Be careful when using a VPN for sports betting

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Bookmakers without a GRAI licence have a number of advantages for players. Irish players who wish to use them are in a dilemma as most of these sites would block their accounts. Some recommend VPN. Find out here why it's a bad idea to use a VPN to play sports betting.

Why consider a VPN for sports betting?

VPN (or Virtual Private Network) is a tool that many people use to connect to the internet. With the encryption algorithm on which these tools are based, they make it possible to hide your various data and make it unreadable. This is certainly an alternative in the face of cybercrime, which continues to increase around the world.

However, when it comes to sports betting, the main reason people think about using a VPN is for anonymity. The VPN makes it possible to hide the Internet user's IP address and therefore their geographical location and identity. This is the main constraint with non-GRAI online betting sites, which often tend to block players connecting from Ireland. VPN is not the best international bookmaker for Irish people.

It should be noted that every time you connect, you can be located using a series of alphanumeric characters called an IP address. When you use VPN, your data transits via a server whose location is different from yours. A different IP address is then generated. This means you can connect to bookmakers without a GRAI licence and even make your deposits. This may be a good idea, but the trap lies elsewhere.

Using VPNs for sports betting: a bad idea

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Using VPN at sportsbooks is generally a bad idea. While it allows you to sign up to various GRAI-licenseless bookmakers of your choice, and make your deposits freely, it poses a significant risk to you.

First, note that the bookmakers without a GRAI licence that you turn to will eventually suspect a discrepancy with your account and may block you. Each time you connect, you generate a new IP address. Imagine that you connect in the sixty-minute interval with three different IP addresses. This generates queries.

You will be able to make your deposits and play at the best of times. However, you won't be able to withdraw your winnings. So there would be no point in having played. Bookmakers clearly state in their terms and conditions that the player is not allowed to use the VPN to connect.. When they detect such cases, they do not hesitate to block the account.

Even if you manage to play and make all your bets without your accounts being blocked, you will have a problem when it comes to withdrawing your money. You will have to provide proof of your identity and prove that you actually have a bank account where you think you are. It is almost impossible to provide all this proof. The consequence is that your winnings are blocked and you go back to square one.

But then what do you do to bet with a foreign bookmaker?

It's quite simple:

1. You register with a foreign bookmaker who accepts punters, even from regulated countries. Like 22bet for Ireland, for example.
2. You sign up with a sports betting broker. This is an intermediary that gives you more choice and fewer limits, but is a little more complex to use, BetInAsia for Ireland, or AsianConnect or SportMarket.

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