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That isn't what is happening. Earlier this year, sportsbooks lost a lot due to punter-friendly outcomes (a series of favourites winning), and they didn't cut p

That isn't what is happening. Earlier this year, sportsbooks lost a lot due to punter-friendly outcomes (a series of favourites winning), and they didn't cut people off. Doing this is extremely bad for business because: people won't come back, and you aren't giving customers the opportunity to lose that money back to you. So what you are seeing when people are limited is not this but arbing line moves between bookmakers, people bearding for someone else, etc. One of the articles mentions stuff relating to player behaviour - for example, if you bet on Australian Rules Football, you bet every game for multiple weeks then it doesn't matter if you win or lose, there is going to be a limit - there is a grey area, but the majority of people being limited don't fall into this category. They are just people doing stupid stuff (I have done this, I used to arb line moves 20 years ago in the UK, I have been banned everywhere, it is stupid and I should have been banned).

nly 1y ago
Yeah, I got gubbed everywhere in the UK as well. When Betfair first came on to the scenes the traditional online (and offline) bookmakers were like fish in a barrel for arb bets. I still remember when the first major bookmaker (pretty sure it was BetVictor) started tracking Betfair markets automatically. Now they all do it.
- skippyboxedhero 1y ago
  Bookies in the UK never set prices, apart from parlays (which are admittedly a growing part of the market). Even in the early 2000s, it was Asian books that set lines and tech just made it easier for them to access. Margins have gone from 20% to 2% (or lower) because bookies can confidently set lines a few days before the event. Also, their tech even today is still dogshit. It looks like they are tracking Betfair prices but most bookies use third parties for pricing, OpenBet for example, and so it is usually the third party tracking. There is still inherent latency so the main tool has been delays and limiting certain customers. This is why ppl who say they should just take any bet are idiots, it isn't a stock exchange (and most of these third parties also have massive latency in their stack too, naming no names...the stuff I have heard about how they run things is incredible).
beambot 1y ago
Why should arbing line moves between bookies be stupid or banned? This is what market makers doing 24/7 on public stock markets. This is what creates "efficient markets".
- skippyboxedhero 1y ago
  Because it isn't the same as public stock markets. The price on different bookmakers is different because the product is different, bookmakers aren't offering an equivalent product to each other (for example, the biggest one is regulation, there is no stock market that invests tens of millions of dollars in stopping people buying stocks, every large bookmaker does this). It doesn't improve efficiency in any way because the price you are taking is known. If you are betting on the open with Asian books, you are adding to price discovery. By the time most bookmakers open their lines, the price of the risk is known so you placing your $100 bet isn't improving efficiency, it is just noise.
  - beambot 1y ago
    > there is no stock market that invests tens of millions of dollars in stopping people buying stocks There definitely are -- everything from margin limitations, maintenance requirements, regulatory bodies, and counter party risk. > It doesn't improve efficiency in any way because the price you are taking is known. The price you are taking when you buy a stock is also known to all participants. Just like sports betting, the marketmaker (bookie) is profiting between the bid & ask spread.

nly 1y ago

Yeah, I got gubbed everywhere in the UK as well. When Betfair first came on to the scenes the traditional online (and offline) bookmakers were like fish in a barrel for arb bets. I still remember when the first major bookmaker (pretty sure it was BetVictor) started tracking Betfair markets automatically. Now they all do it.

skippyboxedhero 1y ago
Bookies in the UK never set prices, apart from parlays (which are admittedly a growing part of the market). Even in the early 2000s, it was Asian books that set lines and tech just made it easier for them to access. Margins have gone from 20% to 2% (or lower) because bookies can confidently set lines a few days before the event. Also, their tech even today is still dogshit. It looks like they are tracking Betfair prices but most bookies use third parties for pricing, OpenBet for example, and so it is usually the third party tracking. There is still inherent latency so the main tool has been delays and limiting certain customers. This is why ppl who say they should just take any bet are idiots, it isn't a stock exchange (and most of these third parties also have massive latency in their stack too, naming no names...the stuff I have heard about how they run things is incredible).

beambot 1y ago

Why should arbing line moves between bookies be stupid or banned? This is what market makers doing 24/7 on public stock markets. This is what creates "efficient markets".

skippyboxedhero 1y ago
Because it isn't the same as public stock markets. The price on different bookmakers is different because the product is different, bookmakers aren't offering an equivalent product to each other (for example, the biggest one is regulation, there is no stock market that invests tens of millions of dollars in stopping people buying stocks, every large bookmaker does this). It doesn't improve efficiency in any way because the price you are taking is known. If you are betting on the open with Asian books, you are adding to price discovery. By the time most bookmakers open their lines, the price of the risk is known so you placing your $100 bet isn't improving efficiency, it is just noise.
- beambot 1y ago
  > there is no stock market that invests tens of millions of dollars in stopping people buying stocks There definitely are -- everything from margin limitations, maintenance requirements, regulatory bodies, and counter party risk. > It doesn't improve efficiency in any way because the price you are taking is known. The price you are taking when you buy a stock is also known to all participants. Just like sports betting, the marketmaker (bookie) is profiting between the bid & ask spread.