not logged into their account, but once they do, the will then see the odds they can get (which are far far worse). Here is a simple comparison of the next race. What we see below is the prices that normal (losing) punters are able to bet on, and then we see what potentially winning punters are able to get. Punters will remember which bookies were sleazy and which ones complied.  

On the left we have the prices for losing punters, on the right the prices for profitable punters

Ladbrokes group (Ladbrokes.com.au, Bookmaker.com.au and Betstar.com.au)

These guys are just trying to make it as difficult as possible to have accounts reopened. Pointless really, but another sleazy tactic. 

@riracing have a look at what info Ladbrokes want to reactivate account to comply with NSW Race Fields Leg. pic.twitter.com/jkHXfHGpag — roadagain (@roadagain65) August 31, 2014

If you have any other things to add let me know in the comments below.

Updates

1:30pm Sportsbet & Betstar still not offering fixed odds to previous closed accounts.

@stevemor betstar & sportsbet still not offering my a/c fixed odds — Lenny (@lenphil29) September 1, 2014

1:37 pm Looks like Bet365 is complying (good stuff Bet365)

@FairWagering – restricted BET365 accounts allowing bets to win $1000 win and $400 place at Grafton today – wonderful to see! @racing_nsw — Marty (@RichesToRags18) August 31, 2014

2:34 pm TAB and Sportsbet still not accepting wagers.

@riracing @FairWagering TAB AND SPORTSBET NOT ACCEPTING A $5 FIXED WIN BET ON GRAFTON RACE 3! The rules have CLEARLY not been implemented!

— BETRADER (@PALBETRADER) September 1, 2014

Day 2

Richard Irvine, who has spearheaded this campaign and deserves a lot of free drinks from many punters was on RSN this morning talking to Shane Anderson about day 1. It seems a lot of bookies are being very stubborn. I have a simple solution for that. Racing NSW gives them till Friday to implement the changes and allow everyone to bet, or they don’t allow them to take any bets on any NSW race on Saturday, this will make them change their minds quick smart. They might be sleazy, but once you hit them where it hurts, they will comply in record time.

2:00 pm I have completed my first form against Centrebet. The process is a bit convoluted, but I’m sure it will get better over time. These are the steps I took (all up took me about 15 minutes). Please take the time to do this yourself as the more people who complain, the quicker this will get sorted.

1. Emailed Centrebet asking them to put my odds back to the normal odds
2. Received a reply stating they would not change my odds “We have absolute discretion over which odds/prices we choose to offer. All odds displayed on the website/apps are indicative only until you have logged into your account.  The odds offered are those that are displayed after you have logged in and at the time the wager is confirmed by you.”
3. I went to Racing NSW’s complaint page (https://forms.racingnsw.com.au/forms/minimumbetlimitscomplaint.html)
4. I filled it in and clicked Print and Submit (I am hoping they make it all online shortly)
5. I printed the document, signed it and then took photos with my iphone of each page.
6. I sent the photos to my email account and saved them to my computer.
7. I then emailed NSW Racing on mbcomplaints@racingnsw.com.au and uploaded the images and a copy of my passport.
8. Now I play the waiting game.

Day 4

11:30 am Some good news as it looks like Sportsbet have decided to extend the rules imposed by NSW racing to all states. Now they are free to take this away at anytime, but they understand that the goodwill this will generate far outweighs any loss they may take (if any) from this move. I am also still waiting from any type of reply from Racing NSW about my complaint against Centrebet. I have also started filling in the copious amount of documentation that Ladbrokes asked for before they will allow me to bet with them again.

1:00 pm Just received a call from Racing NSW as I had no filled in my entire address. I asked what sort of time frame we would be looking at and was told they will be expecting a response from the bookmaker by the end of the week.