ID Required by Bookies
- The TopTrap Greyhound Profit And Loss Account On Betfair - March 17, 2022
- Betfair Best Execution – 11 Requested & Filled At 320 - January 16, 2022
- BTB System e-book - March 13, 2015
Why do I need to send ID?
If you use bookmakers, sooner or later some of them will request that you send them ID, usually before they allow you to withdraw your money. They will say they need KYC (know your customer) information due to money laundering regulations.
Some of the more dodgy bookies use the need for ID as an excuse to delay or avoid paying out.
If you are not happy about sending your ID to bookies, then matched betting/arbing/casinos etc are not for you.
What will I need?
The information required varies from bookie to bookie, but typically includes some of:
- Photo ID (an ID card, passport or photo driving licence)
- A bank or card statement (you can of course just send the top section and black out any balance information)
- A screenshot of your Moneybookers profile page
- A recent utility bill
- A copy of the front and back of the card you used to deposit with.
Some bookies require the bank/card/Moneybookers statement to show a deposit to the bookmaker (Extrabet and Unibet asked me for this). Statements and utility bills are usually required to be less than 3 months old.
Please be aware that it is becoming more common for bookies to require extra ID such as a photograph of you holding your passport next to your face.
How do I go about this?
Providing this ID can be something of a nightmare. Some people do not have an ID card, passport or driving licence. The only advice I can give is before you deposit into any bookie, get one. Passports are a pain to get and cost £77.50 – information on getting one here. A provisional driving licence is probably quicker to get and costs £50 – information on getting one here. Some bookies may not accept a provisional driving licence, so if this is all you have you need to read the T&Cs of each bookie very carefully before you start. A passport is definitely the best option. Although this seems expensive, it is cheaper than having your money stuck in a bookie because they require ID before you can withdraw.
Online bank accounts and paperless utility bills are also potential problems because although you can print off a statement, it does not include your name and address, which is what the bookie is trying to verify. I have so far been able to satisfy bookies that I am who I am by sending a credit card statement and explanation instead, but I would not want to rely on this working in all cases. I recommend having a bank account which you use for your betting that provides paper statements, and at least one utility (mine is water) which does the same.
Remember that email is not secure. If you are sending copies of your card or a card statement, it is usually acceptable to black out some of the numbers. The bookie may tell you which of these it is acceptable to remove, if not, I remove the middle 8 numbers. You can either black these out with a marker pen before you scan the copy, or use photoshop or similar software to remove them. You can also put a transparent watermark over your passport etc saying eg “Copy for Betfair” so that it cannot be used fraudulently should your email be intercepted.
To do all this you need a scanner or fax machine. Many modern printers are now scanners as well and my advice is to get one and familiarize yourself with scanning. I bought a new printer a year or so ago and only recently learned how to alter its settings. Although the manual says the settings can be chosen on the printer itself, my computer (which had operated the previous scanner perfectly) had decided to override the settings and treat everything as a photograph! This was not funny when I was trying to remove 4k from a bookmaker in a hurry. Scan the copies into jpeg images – these should be small enough to attach to an email. Usually black and white copies are acceptable, occasionally bookies will require colour. Make sure they are clear and legible – bookies can and do refuse fuzzy, faint and small copies.
What else might be required?
Some bookies will require the copies to be certified by someone in authority. If you do not know a solicitor, bank manager, doctor etc, you can ge this done at some banks for free or for a fee of £7 at the post office: http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/p…iaId=105000818
Some Australian banks require certification by a “justice of the peace” but they actually mean someone in authority, as above.
The prize for the most bizarre request for ID goes to the now defunct Canbet/IASbet. I was foolish enough to deposit into IASbet using a credit card. They would not allow me to withdraw without providing an IBAN number, and credit cards simply do not have them. After a couple of weeks of emails providing card statements and phoning the credit card company IASbet agreed to me sending the money to their then sister site, Canbet, with whom I luckily had an account. I was then able to withdraw from Canbet into my bank!
In 2021 TradeHost traded 7,937 Betfair UK, IE, US & AU horse racing and greyhound markets.
2022 saw TradeHost become even more profitable with 22,698 Betfair markets traded.
2023 less markets were traded – 17,459 – but a with a similar profit to 2022.
All trades and bets were streamed live on JuiceStorm TV which was was watched by 124,209 traders in 2022.
All results for the 48,094 Betfair markets traded are here and the charts are here.
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