Bet McLean Catastrophe – Irish Punters Please Help

This week has been extremely lucrative for Irish matched bettors. BetMcLean’s offer on Galway and Goodwood Races has provided me with almost £1000 in free bets.

Yesterday, I used £100 of my free bet balance on a treble with total odds of 28.6. I used a spreadsheet to calculate a sequential lay method and guarantee over £150. The treble went onto win – this gave a return of £2760 in McLean and I lost £2600 in Smarkets.

Later on last night, I withdrew almost £3000 from my then considerable McLean balance. Nothing was amiss as I went to sleep last night.

This morning at 11am, I receive a phone call from a withheld phone number. I’m told I’m speaking to the McLean company and am expecting to told I have been gubbed from the promotion. Instead I am told my £100 free bet on the 28.6 treble has been “adjusted” as hidden deep in their ts and cs was a clause that free bets were for use on singles bets only. I ask what the new adjusted return is… £193

That’s £2567 down on the original return. I’m pretty sure this qualifies as a genuine “disaster”. Because I was down £2600 on smarkets from laying the said treble my net position is -£2407… the withdrawal I made the night prior has been blocked.

Unsurprisingly I intend to fight against this decision. The one foothold I may have is that I was never prevented by the website from placing the treble. They also had absolutely no problem accepting free bets on doubles and trebles that turned out to lose. I also can’t believe the £193 return from the original £2760 is a fair settlement.

On the other hand, this rule was in the terms before the promotion started so perhaps they are in the right here.

What would be the best course of action to at least get some of my return back? Would filing an appeal to IBAS be a sensible option? Is there any other authority I can turn to?
How would be the best way to negotiate with BetMcLean?

I recall some posters at the start of the week warning to be careful with this McLean offer as they are associates of Boylesports and ApolloBet. But I think what they meant was the promotion being pulled early, rather than this awful situation.

If there’s anything I’ve written here that doesn’t add up please don’t hesitate to point it out.

Understandably, I would be extremely grateful for any advice of any sort… thanks very much guys.

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theslosty
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July 30, 2016 at 3:39 pm

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Pavlon 3 July 30, 2016 at 4:24 pm

That’s a real fucking disaster mate. I think your only hope is that they shouldn’t have allowed you to place the bet in the 1st place.

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MarkCorrigan 9 July 30, 2016 at 4:29 pm

Hi Theslosty,

I haven’t posted on here in a while, but was checking as Goodwood is finishing and saw your post. Firstly, I really feel for you and I know it must be tough to let go of such a large sum of money. However, did you really think that an independent bookmaker would be willing to payout on £1,000 in free bets to customers without exercising every loophole available to them? The offer feels like such a trap – I doubt this is the only case where payouts won’t be honoured after this weekend.

I just want to warn you that if they were monitoring matched betting forums, they now have evidence that you were breaking their terms and conditions (not just on the treble). This could lead to them withholding your whole balance and unused free bets. I know the situation is really bad, but please be careful not to lose it all. Sorry I can’t offer any further advice.

Best,
Mark

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theslosty 0 July 30, 2016 at 4:41 pm

Thanks Pavlon, I think you’re right. At least I have made a lot from betting over the past year and a bit and still have a roof over my head. Nevertheless, this has wiped out 4 or 5 months of hard work.

Mark – I find you are usually spot on and what you say there makes a lot of sense… but I really hope you’re wrong this time. Thanks a lot

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suparhanz 0 July 30, 2016 at 5:09 pm

Surely they should pay out on the lowest one of the treble at the very least? Also I know it wont make the money back but asking for the free bets which lost on any other multiple bets you made back as well ?. You can complain but unless your going to go to there head office and sit on there steps for the next week I doubt your get anywhere maybe just keep phoning and try and get the highest odds of the treble paid out?. Check if they have a independent complaints process as this might give you a fairer judgement. Make the point they paid it out into your balance and only took it back after you tried to withdraw. Im not sure laying on a exchange can be against any t and cs for a regular bet as its like an insurance policy.

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FoG_BLoG 47 July 30, 2016 at 6:26 pm

I don’t see anything specific in the T&C’s about laying on the exchange, but I know some bookie’s have a clause there about abusing the bonus to guarantee a profit regardless of outcome.

I think the point is though that they accepted the bet. That is the one positive in your favour. But, yes its clear in the terms that the free bet is valid for singles.

That’s a lot of money to lose. I don’t know if any papers or radio would be interested, I’m sure they would do a u-turn to avoid bad publicity.

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theslosty 0 July 30, 2016 at 7:20 pm

Suparhanz
What I think they’ve done is pay out on the lowest leg on the treble, it still seems very unfair though. I will definitely ask for free bets that they gladly took, I don’t see how they can dispute that.
As for an independent complaints process – does anyone know if IBAS is suitable? Is there an Irish equivalent?
It’s also true they accepted the bet, credited my balance and even let me withdraw.

I don’t see how using an exchange violates their terms – sure they may restrict me but that’s not the same thing as withholding money I’ve won fairly. For the record, I actually punt most of my bets now and just let the +EV sort itself out in the end. This was actually a pretty rare case where I actually decided to lay the bet on smarkets.

FoG
That’s an interesting angle. McLean are the largest independent bookie in Belfast where I reside and there is a popular local newspaper which may show interest in the story. Wouldn’t be surprised if they and McLean’s interests are aligned though.

As an aside, I have had a very turbulent betting career. I’ve had losses in the 000s on several occasions now… some my own fault and some the result of some incredible misfortune. Thankfully I’ve had some big wins too and am still comfortably in the black – but this saga has topped anything I’ve dealt with before.

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suparhanz 0 July 30, 2016 at 7:58 pm

IBAS seem the only thing on there website, the larger bookies William Hill etc. Have an independent company handle complaints if your not satisfied with the bookmakers decision. Maybe ask next time you speak if they have it. Yup press would be a good way to get your voice heard, ask them to pay out on the highest odds from the treble if that would make a difference?

Ive seen stories of people taking it to small claims court the bookie not bothering to show up to defend themselves and it going straight in the punters favour but sounds like a lot of hassle

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theslosty 0 July 30, 2016 at 8:41 pm

IBAS seems like the way forward Hanz. I’m not really convinced this rather complex case would appeal to headline writers but I could definitely use the idea of it to my advantage.

Paying out on the highest leg of the treble wouldn’t make a tremendous difference alas. Might net an extra £100 at most.

I live here in Ireland but study maths at a university in England. I’m not sure a small claims court would be practical for me and I’m not at all acquainted with the legal world. I’m also not convinced I really have enough footing to win the case outright.

Thankfully I’ve had a good Saturday continuing with the offer and have backed winners without laying on smarkets. I’ve also got a huge free bet balance which I’ll be careful to use on singles(!) Providing I can withdraw the rest of my balance I may be able to escape with a sprained ankle rather than a fractured leg. After that I won’t be touching McLean with a 10,000 mile bargepole.

Thanks again fellas, appreciate it

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Enigma 28 July 30, 2016 at 9:08 pm

Thelosty,

Awful to hear about. Bookies get away with a lot of stuff and I really hope you can get out of this one with your money back, hopefully taking McLean’s ‘Reputation’ to the cleaners as well.

Thought this may help you, give it a read:
https://justiceforpunters.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Know-your-rights-when-betting.pdf
Gives you a basic legal outline, and IMO you should contact them and get some prelimenary advice as they sound honest and fairly knowledgeable. Maybe it will also give you some confidence about your situation.

Maybe also hunt around https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=41, lots of traffic there and again, may be a good source of advice.

Best of luck.

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hydro 0 July 30, 2016 at 9:54 pm

I got the same email and was thinking I’d had the same issue. However I went to my McClean account and checked the race results, thankfully my £200, £150 and £125 were all losing bets (they were all 10.0> horses to maximise my returns via free bet extraction) so I didn’t have a huge unbalanced lay awaiting me. I checked my account about an hour ago and seen I had £325 in free bets awaiting me (200-50)+(150-50)+(125-50)=325. I dodged the bullets here, not only that but I got approximately £300 from blind luck. I checked their conditions but didn’t see anything in there about £50 max bets being used with free bets but thats what they said in the email, I’m not going to bring it up. I’m just looking to cash out asap

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El chico 1 July 30, 2016 at 10:12 pm

Get onto the press. They will take up this story. Drag the fuckers through the mud and give them a shit tonne of negative publicity. Initially I’d say to McLean that this is your intention and also contact the newspapers over their interest. Obviously up to you about your identity coming up in public but this is a lot of cash here. Wouldn’t mention I was a matched bettor though and not necessary to do.

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Chris 19 July 30, 2016 at 10:23 pm

Isnt the main point here that you used the free bets on a treble which the T&C’s forbid? If thats the case then I dont think you have much hope.

Be interesting to hear if anyone else has had problems with them, doesnt seem so.

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theslosty 0 July 30, 2016 at 11:39 pm

Yeah Chris I reluctantly agree.

I can’t see how I could possibly go the press without unveiling my mask as matched bettor or at very best a serial promo abuser.

Thanks for that Enigma.

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theslosty 0 July 31, 2016 at 12:13 am

hydro
The fact you essentially landed on the other side of this ruling and got lucky does mean McLean appear to have been even handed in applying this rule. And in fact they have now refunded the free bets on doubles and trebles that lost. They’ve actually been quite smart to concede that to me as I now have lesser grounds for complaint.

Nevertheless there are a few spins on this that I could sell to the press. Perhaps they had looked at my account and saw that I was essentially a “shrewdie” and a bad customer for them; and accordingly looked for any tiny loophole to cheat me out of my winnings?

Unfortunately for me the press in Northern Ireland are still influenced by ultra conservative voices in the Presbyterian Church. This could make it more difficult to sell a story about gambling.

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FoG_BLoG 47 July 31, 2016 at 12:40 am

I don’t get why they would do that – refund all bets on multiples or >£50. They screwed up in accepting the bets in the first place.

All it will do is generate bad publicity.

It’s not like the refunded bets are not going to win here and there and they will still be liable for up to the same amount roughly either way…

I’ve been spending my free bet balance in 20’s because quite enjoy having a semi interest in a number of races and I suppose it ties up a little less money in the exchange. I thought it was nice that way.

“Free bet awarded will be a win single to same stake as qualifying bet”

Which strictly I haven’t been doing either, since I’m using a different stake.

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