What is Gubbing and how can you avoid it?
What is Gubbing or Gubbed?
A bookmaker wants you to be a profitable customer for them. Most people are recreational gamblers and these are the most profitable for bookies and they usually lose more than they win.
However if you are a matched bettor then you are essentially taking value from the bookie in terms of free bets and close matches.
Obviously they don’t like matched bettors and once they find out that you are one they will gub you. You’ll normally get an email from the bookmaker stating that you have in fact been gubbed.
The term gubbed/gub won’t appear in their email as this is a industry term.
Stake restricted and bonuses
Some bookies seem to gub in stages others will just restrict everything all at once.
A light gubbing would be to just stop bonuses/free bets on certain sports.
A medium gubbing would be no free bets/promotions at all but still allowed to bet on what you want.
A heavy gubbing would be to remove all bonuses/free bets and stake restrict your account so you can only bet pennies rather than pounds.
Why were you Gubbed?
A bookmaker may have gubbed you for many different reasons but the end result is unfortunately the same.
Only placing bets with the promotional offers:
Matched betting is one of the only sure fire ways of consistently taking money from the bookmakers. As a result they want to stop it as best they can. They employ people to look out for people who just use the promotional offers and don’t mug bet.
Taking too much value
Each bookmaker will do this differently but essentially your account is graded on how profitable it is. If you’re consistently winning money and not losing much then you will flag on their system and 9 times out of 10 you will be gubbed as a result. This is a common problem for Matched Bettors and Professional Gamblers.
Multi-Accounting
Multi-Accounting is borderline illegal and you certainly don’t want to be caught doing it.
It’s effectively running two or more accounts with one bookmaker but they have slightly different details. (e.g. family member)
This is very easy for the bookmaker to spot because the IP Address will be the same.
Can you avoid being Gubbed?
In short the answer is yes but it requires some work.
Placing mug bets quite regularly with a bookmaker is a great way to prevent being gubbed. Mug bets make your account look like a regular punter and therefor doesn’t attract much scrutiny.
Read more on what is a mug bet?
Another way to avoid being gubbed is to use a logical business approach to the way you take value from the bookies.
If you’re screwing the bookie for hundreds of pounds and not giving any money back then from a business point of view they won’t like that. Try to give them some money back by placing ACCAs or doing challenges.
Can you be Ungubbed?
Members have been ungubbed in the past but the time taken varies. It could be one month, six or it could never happen. The only way to find out is to keep checking back to see if you’re allowed to place bets at all stakes, or if you receive any promotions again.
Try to prove to the bookmaker that you can give them value. Placing a few mug bets frequently could speed up the ungubbing process.
