Books that bet. How big of a problem/concern is this?

[Dragon]

How big of a problem is this? I wonder how many books/bookmakers also bet? Everyone knows the Dunes story. Any others? Skybook is another one and of course, they are no longer around. Seems like a pattern here. Can anyone add to the list?

[BOZMAN]

ADD RIO TO THAT LIST. BIGTIME. BUT I DON'T SEE IT AS A PROBLEM. BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS. THERE ARE OTHERS TOO.

[Jeff]

Guess it's only a concern if they lose

[Dragon]

You would think they would be happy just being on the side of the counter that has a built in edge. Any others?

[Jeff]

You'd be surprised at the number of "bettors gone bad" are on that side of the counter these days. Fortunately MOST of them no longer bet.

Some guys owe the world, but it never seems to bother them. Maybe that next windfall is right around the corner I guess........but that's the nature of this business unfortunately.

[SportsPlayer]

Considering 99.9% of all sports bettors lose, ther is going to come a time where your sports book is betting with your money. You know what the expression about drug dealers are "don't get high on your own supply" well when the bookie lose their own money they will start playing with their customers deposits, and then you know what the next stap is..........

[Zap]

I find it incredible that these guys are betting sports. How unprofessional is that??

It's like Steve Wynn shooting craps over at Caesars to pick up extra money.

-Zap

[chuckz]

i for one would not play at a place where the owners are betting themselves.

its an accident waiting to happen and if your on the boat when it takes a hit, your stuck.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo to books who wager themselves.

[Bumps]

Also a lot of these guys not business men. How many of these guys have actually been trained to manage an office, last I heard people had to get office management degree to manage an office.

[underdog]

You guys make this sound like it is a regular occurance. Can anyone name ONE book where this is happening?? What is the Dunes story? Or the Skybook story for that matter?

[Jeff]

Underdog, this actually is a regular occurance.

For those that do bet, they generally bet out when they get hit with wiseguy/syndicate stuff. Others are even betting their own stuff, or the plays of someone who bets into them that they respect.

Is this a bad thing? I don't know. It was for the Dunes guys. Maybe it was bad for Skybook as well.

Personally I'm not crazy about the idea. Some of the guys border on Degenerate/problem gambler.

Bumps also makes a good point. Alot of these guys aren't business men at all. They are bettors and bookmakers.

I've always maintained that the books that are able to combine good business with solid bookmaking are the ones that will flourish. SportingbetUSA comes to mind.