A Message From Sportingbet.com/usa

[Stephen Fry]

IT IS THE POLICY OF SPORTINGBET.COM AND SPORTINGBET USA TO EXCLUDE THE
PROFESSIONAL BETTING SYNDICATES FROM OUR BUSINESS.
THE FACT THAT A PLAYER IS A WINNER EVEN A CONSISTENT
HIGH WINNER IS NOT NOW AND NEVER WILL BE A FACTOR IN
CLOSING AN ACCOUNT.
IF AN INDIVIDUAL PLACED 10 BETS ON MONDAY AND ON GAME
DAY THE ORIGINATORS PLAYED ALL 10 SIDES SPORTINGBET
USA/.COM WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH THAT.
SPORTINGBET WOULD HAVE HAD ALL WEEK TO HOPEFULLY WRITE
AGAINST THESE WAGERS.
SPORTINGBET HAS NUMEROUS SIX FIGURE ACCOUNTS WITH
CUSTOMERS WHO HAVE DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO WIN
CONSISTENTLY.
THE DIFFERENCE HERE BEING ALL THE ACTION IS NOT ONE
SIDED AND ON MANY OCCASIONS THESE ACCOUNTS HAVE
PROVIDED TWO WAY BUSINESS.
AN ACCOUNT WILL ONLY BE CLOSED IF THE WAGERING
DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT CONCLUDES THAT A PLAYER IS
CONSISTENTLY ONLY PLAYING GAMES THAT MOVE THROUGHOUT
THE INDUSTRY IMMEDIATELY AFTER BEING PLACED.
SPORTINGBET WOULD NEVER INSULT THE INTEGRITY OF
THE OFF-SHORE WAGERING INDUSTRY OR THREATEN THE
SECURITY OF THE BETTING PUBLIC BY ISSUING A WISEGUY OR
SYNDICATE DISCLAIMER WHICH WOULD ALLOW NON-PAYMENT BY
SPORTINGBET TO SUCH INDIVIDUALS.
SPORTINGBET PRIDES ITSELF ON THE ABILITY OF OUR
WAGERING DEPARTMENT TO IDENTIFY SUCH INDIVIDUALS AND
WHEN IDENTIFIED IT IS OUR POLICY TO CLOSE THE ACCOUNT
AND HONOR ALL WAGERS PRESENT AND FUTURE.
AT SPORTINGBET WE HONOR THE LINE WE POST,WE HONOR
THE WAGER WE ACCEPT AND WE RETURN YOUR FUND ON DEMAND
UPON YOUR REQUEST.
THANK YOU.
STEPHEN FRY
SPORTINGBET USA/.COM

[MISTY]

WEAK AT BEST!!!!!

[Ronbets]

Thank you, but just the mention, I'll go elsewhere with my multi-dime post up.

[Cons]

OK, so how do you view my situation? I don't play any US sports, in fact I haven't even looked at a baseball/football/basketball line for half a decade.

But quite often when I make a bet on soccer or tennis the line then tends to go even steeper. Does that mean that you will hold something against me, because within a few hours scores of bettors will bet the same way, forcing the way down?

I tend to check tennis lines as soon as tehy come out, and bet on them accordingly. I don't give a **** which way they move, that's not my problem. But if you hold this agianst me then my respect for your operation will become nonexistent.

Frankly I do what I want to do, and if the market then follows the same way, then I really don't care. It's not like I'm handing out plays or guiding anyone. If you offer an enticing line then surely I'm not going to be the only one to fancy that bet. You will have many more people just like me because they find the line favourable.

So once and for all please put everything in the clear, as I have no time to waste with people who close accounts left and right because someone has won with them. I want to know what your policy is so that I can decide if it's worth my time to bother betting with your company.

[Shawnee]

Sportingbet.Com exludes people from betting. I can vouch for that. I checked the records and here is what happened. The intial deposit was for $30,000. After one day of betting tennis and baseball the net result was +$3,250. They then sent the dreaded letter. What a disappointment as I had heard such great things about them.

[tim]

Those British BAASTARDS!!!

[sportshobby]

You guys/girls may be missing a big point here. In response to the criticism of their policy on this forum, Sportingbet has revised their rules. The revised rule may not be enough to satisfy everyone here. But we should applaud a few of the changes and clarifications, such as

(1) Some clarification about what constitutes a "wise-guy" according to their book,

(2) The statement that they will not boot someone just for winning, and

(3) That IF they determine a player to be a "wise-guy" (according to their standards), that this player will be paid all winnings when the account is closed.

The point is, Sportingbet has made some real significant changes to their policy as a result of this forum. It seems to me that these positive changes should be recognized.

I plan to become a regular Sportingbet customer.

[tim]

A genuine book takes on all comers not attempts to classify each player. The fact that they are even DISCUSSING this should lead you away from them...

[sportshobby]

Tim, quite a few books have a policy against the big syndicate players. Well over half, for sure.

There are so many books out there with an unwritten rule against wiseguys, that it's hard to beat up one that posts their policy. I'd rather have a book that spells out what is their policy, than one that just does what they want to. There are plenty of them in this latter category.

[reno]

From what I understand, Sportingbet.com bought out Betmaker.com (formerly Global Sports Connection) which used to kick out steam originators, steam followers, and even buy-back wiseguys like yours truly.

Even if they kick-out the "originators"--or whomever bets the steam-moves first-- someone else will then be first on every move. Will that person also be kicked out? Will they simply kick-out anyone consistently betting steam moves?

If a book doesn't want steam action because they believe it imbalances their books with one-sided action, the solution is real simple: move your line so much on the first hit that you will deter action on the steam side and entice action on the buy-back side. That is what some of the Don Best books do.

Sportingbet.com, which I played into early this baseball season, exemplifies the term "clone joint." They simply update their lines off the Don Best screen. And because they don't know how to book American sports, they have to institute discriminational rules to protect themselves against organized wiseguys. I certainly won't be playing into them again.

Unfortunately, some of the books that are the richest are also the most niggardly For example, Betmaker.com, Intertops, NASA, and Sportingbet.com have all made untold millions of dollars. And yet, they try to drain every last penny out of their respective operations by booting big-time sharp players. My recommendation, on principle alone, is to boycott these types of sportsbooks.

[tim]

Ironically, I was kicked out of Betmaker.com as well. SPORTSHOBBY, I know that several books have their "policies", but there's a vast difference between someone who is playing for a syndicate and a "wise-guy". If you don't know how to book, and you have no faith in your numbers, you have no business being a bookmaker.

[Shawnee]

Once again Reno gives these clone joints a free lesson on how to operate their business more profitably. But will they listen? Heck no! They just continue to chase away business believing it's better to beat every single customer even at the expense of reducing the bottome line. Sometimes I think it's just an ego thing with these British places.

And as for Sportingbet.com have you ever heard of somebody talking out of both sides of their mouth? Well that's what they're doing.

[natty]

Wow! Reno and Shawnee, you've really made me think here. Reno, you brought up some great points. I've been a member of Betmaker.com now Sportingbetusa. for a long time as well as Intertops and after hearing all of this I don't think I'll be playing much at either of those anymore!I hate giving $$ to a book who kicks someone out for winning long term since that IS the goal here! Which books out their are good and don't kick people out for long term winning!? Reno, Shawnee,..who are you guys with? I wanna make sure I post up with a book that is great across the board.

natty

[This message has been edited by natty (edited 09-26-2000).]

[Shawnee]

Natty,

I want to apologize for lumping all of the British bookmakers together. Most people I know have had pleasant experiences with William Hill and Victor Chandler. They are no doubt well-established and honorable organizations.

As to your question my personal favorites are Pinnacle, Wit, Cris, Delmar, Olympic, Sports Market/Aces Gold, Pelican, Grande, ABC and WWTS.

[reno]

Natty, because baseball is now essentially over, your best is to post-up with books on the BW List that offer football juice specials. Because I'm going to skip football, I haven't paid too much attention to all the books that offer specials. However, I do know that Aces Gold and Caribi offer good deals. If you do a search through past BW posts, you'll probably find info on books offering football deals. Also, if you're a prop player, then Olympic is a must.