Wager Mage
Photo by Elvis Pexels Logo Photo: Elvis

Can bookies see your MAC address?

Unlike IP addresses which change, and cookies which can be deleted, MAC addresses can be tied to a specific PC and thus give bookies the information they need.

flatstats.co.uk - Hide my IP Address - FlatStats
Why does the bookie always win?
Why does the bookie always win?

The Bottom Line The payoff on a win is always less than what one should have received if the odds had reflected the true chances. This is because...

Read More »
Last updated Aug 3, 2022
Which betting sites payout straight away?
Which betting sites payout straight away?

Best Payout Betting Sites 2022 Ladbrokes Fast Withdrawal. Quick Same Day Payout with EWallets. ... Coral Fast Withdrawal. Fastest Gambling Payouts....

Read More »
Last updated May 9, 2018

Q. I am being restricted by a certain bookmaker. I hear that online betting sites track IP addresses to prevent multiple accounts, so how can I hide my IP address to get around them limiting my bets?

A. This is one of the great urban myths with online betting sites. The truth is that bookies are wasting their time 'tracking IP addresses'. They may say that they do it but there is no effective way to do that for all punters. Punters are wasting their time too if they think that the answer to restricted or linked accounts is to hide their IP address Before this article states the technical details here is an explanation of why some punters want to 'hide their IP address' from online bookmaker sites.

Limited or Restricted Accounts

Successful punters will find it difficult to get a decent bet on. Bookies will not want punters regularly winning money so they will limit the amount a successful punter will be able to bet. It is not uncommon for some punters to be informed onscreen that the maximum bet they can have on a particular horse is a fraction of what they were betting previously. The situation can be even worse with multiple bets with some punters reporting that sites restrict them to bets such as a 23p Yankee! This is a problem not just for successful professional punters but for ordinary punters who are on a winning streak. If you have a few winners on the trot and take a good few hundred out of the bookie you may find that you will start to see future bets restricted. The reason for this is because bookies are now not controlled by likeable old rogue bookies but by bean counters and accountants who use software to maximise their profits and minimise their risks. Every bet you make will first be analysed by a program. Depending on the type and size of bet, and your previous betting history will the amount of stake you can place be determined. Too often than not this will be too protective for the online bookie and result in the punter being restricted. To get around this some punters use multiple accounts. They will try and open up a second account with the online bookie using their own details but a different credit card. Some may setup a second account in their partners or friends name. But before long they find that the second account is restricted and deemed as 'linked' to the first. This is when punters assume that their IP address is being monitored to determine linked accounts and this is why they think that hiding it will allow them to get a decent bet on. Depending on your ISP you may have a static or dynamic IP address. A static one will never change - your IP address will always be the same whatever site you visit, and will always be the same day after day. Think of static IP addresses as your car number plate. It is always the same every morning you drive your car and is always the same wherever you drive to. This type of IP address bookies can monitor and could use to restrict your account. Dynamic IP addresses are assigned from a pool of numbers allocated to your ISP. Each day you logon to the internet you could have a different IP address. Think of dynamic IP addresses as a company pool car. Each day at work your boss could give you a different car to drive around in. One day you could have the car with XYZ1 number plate, the next day you could have the car with the ABC22 number plate. This would make it much harder for places you visit to determine that it was you who visited yesterday! And this makes it much harder for bookies to determine who you are via IP address. Therefore, bookies trying to link users via IP addresses will be wasting their time as the method used to identify you can change day after day. AOL users are a different case. Some AOL users can change their IP address every few minutes. This would be like having a pool car take you to a sales meeting in Slough. But you drive a different pool car back to a presentation in Windsor and then get a different car again to drive back to the office! Some AOL accounts make it near impossible for bookies to identify linked accounts.

Cookies

The most likely method a bookie will use to try and identify linked accounts is via cookies. Every time you visit an online bookie site a cookie which holds information about you is accessed. Most of the time this is just to make your visit to the site easier such as storing your username and your preferences etc. But cookies can also be used to identify linked accounts. If you login to an online betting site with your account details, then logout and log back in with your partners details the online betting site will be able to access any of their cookies on your PC. It would be really easy for the online betting site to work out that the two accounts you have logged in with are from the same PC and thus make a judgement that you are the same person!

Can you still bet on sports in Florida?
Can you still bet on sports in Florida?

Since that lawsuit, Florida sports betting has not been available to anyone in the Sunshine State, and it won't be until the court has the chance...

Read More »
Last updated Sep 4, 2021
Can I mobile sports bet in Florida?
Can I mobile sports bet in Florida?

The Seminole Tribe of Florida sued the state because they believed the launch of Florida sports betting without their participation violated the...

Read More »
Last updated Mar 2, 2018

The solution to this is to clear your cookies before each login. This will wipeout cookie information and make it harder for online bookies to link your accounts. You can clear your cookies easily in Internet Explorer or Firefox. Just check your Tools, Internet Options, Delete, Delete Cookies (Internet Explorer 7), or Tools, Options, Privacy Show Cookies (Firefox 2) to view and delete your cookies. Note that you only want to delete the cookies set by the betting site and not anything else.

Super Cookies / Flash Cookies / Javascript

A few years ago gambling sites used more stealthier techniques to prevent account sharing and restrict bonus tarts. They used flash cookies, super cookies and javascript files to get around the problem of customers clearing out their cookies. This seems to be all the rage again, with punters spotting that iesnare / mpsnare files were appearing on their PCs.

You can read more on how iesnare works here:

Fear and Loathing mpsnare.iesnare.com

Defeating iesnare is easy. If you are using a browser, which allows third party add-ons (FireFox) you can install various privay add-ons such as:

Flashblock

Ghostery

Privacy Badger

Some of those add-ons are really effective in preventing tracking and can be used on their own, whilst some should be used together. But note that the more blocking you do the more likely sites will not accept you as a customer, or that you may lose some functionality of the site. If that happens then screw them; find another site! One other tactic is to use a privacy based hosts file. A hosts file is like a telephone directory that looks up website addresses and converts it to an IP address. So if you are looking for ACMEBookMakers.com your hosts file will be checked and the relevant IP address obtained. If an entry does not exist then your ISP further down the wire is queried for the IP address of ACMEBookMakers.com. Modifying the host file on your local machine is a big boost for privacy because you can route all dodgy domains and tracking sites (such as iesnare) into a blackhole. This means that if you visit sites, or read emails that specific types of beacons to track you your PC will ignore it. A good resource for a privacy host file is: MVPS - Blocking Unwanted Connections with a Hosts File. It's a bit old school but really effective. I put this file on *every device* I use that connects to the internet. Not only does it block tracking but you will note hell of a difference in the speed of use of sites, that are heavy on advertising. This is the most revealing form of identification in your PC. This is a unique number which is hard coded into network cards / devices and can not be changed (except with some customisable devices not generally installed in domestic PC's). Bookmakers could use this information to permanently identify linked accounts. Unlike IP addresses which change, and cookies which can be deleted, MAC addresses can be tied to a specific PC and thus give bookies the information they need. Accessing the MAC address is not easy though. The address is only made available if software on your PC is asked to give it. In general use Windows or your Internet Browser will never give this information out. Only if you download a custom application which has rights to give out the information will it transmit back to the enemy. This kind of software would be a 'free toolbar' such as one which displays the latest results or live prices prices on your desktop. Other software which could reveal your MAC address would be casino games which you can readily download from the online bookies site.... Some home users will probably be using a USB modem which does not connect to the network card, and others will be using wifi devices connected to the main house router. But don't think you are safe even if you are not using your network card. If the device is enabled in your PC it will still give out it's MAC address. The best advice is to disable all unused network cards in your Hardware Device Manager or turn it off completely in the BIOS. Before you do so just make absolutely sure that you do not turn off the wrong device! else you won't be able to connect to the internet at all. Note that WiFi connections can be very revealing and give out your MAC address - certainly to other devices connected to your WiFi. You may need to look at your WiFi and / or device security settings to check that. Your router should allow the configuring of the MAC address too. This is where you can change it to a totally different number, or a similar number +1. Thus can be really complicated though and cause more problems tha it is worth.

What is the strongest hand in blackjack?
What is the strongest hand in blackjack?

As the name of the game suggests, the best hand is blackjack. That's an ace and a ten, jack, queen, or king. With a starting total of 21, your hand...

Read More »
Last updated Jan 21, 2019
Can you get banned for Martingale?
Can you get banned for Martingale?

Can online casinos stop you using the Martingale strategy? The Martingale system is not illegal, and it is not banned from usage at online casinos...

Read More »
Last updated Dec 19, 2018

Other Reasons why Bookies Detect Linked Accounts

Reducing the risk with successful punters is not the only reason why bookies detect linked accounts. They may also attempt to link accounts of 'bonus tarts' and 'arbers'. Bookies quite often give out generous bonuses to new customers. Some people try to take advantage of this by registering different accounts and thus receive the bonus many times over. Some try to take advantage of affiliation bonuses or 'recommend a friend and receive a free £25 bet' type bonuses. Again, it is in the bookies interest to detect this and stop it. Arbers are punters who will back a horse in one place and lay it off in another for a guaranteed profit. e.g. An online betting site is offering Lucky Jim at 12/1 but he is available to lay on the exchanges for 10/1. Another reason is to detect punters who only back mainstream tipster selections and try and take advantage of guaranteed prices. e.g. An online betting site is offering 12/1 for a horse tipped up by a leading pundit (Pricewise, or one of the major telephone tipsters). This price is guaranteed until 10:00am What some punters do is to only back that horse and nothing else. They will try and get as much as they can get on but often find that they are restricted to something like £25 at 12/1 and the rest at SP. To get around this punters try to use different accounts and this is why bookies try to detect this kind of activity. In short, if you only use the bookie to take advantage of free bonuses, to arb, or to only back races with guaranteed prices they will do all they can to restrict you.

How to get around Bookmaker Restrictions

Shop around. There are dozens and dozens of online betting sites. Register accounts with them all and spread your bets around them thinly. Don't bet too much in one place and vary your type of bet. Don't place doubles at one site, each way bets in another, and straight wins in another - vary the bet between sites even if it means you can not get the best prices. Visit your local high street betting shop! The exercise will do you good. Use the betting exchanges. You should be able to get much better value (especially on non favourites) but one problem could be liquidity. If you try placing a sizeable bet on the exchanges it is visible for all layers to see and it could make them lower the price they are willing to lay. In this case you will need to 'drip feed' your bet a bit at a time.

What to do if you are Restricted with a Bookie

The best thing you can do is to totally close down your account and ask them to delete all your information. Write to their customer services department asking specifically that. In a few months time you may be able to start afresh as a new customer. If you find that the bookie is still restricting you from day one, or is refusing to re-register you then ask to see what information they hold about you in accordance with the data protection act. If you want to know whether a company is holding information about you you can write to them requesting that information. The information will not only be database specific information such a your name, address and account details but also notes and emails about you which may reveal why your accounts are being restricted. Write to the bookie requesting information in relation to the data protection act. You may have to pay a fee and wait a few weeks for the information but it could be worth doing so in order to prevent being restricted in the future. Note too that the DPA does not give you the right to get all information deleted: only incorrect information can be changed or deleted.

Information Commissioners Office

Which? Advice on The Data Protection Act.

flatstats.co.uk - Hide my IP Address - FlatStats
Can gambling make me rich?
Can gambling make me rich?

Yes, gambling can make you rich. You've probably seen articles in the media about gamblers who struck it big and made themselves rich in the...

Read More »
Last updated Sep 17, 2020
What is the best bet ever?
What is the best bet ever?

Billy Walters — $3.5 million Despite being the underdogs, Walters bet on the New Orleans Saint that went on to win the game 31-17. While it is...

Read More »
Last updated Oct 25, 2022
Should you double 11 vs 10?
Should you double 11 vs 10?

When you double down, you risk losing double your original bet, but with 11 vs. 10, you win double your bet more often, giving you a higher average...

Read More »
Last updated Mar 18, 2020
Is sports betting luck or skill?
Is sports betting luck or skill?

In part, the essence of luck and chance underpins the thrill and tradition of sports betting from offline to online. Though there can be some level...

Read More »
Last updated Sep 16, 2019