What is Getting Gubbed and How Can I Avoid This?
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One of the more worrying parts of matched betting that you might have heard of is the often debated and dreaded fear of getting gubbed!
In this post, we ask what is getting gubbed, look at how you find out you have been restricted, what this means and how it can be avoided.
What is Getting Gubbed?
Gubbed and Gubbing is a term used by matched bettors when a bookmaker has restricted their account somehow. Usually, to be gubbed is to be barred from participating in any promotion or having an account become stake restricted.
In turn, both of these restrictions severely restrict the potential from that account for matched betting profit!
Many ask why bookmakers allow matched betting. Essentially they don’t! They don’t know you’re matched betting or perhaps don’t give it too much thought (like Bet365).
So, what is getting gubbed? Matched betting is legal; it involves no law-breaking. It is easy to make a solid argument to say that it does not hurt the bookies. Nevertheless, most would ban you if they know you were matched betting more because what you don’t do is that you don’t ‘mug bet’ and hand them all the value and profit!
When you are taking value from a bookmaker rather than the other way round (which is how they like it/what they expect from ‘mugs’), then there is always a chance they will cast you aside!
How Do I Know if I Have Been Gubbed?
You will receive a direct email from the bookmaker stating your account has been restricted, or you may log in to discover you’ve been barred from taking part in any promotional offers. See the example below.
Being Gubbed - Will I Lose My Money?
No. If you have any money in the account, you can still withdraw it. Being gubbed means, you won’t be able to utilise that bookmaker for any future offers. OK – It’s possible you may have your free bets removed, which takes away profit potential, but your cash is safe.
How Do We Avoid Getting Gubbed?
This question always leads to much debate in the matched betting community.
No hard and fast rule exists for avoiding gubbings, but you can do a few things to keep your account healthy, which may limit the likelihood or at least extend the time you have with a bookmaker account.
Profit Accumulator has created a handy guide with their Top Tips To Avoid Being Gubbed and our top tips are below.
#1 Avoid Betting on Obscure Football Markets
It will look suspicious if you’ve only ever bet on Premier League matches and then suddenly start betting on Spanish football matches (though the top European leagues (see our guide) may generally be OK, some of the lower leagues would be highly suspicious).
When placing your bets on things like football or even horse racing, try and stick to high profile UK based events. Check back on the matched betting calendar [link] for a list of high profile events.
#2 Place ‘Mug Bets.’
This may not be something you have to worry about now (if new, you want to complete the main welcome offer and take that value), but when you’ve been matched betting for several years, some matched bettors choose to place what we call ‘mug bets’.
These are bets on high profile events that we back and lay for a minimal loss to keep our account looking genuine. We don’t receive a free bet for these mug bets, but they help make our account look more realistic.
See our post – What is Mug Betting?
#3 Avoid Chasing all the Offers
If you take on every offer with every bookmaker, you might stand out as a potential matched bettor. Pick the offers you complete carefully. For example, utilise casino offers and do fewer sports offers with the same bookmaker.
As mentioned, there is no hard and fast rule to avoid getting gubbed but think about it from the bookmaker’s perspective and if you might stand out as a matched bettor or not.
Can You Get 'Ungubbed'?
Some bookmakers will un-restrict your account after a specific time period, but this is rare. Generally, most gubbings are set in stone and will not be removed. More on this below.
How do Gubbed Accounts Make Money?
Even if multiple bookmakers have gubbed you, you can still make an excellent profit with matched betting. It’s such a vast industry, and new bookmakers and offers are popping up.
Being gubbed can hurt. Prevention is better than cure, and although it’s almost certain that you will be gubbed at some point, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do your best to keep your bookmaker accounts open as long as possible.
If one of your bookmaker accounts does get gubbed, try not to despair since there are still several ways you can profit from gubbed accounts (alongside your free accounts). This will depend on the specific bookmaker and the gubbing you have (if you are completely barred from the account, i.e. it is closed to you, you obviously can’t take anything from it at all – but this is unlikely).
If the bookmaker has decided to close your account, there is not much you can do. Some try to attempt a lifting of the gubbing, but it’s improbable you can accomplish this. You can hope that just leaving the account alone might eventually lead to a change of mind of the bookmaker or that some limited mug betting could convince them you are not a matched bettor. Still, in most cases, this is very wishful thinking indeed!
However, the more likely situation is remaining stake restricted – where the bookie will only allow you to place a certain amount on a bet will limit your matched betting opportunities.
Let’s look at some of the options left open to you.
Matched Betting – Price boosts
A restricted account should not stop you from being able to take out price boosts. This can be a good option if you want to take every last piece of profit possible. Similarly to arbing, they provide instantly profitable situations and are generally easy and speedy to complete. However, they may not be too worth your time compared to other promotions on open accounts.
It is often advisable that Arbing is best avoided on healthy accounts (see our guide here), but there is little reason to worry about a gubbed account. You may wish to ring every last penny out of a gubbed account before they completely ban you and close your account.
Remember that other options exist, and plenty of other bookmakers are around! Some choose to use a betting broker or arb friendly bookmakers. You may wish to matched bet on the accounts that remain unrestricted.
Dutching is also possible (using only bookmakers to back and lay rather than betting exchanges like Smarkets.com).
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