What is a 'rails' bookie?
Bookmakers generally fall into two categories: corporate bookies and rails bookies.
Corporate bookies
The big names: Sportsbet, TAB, Bet365, Pointsbet, Ladbrokes. These are publicly traded companies with millions of customers and enormous turnover. Your matched betting activity has proportionally less impact on them than it does on smaller bookies.
Rails bookies
Rails bookies are smaller, often privately owned operators that historically took bets in person at the racetrack. The name comes from taking bets at the rail. Many have moved online in recent years, which has opened up new opportunities for matched bettors.
One way to identify a rails bookie is their website. Most of them use white-label software purchased from one of a small number of providers, the main ones being BetMakers, Generation Web, BetCloud, and PuntersTech. Bookies on the same platform will have websites that look almost identical aside from their colours and branding (check our bookie list on Discord to see who is currently on each platform). .
Because of their smaller customer base, rails bookies can be more seriously affected by matched betting activity. They often have stricter terms and conditions and can react more aggressively, including removing bonuses or locking accounts entirely. With some of the smaller ones you may even get a call from the owner when you open an account.
Two important things to keep in mind with rails bookies:
Always do your research before opening an account. The By The Book section of our knowledge base has detailed information on every bookie, including a recommended experience level.
When betting at rails bookies, look like a rails punter. The vast majority of bets a rails bookie takes are on racing, specifically metro tracks on a Saturday afternoon. This is the best market for turning over your bonuses. Betting on low-liquidity races or sports markets where they take very few bets will draw attention to your account. PlayUp, for example, is known to immediately ban accounts that use bonus bets on sports.
The smaller customer base also means rails bookies can run into financial difficulty more easily than corporate bookies. If this happens it is common for them to impose additional ID requirements or lock accounts to delay withdrawals. For this reason it is best not to let large amounts accumulate in rails bookie accounts.