Skybook & Don Best

[reno]

When Skybook's lines weren't on the Don Best screen this morning, I called Don Best. According to Don Best, Skybook will no longer be on the feed. Don Best would give no reasons.

I talked to Skybook, and they gave me two reason for defecting from the Don Best screen: 1) They felt they had been treated unfairly in terms of screen space. Four other books, each with a 20-cent line, had slots for their 1.5 run lines, but not Skybook. 2) Skybook got an offer from Jim Feist that they couldn't refuse. Apparently, Feist is now looking to compete with Don Best in the the sports screen businesss.

Interestingly enough, Skybook had easily been the best baseball book on the Don Best feed this season. Lance isn't afraid to opinionate lines and be different. In fact, I've put in more plays with Skybook than all the rest of the Don Best books combined.

Is this just the tip of the iceberg? Is there now going to be a bidding war between Don Best and Feist for the top books?

Since I love Skybook as a baseball out, this means that I will simply have to bite the bullet and subscribe to not only Don Best, but also the the Feist service. Who said life is easy?

[mls]

What a terrible business decision by Don Best!

Skybook is a major book particularly right now given their baseball dime line.

Keeping worthless Vegas books on the Don Best feed (small limits and in any event totally useless to non-Vegas residents) while not giving Skybook the space they deserve makes no business sense whatsoever.

I have never been a fan of Feist, but if his Sportstracker II line service is equivalent to Don Best I would imagine all Skybook players with Don Best will eventually switch (I for one).

[thedevil]

Might not be what it appears to look like. Fiest offers big money to some of the larger books to hook up to his sportstracker. Maybe Skybook wanted the same offer from DB and DB wouldn't go for it. Dana is no jerk, he knows what taking Skybook off his feed will do.

Fiest is looking to take over the market the same way he took over the schedules years ago from JK Sports.

The bad news is if both feeds are using a different rotation.

[BigMoney]

I don't mean to bring up old wounds, but there was also the issue of whether Skybook would honor the lines that were on the screen. This could be a factor.

[JohnnyDeMarco]

Don Best needs to make sure CRIS honors lines as well. I hear that they don't.

[mls]

I would guess I made about 300 wagers over the past 6 months with Skybook.

I never once did not get the number on the Don Best screen.

Of course, I do not bet steam ...

[Squirming For Action]

I don't think either service pays for books to be on their service...as for competition between the two I'd be willing to bet quite a bit that Don Best will be in the tout industry by the time football rolls around.

[reno]

BigMoney, I can assure you that the question of Skybook honoring lines on the screen has nothing to do with this. Even before I partied with Skybook in Margarita, I virtually always got the line on the screen.

[Boomer]

I second what Reno said. I too, always got the lines on the screen and am very sad to see Skybook off the feed. They are a great book and I wish they could patch up whatever differences they may have had, as we the players are the ones that suffer.

The only consolation for me is that Skybook has initiated using their online software and you can review their lines using that method, although it is a bit cumbersome in that it is not browser-based.

Regardless of whether Lance angered a few people on this site, Skybook is a top-notch book and I believe they belong on the Don Best feed at least as much or even more so than some others. Even though I'll still be using them as much as ever, I'm sad to see them go.

[ajax50]

For those in the know,skybook is an invaluable book,indispensible during bases,so the fact that they are off the screen is nothing more than an inconvenience as I will have to call for runs instead of viewing the screen.I really dont care what the beef between don best and skybook is.The bottom line is numbers,numbers,numbers and they,my friends,are one of the best.

[cashusking]

CRIS has one of the very BEST (no pun intended) record of anyone in updating and honoring the lines on the screen.

period.

[mls]

cashusking: CRIS went to a 20 cent line - they are out of the baseball business.