Almost all licensed sportsbooks in the US have become extremely strict when it comes to limiting (and sometimes banning) people’s accounts. BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, and many other big names all regularly engage with this practice, putting strong limits on what players can and can’t do while using their sites. This has caused major controversy in the gambling world, as players have caught onto the fact that most sportsbooks now have too much power over them and that it’s perhaps no longer a level playing field. 

Are Licensed Sportsbooks Too Quick to Limit Accounts?

The short answer is yes — sportsbooks are often far too quick to limit accounts. They’ve been doing this for a long time, much to the frustration of successful bettors. It’s even become a topic of discussion on X (formerly known as Twitter), where countless betting fans post daily screenshots of when they get limited or banned by sportsbooks. 

Just recently, the user @bturner23 tweeted: ‘@ESPNBet has limited me to putting a max of $30 on wagerswhat a joke. These books make a killing & beg people to sign up but the second someone wins they are restricted”. This is just one of many cases where players have been unfairly restricted by the gambling sites that they use, with ESPN BET being one of the culprits. 

Why Do Sportsbooks Limit Accounts? 

When it comes to why sportsbooks limit accounts, there are a variety of different reasons they do this. Typically, a player will be limited if they are: 

➡️ Winning too much money 

➡️ Exhibiting signs that they’re a professional or sophisticated gambler 

➡️ Placing bets on obscure and lesser-known markets that always seem to win 

In many cases, sportsbooks have also banned account holders because they’ve placed huge back-to-back bets that have cost them too much money to payout. Again, this is fairly common in today’s gambling industry, where it’s all about protecting profit. 

In a nutshell, sportsbooks still want you to play — but they don’t want you to win too much money. After all, they have huge profit margins to protect, with one of the best ways to do this being implementing restrictions or bans on their most successful account holders. 

What Limits Can Sportsbooks Put On Accounts? 

If a sports betting site or app has identified a winning account as a problem, they might decide to take action and limit it by: 

❌ Capping how much money an account can bet (e.g. a maximum of $50 per bet)

❌ Ban players from using specific sports betting markets (e.g. ‘OVER/UNDER’)

❌ Temporarily or permanently suspend the account 

On top of this, sportsbooks can also place restrictions or bans on players who frequently lose money. This is a protective measure designed to safeguard players from entering financial trouble, such as gambling all of their savings away. However, unless the player is flagged by automated software or an internal employee, it’s down to the player to request limitations on their account if they have a gambling problem. In this case, what can typically happen is that the player will only be allowed to bet a certain amount of money a week (e.g. $5) or will simply have their account terminated. 

Some sportsbooks will also limit your betting account if you’re using an invalid bank. In the iGaming industry, many banks do not allow gambling. This is why it’s vital that you join a gambling-friendly bank and use it to make deposits into your account, as this will prevent any potential problems from happening. 

What to Do If a Sportsbook Limits Your Account

If you’ve been winning too much and your favorite sportsbook decides to limit your account, there are several things you can do. Remember, there’s no guarantee that the sportsbook will remove the limitations or unsuspend your account, but it’s always worth a try. Let’s run through your options. 

• Contact the Sportsbook Via Customer Service

Firstly, contact the sportsbook. This is something most sportsbooks allow you to do via social media, email, and phone. When you contact them, ask for a clear explanation regarding why you’ve been limited and whether or not these limitations can be adapted. If the sportsbook refuses to budge and won’t make changes to your account, you can try the next step. 

• Start Placing Smaller Bets

One of the most common sportsbook account limits is to cap the amount of money an individual can bet (e.g. no bet larger than $10). In this case, you can simply accept the limitation and start placing smaller bets. The downside to this, though, is that you’re not going to be able to win as big and it could negatively impact your betting experience over the long-term, especially if you’re someone who’s a high roller. 

• Switch to a New Sportsbook 

The third (and final) option is to simply move on and switch to a new sportsbook. According to betting expert, Alex Windsor from MinimumDepositBettingSites, sportsbooks usually limit player accounts when they win big regularly. By using several operators, you mitigate this problem and spread the risk.

Generally, this is what most bettors do if they’ve been banned or limited, as it means they can get straight back to placing the types of bets they want. After all, most sportsbooks offer similar odds anyway, with the only key differences tending to be the bonus offers and user interfaces. 

So, if you’ve been limited by FanDuel and want to continue betting, you could deactivate your account and switch to DraftKings. Similarly, if BetMGM has imposed limitations on your account, you might want to try Caesars Sportsbook instead — you get the idea. Sportsbooks aren’t interlinked with each other, so if one of them has limited your account, this won’t transfer over to any new accounts you make with different sportsbooks, which is great to know. 

Conclusion

If your sportsbook account has been limited or suspended, don’t worry. It’s now common practice in the industry for gambling sites and apps to impose limits on player accounts as a protective measure when they’re winning too much money. So, if that has happened to you, congratulations — it means you’re a good bettor. But instead of letting this ruin your online gambling experience, simply follow the advice in this guide and join a new sportsbook if your limitations can’t be removed.