Bet365 Restricted My Account – What to Do Now?

Last Updated on February 6, 2023

Bet365 Account Restricted or Bet365 Account Closed

Nothing dampens the fun of sports betting like opening up your Bet365 account and discovering a notification that your account has been restricted. You were all geared up to place a big bet. Maybe you were even on a winning streak. Now your ability to place a bet is severely limited … maybe even cut off altogether.

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What’s going on? What did you do wrong? Does Bet365 not want your money anymore? Why did Bet365 restrict your account? What can you do about it, and what can you do to prevent it from happening again?

Types of restrictions Bet365 might place on my account

Bet365 might place different kinds of restrictions on your account, depending on the activity that prompted the restrictions. Some of the restrictions you might encounter include:

Restricted stakes

Whereas you may have been accustomed to placing bets in the hundreds or thousands of dollars, stakes restrictions might limit you to much smaller bets — possibly as little as $10 or less. This severely limits how much you have the potential to win on any given bet, of course, since the only way to win big is to bet big.

Maximum winnings

Another potential restriction you might encounter is a cap on the amount you can win on any given bet. This might seem different than restricted stakes, but the outcome is the same — less winnings. In fact, it’s even worse, since you still stand to lose the money you bet. You get all the risk, with very little upside. The only way to get around those restrictions is the find some reputable online casino not on GamStop.

Limited markets

If Bet365 restricts your account, you might log in and discover that some of the betting markets you are used to having access to no longer appear as betting options on the platform. This might cut you off from some of your favorite stakes and odds … maybe the ones where you consistently win.

Closing the account

At the extreme end of account restrictions, Bet365 may simply close down your account. You may try to log on only to find out that no account exists under your credentials, or you may receive a notification that your account has been closed down.

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Your account will be permanently restricted if you have decided in the past to subscribe to GamStop.

Why did Bet365 restrict my account?

A Bet365 account restriction may seem to come out of nowhere. You may think that there was nothing you did wrong. You weren’t abusing the platform or behaving illegally — why did Bet365 restrict your account?

The truth is, even if you followed all of Bet365 terms of service, you may have taken some action or exhibited some behavior that led to the restrictions. Some of them might seem obvious to you, but others might take you by surprise. Here are various reasons why Bet365 might have restricted your account …

You won too much

Shocker, right? What’s the point of placing a bet if there isn’t a chance to win? Nevertheless, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that bookmakers do not like consistent winners because it hurts their bottom line.

Bookmakers are in business to make money. They only make money if more people lose their bets than win their bets on the platform. The odds they offer are calibrated to produce more winners than losers. That way, even a few big winners don’t wipe out the profit they reap from all the losers.

Nevertheless, a consistent winner will stick in the craw of bookmakers like Bet365. Bookies are notorious for cutting off people who win too much to protect their bottom line. Unfair? Definitely. But it makes sound business sense to them — they are subtracting liabilities from their balance sheet. If you win a lot, you are a liability to them.

You abused bonuses and promotions

Nearly every betting site offers promotions in the form of deposit-matching or free-bet bonuses. These bonuses are often available to new members, as well as to existing members on a promotional basis.

You may think that these bonuses are yours to do with as you please, as long as you follow the rules of the platform. But you would be wrong. You can take actions with this bonus money that will rub the bookmaker the wrong way and lead to restrictions on your account.

An example would be if you accepted a $100 free-bet bonus, only to bet $50 on both sides of a match, more or less guaranteeing a return from the free-bet bonus. This may seem like a smart betting strategy, but bookmakers like Bet365 refer to this as “bonus abuse.”

Again, this probably doesn’t sound fair. After all, they are laying the odds and offering the bonus — why should they penalize users for betting strategically? What can we say? Bet365 doesn’t make money off of bettors being “smart,” but off of bettors who commit to high stakes and lose. If you commit “bonus abuse,” you might end up with a restricted account.

You ignored bonuses and promotions

You just can’t win with these bonuses, can you? “Bonus abuse” can get your account restricted … but you won’t be tempted to abuse those bonuses if you never even use those bonuses. Right?

Wrong. Bet365 and other online bookmakers see a player who ignores bonuses as an unprofitable player. You may think it’s unprofitable behavior for them to encourage giving away free money … but remember that most bonuses come attached to wagering requirements, requiring you to keep betting and betting before you can withdraw. The bookie is counting on you losing one of those bets and never getting to withdraw that bonus cash.

From their perspective, Bet365 thinks “Who doesn’t like free money?” The answer — someone who knows what they are doing. A professional bettor. Someone looking to beat the book. If Bet365 suspects this behavior, they will limit or even shut down an account. Ignoring bonuses and promotions is a quick way to trip this red flag.

They suspect arbitrage

Arbitrage is the bane of every bookmaker’s existence. If Bet365 suspects you of “arbing,” you could easily wind up with your Bet365 account restricted or even banned.

Separate from sports betting, “arbitrage” is the process of buying low and selling high — for example, if you bought an item on clearance and sold it for full price on eBay.

In the sports betting world, arbitrage is shortened as “arbing.” Arbing strategies are sometimes referred to as “miraclebets” or “surebets.” They are betting strategies that more or less guarantee a small profit. Over time, you can beat the book and come out ahead.

As you can imagine, Bet365 and other sportsbooks don’t look kindly on arbing. It goes hand-in-hand with their distaste for consistent winners, because people who successfully arb are consistent winners. If Bet365 suspects you of arbing, watch out — your account is on a one-way track to restrictions.

They suspect you are a professional bettor

By now this one should come as no surprise. Is there any more alluring rogue than a swell who belongs to the storied class that is the professional gambler or sports-bettor?

One demographic that does not get swept up in the heady romance of professional gambling is the demographic of bookmakers. Bet365 and other bookies do not take kindly to professional bettors. It makes sense — professional gamblers tend to use arbitrage, which we already know can get your account restricted. Plus, they tend to be consistent winners.

In addition to ignoring bonuses and promotions, Bet365 and other online sportsbooks will track your activity on the site. If you weren’t aware, web analytics track which pages you visit, how long you visit them, what links you click on … even what portions of the screen you linger on or hover your cursor over.

Recreational sports bettors tend to spend a lot of time on the platform. They browse odds, explore options, window-shop, check out multiple pages and click on multiple links.

Professional sports bettors, on the other hand, tend to know exactly what bets they want to place. They get on the site, go straight to their desired bet, place their bet, then leave. If you interact with Bet365 like this, even if you are not a professional sports bettor, beware of getting your account restricted.

You bet unusual amounts and You got your bet365 account restricted

One of the characteristics of arbing is that it can be highly mathematical. Professional gamblers who use systems of arbitrage often perform complex calculations, capable of assessing the highest-margin bet down to the penny. If you know the best bet down to the penny, it’s tempting to place that bet.

So what does Bet365 see on their end? Someone who consistently places bets with amounts like $87.32 instead of $100. Or $211.09 instead of $200. To an online bookmaker, this is highly suspicious behavior and one of the biggest “tells” you can give that you are attempting arbitrage.

If you routinely place bets that are not round numbers — fives, tens, or hundreds of dollars — your account could come into jeopardy. You could face limitations or even get your Bet365 account banned.

They suspect you have multiple accounts

One of the biggest “no-no’s” in the online sportsbook world is one bettor trying to create multiple accounts or using a VPN.

They usually do this to try and get multiple cracks at a welcome bonus or promotional offer. They may also try to hold multiple accounts to place smaller bets on the same event, or bet on both outcomes of a competition. This is to beat bet limits, or to hide bonus abuse and arbitrage attempts.

Bet365 and other online sportsbooks push back against this violation of their terms of service by verifying the identity of the account holder and tracking accounts down to the IP address level. If they suspect that a user has more than one account, both accounts may wind up on the chopping block for limitation or cancellation.

Is it legal for Bet365 to restrict my account?

It may be frustrating and infuriating to log into Bet365 and discover restrictions on your account. Maybe you think you didn’t do anything wrong — no arbitrage, no duplicate accounts, no professional betting … and still you face restrictions.

Is what they are doing even legal? Perhaps discriminatory? Do you have any recourse to get them to reinstate your account and your betting privileges?

Unfortunately, you don’t have any such recourse. Betting privileges with Bet365 are just that — privileges. Bet365 is a private company, not a public utility. Their terms of service state that they are perfectly within their rights to restrict or even ban users for any reason they see fit without putting their license in jeopardy. They don’t have to provide you with hurdles for reinstatement — they don’t even have to tell you why they did it. It’s an at-will relationship.

Is it ethical for Bet365 to restrict my account?

It may not be illegal for Bet365 to restrict your account … but is it ethical? After all, if they lay odds, shouldn’t they be willing to stand by those odds and honor them for whatever bettor comes in the door?

In a sense, no it is not ethical. Why do bettors place bets, if not for the chance to win? If Bet365 purports to provide a forum where they can win, what does it say about their integrity if they turn around and punish you when you do win?

But professional bettors and professional bookmakers have an inherently adversarial relationship. It’s a zero-sum game — only one of them can come out ahead. If one wins, that means the other loses. The gambling industry is therefore a push-pull between the purveyor and the customer to see which one makes the profit and which one makes the loss. Can you blame the bookmaker for wanting to be the winner in the transaction?

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What should I do now that Bet365 has restricted my account?

We have taken a deep dive into the problem — what kinds of restrictions you might face, why you might be facing them, and whether or not Bet365 has the right to do it. But we haven’t covered what to do to recover your betting privileges. Every problem has a solution, or at least cries out for one.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do. You can reach out to Bet365 support to ask for an explanation and ask if there is anything you can do to reinstate your account with its former limitations.

Bet365 Customer Service Phone Number: 1 (888) 823-8365

Customer Service Email (English): [email protected]

Customer Service Chat: Click Here

Feel free to make your case, but bear in mind that Bet365 is not obligated to explain itself or reinstate your account.

Unfortunately, your best bet (no pun intended) may be to find a new favorite sports betting platform. You will have the chance to take advantage of new welcome bonuses and start with a clean slate.

If you start a relationship with a new online bookie, pay attention to the section that lists the reasons why Bet365 might have restricted your account, as well as the next session that describes how to avoid restrictions.

This is a good list of what not to do with your new account. Other sportsbooks use the same criteria to judge their users as does Bet365, and they have just as little patience for arbing and professional bettors as they do.

How do I avoid Bet365 restricting my account?

As mentioned above, it can be hard — if not impossible — to get Bet365 to reinstate your betting privileges or even explain their decision if they impose limitations on your account. The better choice is to take steps to make sure that you don’t get restricted in the first place.

A Bet365 account restriction may seem to come out of nowhere, but there are some fairly predictable behaviors that set them off, as well as several behaviors that can help decrease your risk of incurring the wrath of Bet365. Here are some tips on how to keep your Bet365 account off the chopping block for limitations and restrictions …

Make round-numbered bets

Remember how laying strange stakes is a red flag for online sportsbooks? Stakes of $98.64 instead of $100? This tips off sportsbooks that you are attempting arbitrage — calculating a “miraclebet” down to the penny that is mathematically most likely to leave you ahead.

The antidote to this, obviously, is to bet round numbers. Even if you do arb, don’t place that $98.64 bet. Suck up the slight loss of advantage and place the $100 or the $95 bet. You will make far more money in the long run if you keep your account free of restrictions.

Bet small

In sports betting, it can help to fly under the radar. If you place big bets, you will draw attention … especially if you win. Small bets blend into the background noise. Bookmakers expect to pay out a few small wins — it's the cost of doing business, and they know the odds are in their favor. The losses will compensate for the wins.

If you do want to place a bigger bet, consider spreading out your bets across multiple platforms. Maybe you like the odds of Bet365 better and don’t want to split up your stake, but you stand to lose a lot more if your account gets restricted. What good is that big bet if Bet365 slaps you with winning limitations?

Strategically use bonuses and promotions

Remember, Bet365 and other online sportsbooks regard bettors who ignore bonuses and promotions as a red flag that they are dealing with a professional. They also frown on bettors who make obvious attempts to arb with bonuses. If you want to keep your account from being restricted, you should make more strategic use of your bonuses and promotions.

Instead, make use of your welcome bonuses and take advantage of promotional bonuses occasionally. Don’t try to win with this bonus cash — in fact, play to lose. Bookmakers love it when you lose. It’s free money anyway, so you won’t miss it. Because of wagering requirements, you will probably never have a chance to withdraw it anyway. If you want to play to win with your real money, play to lose with your bonus cash to keep your account limit-free.

Don’t deposit or cash out too often

Once again, it helps to fly under the radar. Bet365 and other sportsbooks will notice if a player engages in a lot of banking activity. They would rather that money stay in the bankroll rather than in a state of constant deposit and withdrawal.

If you deposit frequently, you begin to look like a professional bettor. If you withdraw frequently, you begin to look like a consistent winner. Neither one will endear you to Bet365 or its sportsbook compatriots.

Instead of withdrawing and depositing frequently, limit yourself to fewer, larger deposits and withdrawals. Of course, that could cause you to butt up against deposit and withdrawal limits, so be mindful of striking the right balance.

Use mug betting

A mug bet is a strategy used by professional bettors to mask their arbing activity. Essentially, you place a bet that makes you look like an average punter from time to time.

Strategies of mug betting might include selecting a bet that does not have the best odds, placing an in-play bet, and browsing the website rather than swooping in and placing bets like surgical strikes.

Track your results

If you do consider yourself a professional bettor, your betting is a business. Business owners track their results. You should do the same. Start a spreadsheet keeping track of your profit and losses from the bets you place.

This will help you keep track of your bankroll, but it also helps you notice if you are … how to put this … winning too much. If you notice that you are on a streak, it might be time to place a few mug bets to cover your tracks. It might even be time to place a few bets that you are likely to lose. This will help create the perception of a balanced player who happens to be on a winning streak, rather than a pro with a winning strategy.

Don’t create more than one account

This might go without saying, but Bet365 and other online sportsbooks frown on players who create more than one account to take advantage of multiple bonuses, double down on their bets, or mask their arbitrage. They check your identity and track IP addresses. If they suspect that you have more than one account, they will shut you down quickly.

Don’t create multiple accounts. Definitely don’t try to create another account when your first account gets limited. You won’t help your case for reinstatement if you turn around and violate their terms and conditions.

Play casino games

Many sports bettors love to immerse themselves in athletics, odds, and stats. They don’t have time for games of chance like slots, roulette, or blackjack. Most of them ignore the online casino section of their preferred sports betting platforms, including Bet365.

However, it may help you keep your sports betting action limitless if you dip into the casino section every now and then for a few quick spins. If Bet365 sees you as a loyal customer who loves to play all sorts of games, they will value your business and be less likely to restrict you. Consider it a specialized form of mug bet — a little something that you throw away to the house in exchange for the privilege of being a punter.

Is Bet365 trustworthy?

Bet365 was founded by Denise Coates, the daughter of the chairman of Stoke City Football Club. Despite that pedigree, the sportsbook had humble beginnings in a trailer in Stoke-on-Trent.

Today, it has a staff of over 4,000 and a full headquarters in Stoke-on-Trent, as well as offices in Manchester, Bulgaria, Malta, Gibraltar, and Australia. A March 2018 report revealed £52.56 billion in wagers, £2.86 billion in revenue, and £660.3 million in profit.

Bet365 has enjoyed high esteem and accolades over the course of its operations. eGame Review named Bet365 “Operator of the Year” at their 2010 eGame Review Operator Awards. The Sunday Times Profit Track 100 and The Sunday Times Tech Track 100 both acknowledged Bet365’s rapid growth. Denise Coates, still the majority shareholder, was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by Woman’s Hour on BBC. Since 2017, she has been the highest-paid chief executive in the UK.

Nevertheless, Bet365 has encountered controversy. In 2014 The Guardian reported that the company had used obscure domain names to take bets from Chinese citizens, in violation of government restrictions.

Bet365 was fined $2.7 million AUD for misleading promises of “free bets.” Bet365 has also been known to delay or refuse payouts of winning bets. In 2017 a horse bettor in Northern Ireland took Bet365 to court for allegedly refusing to pay out winnings in excess of £1 million. Numerous other incidents have been reported online.