Do Online Sportsbooks Limit Or Ban Winners?

Sometimes sportsbooks limit or restrict certain winning customers. But it’s crucial to know that virtually no one makes money in the long run betting on sports.

There are many claims to the contrary from so-called professional sports bettors. These claims are often deceptive marketing tactics to help a sports betting influencer gain a social media following. These influencers often sell products or betting-related services.

Do sportsbooks actually penalize you with reduced maximum bet sizes if you win more often than you lose over an extended period of time? It depends on how you are winning and the sport you are betting on.

If you are engaging in sports betting in a typical way and betting on a major sport (MLB, NBA, NFL, etc.), your maximum bet sizes won’t be reduced, regardless of any hot streak you are on. 

The sportsbook wants you to keep betting because over time you will lose more and more. 

This article will take a look at why limiting does happen for some users.

Why Sportsbooks Limit Some Players

Sportsbooks limit or restrict some customers who have been successful. Meanwhile, the platforms allow people with problem gambling to continue wagering until harm has been done.

About 30-40% of all online sports bettors experience problems with their play, according to Gambling Harm’s analysis of the most recent betting addiction statistics.

Here are the reasons online sportsbooks limit or restrict some players:

• “Sharp” Betting: Bettors who use sophisticated models, tools or insider knowledge can be successful initially. Sportsbooks might limit or ban these individuals who consistently bet on the good side of line movement. For example, your account will be flagged if you consistently make bets at a better price than where the market closed. There are tools that help people monitor and track line movements across various online sportsbooks.
• Arbitrage and Bonus Exploitation: Bettors who engage in arbitrage (exploiting odds differences between sportsbooks to guarantee a profit) or find an edge exploiting promos may face wagering restrictions. These practices are often against the terms of service.
• Odds Influence: Some high-stakes bettors in niche markets with low liquidity, such as MMA, can significantly influence odds and market movements. To maintain control over their lines, sportsbooks may restrict or limit these bettors.
• Beating the News: If you’re aware of a significant news development that will impact a betting line and bet it before the sportsbook adjusts the line, your account is vulnerable to being restricted. This is more relevant in niche sports.
• Betting “Obvious” Errors: Let’s say a sportsbook employee mistakenly entered “2 Points” instead of “20 Points” for LeBron James’ over/under line. The error might only be on the platform for a few minutes, but bettors who jumped on the mistake will be flagged by the platform and possibly face account restrictions.

Is Sports Betting Like Blackjack?

You can compare some of these reasons to card counting in blackjack.

You’ll never be asked to leave a casino if you are playing blackjack like a normal person. If you try to gain a slight advantage through a method that threatens the casino’s profit, you will be booted.

Sportsbooks limit bettors who are akin to blackjack card counters.

Legality of Sportsbook Limits

While it’s a sportsbook’s legal right to limit or restrict bettors, such practices are controversial.

Because sportsbooks pay taxes to states, regulators have mostly ignored this unsavory business practice. The more money a sportsbook earns, the more tax revenue a state receives.

However, the practice of banning and limiting winners has generated such a stir that some states, such as Wyoming and Masschussets, are examining the operator activity.

“Most of the reasoning for limiting a patron revolves around the patron ‘cheating’ in some manner,” said a report from the Wyoming Gaming Commission in May 2025. 

“Cheating by placing prop bets while at a live event, ahead of the televised feed, beating the sportsbook’s ability to remove the bet once the prop has been completed; by grouping up with other bettors to manipulate a line at one sportsbook in order to change the line at another; by creating multiple accounts to take advantage of special incentives. There are several more examples.” 

The Wyoming regulator gave one caveat. “The only reason for limiting a patron that gave us any concern was when an operator limits a patron for finding their errors in making odds and taking advantage of those errors.”

The regulator said that fewer than 1% of Wyoming sports bettors are limited at all. Of that less than 1% of total limited bettors, fewer than 10% of those were limited because they exploited the sportsbook’s errors.

It’s worth noting that Wyoming, a very small population state, probably isn’t representative of the U.S. sports betting market. Forty states have some form of sports betting.

What Does This Mean for You?

If you can gamble seldomly and socially, you could develop a healthy engagement with sports betting.

Meanwhile, attempting to make money from sports betting will cause you problems. Sportsbooks could limit your account. Virtually every way you can improve your chances of winning will be frowned upon by the sportsbook.

Some sports betting jurisdictions and regulatory bodies are beginning to scrutinize these practices for fairness and consumer protection.

This dynamic is among the reasons why you shouldn’t bet on sports. It’s virtually impossible to use sports betting as a reliable source of income.

Most of an online sportsbook’s revenue comes from people with a gambling problem, according to a recent study. So, if you’re someone who doesn’t have a gambling problem, you’re much more likely to face restrictions.

Unfortunately, online sportsbooks have a predatory business model.

Image by Lia from Pixabay.