How many accounts have you opened... lifetime ?

I won't list them. I'd estimate I've opened 40-50 accounts in the last 5 years. I know, I'm a ho !

I freely admit that many were , basically to get a bonus , I'm ok with that ! I didn't cheat.

Some I liked and have been loyal to, others I was neutral with, took bonus and left.

A few screwed me like Blue Marlin, and Pan-am.

Royal saved me from, BM, but lost credibility.

PA fvucked everybody. Bonuses, offset perceived loss to PAN-am, by far, but that situation still sucks !

Most books, are fairly decent ! A smart man would not open accounts at certain un-named books now, like the ones offering 100% bonuses common sense must prevail, at some point !

Don't open accounts at books with complaints, and bad ratings !

Other books with mediocore ratings can be fine, use judgement !

Many are over, and under-rated, rating sites are biased, but a very bad rating by SBR, should at least be considered a red flag !

They all have an agenda, of some variety.

Best of luck,

Doug

I have used 16 offshore books in all and am currently using 10 of them. Fortunately, I have never had any slow-pay/non-pay issues with any book (no BetPanam-like sagas, etc). But I'm pretty selective when it comes to opening new accounts. Bonus offerings at new books mean nothing to me and would never entice me. I basically look at four things:

1. Reputation/background. I do a lot of research on a particular book before opening an account. Sounds obvious, but it's probably a step many skip due to bonus offerings, etc.

2. Reduced-vig. Pinnacle, IIS, Hollywood, and Canbet fit nicely here. Most of my bets are probably with Pinnacle and IIS.

3. Wide selection of offerings. Olympic and 5Dimes fall into this category.

4. Unique lines. WSEX, Intertops, and Carib are good examples here. WSEX seems to be one of the few books that still moves on action. Intertops is slow to move lines. Carib auto-adjusts money lines. Gotta love those 2nd half NBA totals at +110, +120, etc.

There are other features I take notice of. None of these are make or break for me when it comes to selecting a book. But some features I consider desirable:

1. Ability to lock in a bet for some amount of time (as with Olympic and Canbet). Really tired of Hollywood changing lines on me when I try to confirm.

2. Interfaces that don't time out. Hollywood and IIS are especially annoying in this regard.

3. Well-designed, simple interfaces that don't require a lot of steps to make a bet. Of the books I use, WSEX and Pinnacle are probably my top choices for this category.

4. Free withdrawals. Restrictions such as 1 free Neteller withdrawal per month are fine with me. Carib really annoys me in this regard as they not only charge $20 for every Neteller withdrawal, but also, if you want to withdraw more than $2500, you must pay multiple withdrawal fees. Ridiculous.

5. Overnight and/or early posting of lines. Olympic is tops here. Pinnacle also checks in nicely.

In my examples, I listed 9 books. The 10th book I currently use is Cascade, though not frequently.

Nice Response brother Picasso : Everything you said makes great sense !

Personally I'll take a little greater risk !

I'll take a Casablanca/Rio / Skybook/Bowman's/SIA, 5 dimes, etc in there. They are all good, Never a problem , with any of em., except SIA, but minor , and resolved, there improving.

Pinny is really the best. I've never dealt with a better book ! Best run operation, easily !

Doug

Probably a dozen accounts. The only one I have is now is WSEX. It's the only one that I feel 100% comfortable.

I've used SIA and was given the boot once I reached their standard threshold of 15k in winnings. This was a couple years ago before their reputation really declined. I had no problems getting paid. However, even if I was still allowed to play there, I would no longer do so due to all the negative things I've read about them in recent times.

Bowmans was the first offshore book I used -- back when they were known as Sports Action International (not to be confused with SIA) and phone-only. Although I placed thousands of bets with them without issue, I had one incident which left a bad taste. Back then, standard procedure was to give them your PIN number first (because they deal dual lines) and then get the line(s). One time, after placing my bet with an operator, instead of the usual confirmation process, she told me "the line has changed...". Once they verbally give me a line and I indicate the side I want, they shouldn't be changing a line on me. I cancelled the bet and subsequently closed my account. In general, I'm sure Bowmans is fine and this was probably an isolated incident (and was years ago). But, as I said, it left me with a bad taste. I've considered playing with them again since they've gone online, but really don't have much incentive. With their dual lines, I won't be given the dog-friendly numbers and they don't offer reduced juice.

Of the other books you mentioned, I may open a Rio/Skybook account once football starts due to the free half point. I need to research the free half point restrictions (if any) though.

5 different ones for me

I use to play anywhere , I was very fortunate to have never been completely stiffed...although I was partly stiffed once, and slow payed on two occasions...

I never sent more than a dime to any new (unfamiliar to me) book...I rarely open any new accounts anymore... I would say I have opened maybe just 3 in the past year..

It was a crazy fun journey though, now that I think back to those days!

Picasso: You know your stuff ! I agree with your statements, generally.You ain't nobody's fool !

Doug

At the very least, 127.

I've joined around 20 or so and have 12 with either pending futures or a balance in them

Around 50.