There are numerous things that bookmakers can do to try and limit their losses. Most bookies are aware that punters very rarely gamble and then stop when they’ve won. Instead, they want to repeat their success, and beat the bookie once again. Gambling is a hobby for most people, and a hobby is something you do recreationally on a semi-regular basis.
As a result of this continued activity, it used to be common for betting companies to limit the amount of money that you could withdraw at any one time, which would cause bettors to leave money in their accounts, which they might end up spending on more bets before they were able to withdraw it. Indeed in the past people were even allowed to reverse withdrawals they had already requested.
In 2022, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission confirmed that companies were not allowed to put a limit on how much money customers could withdraw from their account at any given time. In essence, it was decided that people with accounts should be able to get access to all of the money in their account any time that they wished to do so.
In other words, if you have money in your betting account then that is your money and you can do with it whatever you wish whenever you wish to do so, though you might still be charged for moving money around depending on your bookie’s terms.
What The UKGC Says
The Gambling Commission is responsible for the laws and regulations that are in place on bettors up and down the country. If a company wants to operate in the United Kingdom then they have to obtain a licence from the UKGC and work hard in order to ensure that they follow the rules placed on them by the regulatory body.
One of the big changes that the Gambling Commission has put in place in recent years is the fact that customers should be allowed to withdraw as much or as little of their winnings as they want at any given moment.
Whether you’ve deposited the money into your betting account from your bank of you have won the money thanks to a bet or an experience in the online casino, the money is yours the moment that your bet is a successful one. This means that you can do with it as you wish, with the UKGC making as much clear to betting companies.
The wording from the Gambling Commission states the following information:
“Players must also be allowed to withdraw without restriction, except as necessary to comply with any General Regulatory Obligations.”
It really doesn’t matter if the money is made up of an amount that you deposited into your account, winnings or a mixture of the two. There can be no restriction on the maximum amount that a person can take out of their account at any time, meaning that it is not ok for companies to add something into their terms and conditions that limits how much a punter can get out of their account. They cannot, for example, say that you’re only allowed to take out ‘up to £100 a day or £700 a week’, instead needing to let you do what you want with your own money.
Legal Limits
The fact that companies are not allowed to impose withdrawal limits on account holders, however, doesn’t mean that they can’t impose any sort of limit on the people that are placing their bets and gambling with them.
It is perfectly legal for betting sites to say that you can only win a certain amount of money over a given period of time, for example. You might, say, be limited to winning £500 over a seven day period, or £2,000,000 over a month. This will differ both according to the sport being bet on and depending on the specific site that you do your gambling with.
There can be a minimum amount that you have to deposit into your account, as well as a minimum figure that you can place a bet on. This will often be dictated by the market, but you’re unlikely to bet, as an example, one pence on something. Instead, you’ll have to place at least ten pence in order to for your bet to be accepted.
Again, this will depend on the company that you use for your betting in addition to the thing that you’re hoping to bet on. It is a strange limit to worry about, but it is at least worth pointing out that it is in place.
You Can Be Charged
Though the UKGC is clear to operators that they are not allowed to put a limit on the amount of money that you withdraw at any given moment, the organisation is also aware of the potential costs to operators for a multitude of tiny withdrawals.
As a result, companies are allowed to impose cost reflective processing fees in order to cover the expense of withdrawals. That is to say, you are allowed to take out as much money as you want from your account, but you might also discover that you’re charged a nominal fee in order to process it.
Charges cannot exceed the direct cost of processing the withdrawal and a limit on the size or number of withdrawals that a person can make has to be reasonable. Operators can still conduct identification verification procedures as part of this, as long as they need to happen in accordance with the General Regulatory Obligations that the Gambling Commission puts in place on betting sites that have a licence from them. The key thing is that you need to be told in advance of any fees that will be payable on withdrawals you make.
If a company is trying to charge you too much to make a withdrawal, or else is saying that you can’t withdraw what you want to withdraw because you’ve already taken too much out of your account, the likelihood is that the company is not a licensed one. If they are operating in accordance with the licensing conditions that they agreed to when the United Kingdom Gambling Commission issued their licence, they will not attempt to stop you from taking out as much or as little of your money as you wish to whenever you wish to.
There May Be Transaction Limits
While you are allowed to withdraw all the funds in your account at any time there will likely be limits per transaction, which are within the rules and which will vary depending on the method.
For example, you might be able to withdraw £10,000 in one go to an eWallet, maybe £30,000 to a debit card, etc., but within that there is nothing to stop you making multiple withdrawal transactions.
If you want to make a large withdrawal then betting companies will often ask that you receive the money by bank transfer/wire.
This is the most cost effective way for them to pay large amounts out and if they don’t suggest it as an option you can always tell them you would like to arrange a withdrawal to your bank account.