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OK, I just got a bizarre phone call from a friend, and I’d like some reactions from you guys.
My friend is a fairly serious poker player, but has little interest in sports or sports betting. He knows that I bet, and he has on occasion given me some money to bet for him on my picks. But his knowledge of the world of offshore sports betting and such is limited to whatever he happens to have picked up in conversation from me.
Anyway, he calls me today and tells me that he met a fellow socially within the last month, and that they have seen each other around and gotten to know each other a bit since then. Today the fellow told him that he owns a sports book in Costa Rica. Knowing of my interest in sports betting, my friend questioned him about this at some length.
Among the things the fellow claimed are that his business is primarily credit. (He immediately told my friend that he would let me bet a $10,000 line of credit, maximum $1,000 on any one play.) When asked about the legality of what he was doing, he said that the attempt to make it illegal earlier this summer failed, so things were safe for now. I told my friend that the next time he talks to this guy, he should bring up the name Jay Cohen. He said, “Oh, actually he mentioned that name himself. He’s a bookie, right? He said that the problem there was that Cohen was taking bets over the Internet. He said as long as you limit the business to phone wagering, and you just do sports betting instead of ‘virtual casino’ games, then it’s legal.”
He then told me that he had asked the fellow about a betting syndicate who called themselves the “Poker Players.” (I had mentioned the Pokers in passing to my friend once after I heard about them on Bettorsworld.) He responded that he knew them well, and he proceeded to rattle off all their names. He said he was a runner for them for ten to fifteen years, and that he had made a lot of money by betting his own money on their picks when he placed their wagers, but that he no longer works with them.
My friend told me the fellow’s name (which I’m not going to mention here). He couldn’t remember the name of the sports book, though he said he could call the guy and find out any time. (He remembered part of the name, but I’m not going to mention that here either.)
The way my friend met this fellow and the type of social interaction they’ve had indicates that he is wealthy, or at least that he travels in the social circles of rich people. My friend said that he comes across as an intelligent, sane, sensible, respectable person, and that there is nothing suspicious or overly slick about his manner.
My reaction was that the whole story is ridiculous. Supposedly he’s an American owner of an offshore sportsbook who has chosen to remain physically in the United States, and to tell his story and give his name to someone he just recently met. Plus he offers to extend $10,000 of credit to a total stranger, sight unseen. I told my friend, “I wouldn’t touch this guy and his alleged sports book with a ten foot pole.”
Your reaction?
My friend is a fairly serious poker player, but has little interest in sports or sports betting. He knows that I bet, and he has on occasion given me some money to bet for him on my picks. But his knowledge of the world of offshore sports betting and such is limited to whatever he happens to have picked up in conversation from me.
Anyway, he calls me today and tells me that he met a fellow socially within the last month, and that they have seen each other around and gotten to know each other a bit since then. Today the fellow told him that he owns a sports book in Costa Rica. Knowing of my interest in sports betting, my friend questioned him about this at some length.
Among the things the fellow claimed are that his business is primarily credit. (He immediately told my friend that he would let me bet a $10,000 line of credit, maximum $1,000 on any one play.) When asked about the legality of what he was doing, he said that the attempt to make it illegal earlier this summer failed, so things were safe for now. I told my friend that the next time he talks to this guy, he should bring up the name Jay Cohen. He said, “Oh, actually he mentioned that name himself. He’s a bookie, right? He said that the problem there was that Cohen was taking bets over the Internet. He said as long as you limit the business to phone wagering, and you just do sports betting instead of ‘virtual casino’ games, then it’s legal.”
He then told me that he had asked the fellow about a betting syndicate who called themselves the “Poker Players.” (I had mentioned the Pokers in passing to my friend once after I heard about them on Bettorsworld.) He responded that he knew them well, and he proceeded to rattle off all their names. He said he was a runner for them for ten to fifteen years, and that he had made a lot of money by betting his own money on their picks when he placed their wagers, but that he no longer works with them.
My friend told me the fellow’s name (which I’m not going to mention here). He couldn’t remember the name of the sports book, though he said he could call the guy and find out any time. (He remembered part of the name, but I’m not going to mention that here either.)
The way my friend met this fellow and the type of social interaction they’ve had indicates that he is wealthy, or at least that he travels in the social circles of rich people. My friend said that he comes across as an intelligent, sane, sensible, respectable person, and that there is nothing suspicious or overly slick about his manner.
My reaction was that the whole story is ridiculous. Supposedly he’s an American owner of an offshore sportsbook who has chosen to remain physically in the United States, and to tell his story and give his name to someone he just recently met. Plus he offers to extend $10,000 of credit to a total stranger, sight unseen. I told my friend, “I wouldn’t touch this guy and his alleged sports book with a ten foot pole.”
Your reaction?
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