There won’t be many occasions when a shop will refuse to sell you something when you are able to buy and pay for it, and while the majority of punters may be under the impression that a bookmaker will accept any bet they wish to place, it is nevertheless the case that bookmakers can, and do, impose limits on bets placed and on maximum payouts. Bookmaker limits are just one more thing the successful punter needs to be aware of.

Bookmakers are not wrong to do this because they have to limit liability when and where it is prudent for them. The larger bookmakers, for example William Hill and Ladbrokes, have maximum payout limits of £1 million, but don’t let that lull you into a false sense of security. The limits that cause the most concern to punters are bet acceptance limits. Betting shop managers have upper limits for each sport, and will “knock back” a customer to that limit if an attempt is made to place more. Other factors that affect an acceptance limit will be the country the event is taking place in and whether it is covered live in the shops. The less control the bookmaker has over the coverage of an event, the lower the maximum amount that can be placed.

In online betting, automatic restrictions are put in place by some betting sites that will restrict you in these remote bet placement environments, in some sports restricting the bet to only a few pounds. Another factor that betting sites consider is spreading their liability over as many customers as possible, rather than accepting a few very large bets from just a few customers. For example, it is not unknown for Pricewise Selections (the famous Racing Post tipster) to have a maximum of between £5 and £10 stake limit applied online. This is done to allow as many punters as possible to get on without exceeding the bookmaker’s desired liability for that race.

May 05 2010