Sky Bet joins the list of online bookies offering ‘minimum bet’ guarantee

Sky Bet is believed to be second only to Bet365 in terms of its online turnover on UK horse racing. Its guarantee is similar – though not identical – to offers introduced by BetVictor, Betfair Sportsbook and William Hill’s online operations in recent weeks, the Guardian reports.

Customers, including those whose racing bets have previously been restricted, will be able to place win single bets to win up to £500, or a maximum of £500 at even money, or £50 at 10-1.

The guarantee covers only the win part of each-way bets and does not extend to multiples. It is also limited to a handful of contests on most days, with only three of Tuesday’s 26 races – the 3.05, 3.40 and 4.10 at Goodwood – being run at the required level of Class Two or higher, although the number of races that qualify could be extended in time.

Given the size of Sky Bet’s racing operation, however, and thus its importance to the sport’s funding via a levy on gross profits from UK betting, it is at least another small step in the right direction and one that could encourage more operators to follow suit.

The restriction or closure of winning accounts has affected an increasing number of online backers in recent years. Some have also complained that even losing accounts have been restricted, because their pattern of betting – for instance, consistently beating the starting price of their selections – suggests that they will not provide sufficient long-term profit for the operator.

Rather than close accounts outright, operators tend to restrict customers to betting in pennies on racing or other sports where a shrewd punter can hope to beat the market. Punters who can no longer place a worthwhile bet on sports may then be encouraged to switch to gaming products such as online roulette, which have a guaranteed margin for the operator.

Brian Chappell, an activist for punters’ rights who runs the website Justice For Punters, said that while he welcomed Sky Bet’s move, it was up to the Gambling Commission, which regulates the gambling industry, to ensure that all online operators adopted similar rules for bets on all racing and sporting events.

"Bookies are slowly waking up to the unfairness and bad publicity that surrounds banning every savvy punter," Chappell said. "Crucially, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and the Gambling Commission haven’t, thus punters will have to wait a long time for truly fair trading, despite a few bookies making limited progress."