They limit my betstars account to $25 maxbetting the underdog in NBA after 2 weeks. I started NBA betting 2 weeks ago lol. Rip future supernova sportsbettor me. https://gyazo.com/0da58e94431373a74ccde929ac5d0c0c

This is ridiculous. Someone who knows more about sportsbetting than I do (read: everyone) explain this to me, why would the site limit bets instead of change their lines? If they don't want people to bet a lot on a certain result, doesn't that just mean that..... They should change the odds of those bets?

Unfortunately it's very common. Most UK/Euro bookies limit you immediately if you don't look like a mug, eventually limiting you to £0.01 bets or simply closing your account. Some will have their software offer you a worse price or there'll be a delay for a trader to manually approve. They do it simply because they can.

Even in shops they have a list of PTL (permission to lay) clients (mugshots on posters behind the counter etc) - they have to phone through to the traders to accept your bets. Often if you're on a PTL list they'll come back and offer you a worse price. Again, if you're too sharp they'll simply refuse service.

Australia have minimum bet laws, there's a bit of a movement towards that in the UK just now but it's stop and start. Corals claimed they'd lay anyone up to a certain amount a while back, in practice it doesn't always happen. A new online bookie opened called BlackType claiming they'd accept bets from everyone (it was their whole selling point) - their odds were terrible and they've started banning anyone showing a profit for using "automated betting services".

Stars have actually been one of the slowest to gub people at the moment (sites like BetVictor and Stan James will limit you after one bet, you have to prove you're a mug before they increase your limits) - they're trying to muscle in on a very saturated marketplace though so that's to be expected.

Except I started watching NBA 2 weeks ago. I can't even name one full starterteam without googling. I'm the mug and I got limit already lol.

Its getting harder for honest man to gamble higher amounts. Only place is live casino really.

It might be to do with whether you are a winning player or not. A friend of mine said he got shut down only two weeks into golf betting, which never happened him anywhere else.

Very interesting, thanks for the write up. Still a tiny bit confused, so they can't just simply move the line without making the bet unattractive to the fish, is that the problem?

I obviously know nothing about the industry and I'm super naive but on the surface I'd have a very hard time seeing myself want to deny customers action, I'd simply want to offer as many -EV bets to the public as I could.

They can (and do) change prices along with the market. It's not just the bookmaker on their own, they've got the betting exchanges, other betting companies, and a whole army of arbers/matched bettors to deal with (people who bet/lay both sides of a bet at different books/exchanges to lock in a profit). If they move the price too much from the market they just get arbed until they have to move it back.

They're being incredibly risk-averse because they're allowed to be. Placing regular single bets on niche sports/markets (NBA probably doesn't have a lot of betting volume on Stars) is enough to get your account flagged for review. They compare the prices you took to the best available on the market at that time, if you're always taking the best prices available (or if you regularly predict market moves, mostly applies to horse racing) you're probably unprofitable to them and not worth the hassle.

If they limit your account, take your money and join a site with an exchange instead - as long as that option is available to you. Obviously read up (extensively) on how they work beforehand. You'll find prices way better, plus the ability to trade.
Generally sites limit accounts which flag up as 'risk' to them in one way or another, although not much thought goes into the decisions, other than how much to stake factor.

No, they just tweek a setting on your account which limits you to bet a % of the maximum allowed for that selection. Sometimes it's 50%, sometimes it's 0.01% (gg) based on risk or w/e.

Coral do have a lay to lose up to £5k, £2k & £500 depending on what grade horse race it is in shops. They keep to their guarantee's the only downside is it's a long shot, ie. 16/1 and they have the best odds they will give you 14/1.

Any way shops are the only way to get around limits (especially on horse racing), any other sports use bet brookers. If you move around enough shops in built up area's you can easily stay under the radar especially in cities.

Also it's illegal for a photo to be on any type of wall and also if a bookmaker circulates CCTV of you that isn't a criminal activity its breaking the data protection act.

Have they removed the SnG turbos whilst the TCOOP is on or have they been shelved for hypers?

The problem with exchanges is you can't get decent money down on the value markets, cos often people in the more lucrative markets are sharper, bookies just take your money and assess later whether you have an edge or not.

I will say William Hill are pretty decent in they never limit any accounts in the negative, lots of bookmakers do so.

Have any changes been made to the VIP reward program yet?

nothing wrong with rec players playing a few tables. It's the 'semi pros' from eastern Europe who have killed the micro limits.

It still shows on mine as supernova until december 31 2017, even though i missed the VPP requirement in January. The steps bar is shown as full even though i only have 1 vpp for the month of Feb.

No changes yet. People that completed SN last year will keep it until the changes are made. It says valid until December 2017 but they have clarified in a news letter that this is a mistake and the program will be revamped at some point during the year.

If they don't revamp the program I'm going to be pissed because I've already given up on earning 100k vpps this year.

1) new program or revamp as you refer is just a RB reduction. in a rush for this?
2) PS wouldnt not want you to get 100k and end up with like 80-85k vpps. Its in their best interest to get you there as they get more rake. They wouldnt run a reverse SNE debacle of late 2015 here and trick us into raking less, that is just not happening.
3) I am truly curious, why you mad here I dont see the reasoning. It seems better to me if program stays this way, no?

Not really mad about it. More mad that I grinded my ass off last year to make SN and they're getting rid of it before the end of year. Since they've announced they're removing SN I've dramatically reduced my grinding not schedule to focus on other things. If in say April, they announced that achieving 100k vpps would be worth something significant this year it would be dificult for me to make it from that point, which would be annoying.

I see thats fair point, but I highly doubt they will do that for some reasons I said above. It is possible nonetheless though, but I wouldnt hold my breathe. I thoroughly expect a worse rewards system then now. They are just figuring out the PR stuff on how to spin it so that is "good for the players". IMO if possible spread your action, that way one site cannot effect you that much.

In Portugal they sent me this mail:

"Dear xxxxxx,

This year, date still to be determined, we will launch a new rewards program that recognises your play on poker and casino, and rewards you for recent activity, not monthly or annual play volumes.

As we look to the future, we will offer an even more exciting and engaging rewards program with a continued focus on recreational players. Here's a look at what's coming up:
Rewards for all of your activity
Earn rewards by playing poker and casino games. You won't be required to play on any specific product, but your activity on all products will help you progress on your path to earning rewards.
Rewards based on recent activity
Currently, your VIP progress resets each month, but most players play only a few times a month. Rewards will be personalized to your recent gaming activity and profile, not your monthly or annual play volumes, to improve player retention and engagement at all levels. As a result, our current VIP statuses will be discontinued upon launch of the new program.
What's next?
Expect our next update to include more details regarding the new rewards program, including how it will work, and the timing of the launch.

PLAY NOW

Regards,
Stars VIP Club"

This is the best part as it translates into: "If you don't want almost zero rewards, dump your money into our wonderful slots." Obv achieving Slotnova Elite will leave you behind with even less money in the pocket. I have been disgusted from day one when Amayastars added slots to the client. Making money with other people's addiction....not really something to gain my sympathy.

meantime ipoker.fr testing spin-n-lose format with 5bb stacks and worse multipliers structure, 8% rake

So basically like essence where you had no idea how much you are getting back. And probably getting emails like 'heyxx did you know you can get higher returns when you try our beautiful slots?'. Btw what about people who have banned casinogames?

You've only got to look at the set-up of the 888poker rewards program to get an idea of the direction Pokerstars is heading in and what there new rewards program might look like.

I don't have either of the Pokerstars casino or sports betting available to me in my poker client (apparently only selected markets have them and my country isn't included) so, it looks like i'll be doing what i've always done and solely playing poker for rewards, no matter what the new rewards program looks like.