Things to reconsider in the offshore wagering industry today

Guys, in times like the ones we’re living currently, I believe it’s necessary for all the people that are involved in the offshore wagering industry to come together and do some serious thinking. In my opinion, it has become crucial to understand what I believe it’s an undeniable truth: by being involved in this industry, we’re all connected as a community. We all need to reconsider all the things that we consider axioms in this industry and we need to modify this model, so we can all evolve together.

As a player, as a bookmaker or as a marketer, we all form part of an “organism”, a form of life in itself. We all gamble, in one way or another and there are powerful people out there that do not appreciate us being involved with offshore gambling. The reasons to oppose the very nature of this industry are diverse and they go form hypocrisy to plain unconformity with this new system of money distribution. If we are to make this a legitimate business, we need to root out the flaws in the system.

Maybe you’re reading this and you’re thinking I’m not being realistic. How can we find a common ground of agreement, with some many different conflicts of interests? The way I see things, we might not be able to survive another internal malfunction in this community. All these malfunction are like cancer to this “organism” and they are deadly like cancer. Which are these malfunctions and what causes them?

(These are the things I believe should be reconsidered; then again this is merely my opinion and I would love to read about the different arguments we all have)

Lack of honor:

The poster known as DimePlayersOnly started a very interesting and honest thread about this same topic. I’d like to quote him:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> books dont have options like other business's.....if you owe people in this business....IT BECOMES A MORAL, ETHICAL, HONOR, SITUATION......THERE IS NO LAW THAT SAYS YOU HAVE TO PAY YOUR PLAYERS....you cant go to bankruptcy court, the courts dont work out payment plans for the players, like creditors.........

the bookmaking business is LIKE NO OTHER BUSINESS.......BECAUSE ITS BASED ON.....TRUST...or at least its supposed to be.........as a player you trust them, thats why you send your money to them.....phuking total strangers.....right??? as a player you are putting trust in the book that if you win you will be paid............<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I couldn’t agree more with DPO. An offshore book lives of its reputation and a reputation is to be built through years of hard work, attractive lines and fast payouts. I have always thought that to profile or classify a book because of its geographical location (Aces Gold and Camelot were located in “safe” locations) or any other precept that is not the honorability of the main men behind the operation is not the way to go. There have been times in this industry when the owners of big solid shops were running low in cash and yet they strived not only to pay their players, but to maintain the operation running. Yet, there are guys out there that might be sitting on a stash of cash and they still won’t pay. (Where did Reggie from Blue Marlin go, by the way?)

Where the book operates from is not what matters; how honorable the main guys behind the operation are, that’s what really matters.

Many shrewd players might argue that there are “safer” jurisdictions than others and I agree. Point taken… Now, would you guys please help us think of a solution for the Caribbean- and Latin American- based books?

GREED

The golden rule among gentlemen is to never try to fvck another gentleman. Those who try it anyway, should not be considered gentlemen and should be treated accordingly. A man with no honor, is not a man… it’s a bitch.

In this industry, what precisely is trying to fvck somebody?

When it comes to a bookmaker, fvcking somebody implies to stiff your players. Not being willing to honor your debts is not being trustworthy. You should not be called a bookmaker, if doing this is what you consider business; you should be called a criminal.

When it comes to a player, fvcking somebody happens when you simply cheat. There are many players that enjoy flaunting an extravagant disregard for good and bad. These are guys that will try to capitalize on a bookmaker’s mistake to make a dime or two, or 40. These are guys that will always be on the look out for illegitimate angles, grey areas and blind spots.

My respect goes to those players that play by the rules and that still have ethical approaches to this game and yet have the capability to beat the books. And I’m not talking about middling/scalping (that’s simply an evolution of the market and a completely different topic). I’m talking about circumventing limits, about bonus whores, bad lines seekers and glitch abusers. These guys are scum.

MONOPOLIES

The exclusive control by one group of the means of producing or selling a commodity or service is PRIMITIVE. Every model needs to better itself and much of that improvement is to be achieved through competition. Which monopolies are numbing this industry? There are 2 kinds: those who are enforced like Don Best and those that people call monopolies, but that really aren’t. Examples: 1. Don Best. 2. NETeller. At this point, NETeller is the best and most convenient service for all the parts involved. Would it be advantageous for the players and books to have more options? Most definitely, but we can make no mistake, NETeller is not keeping anybody to enter the market and compete against them.

The best that could happen to this industry is the diversification of services and controls. If Don Best had a little bit more vision, they would understand that they are hurting the players by charging them more than necessary for a service that is proven to be flawed. They are also hurting the smaller books by holding back crucial information on specific games. I will not elaborate further on this matter, as I lack conclusive factual proves; but now that the hoops are here, a late injury report is a sure killer for a book out of the primary loops of information. Especially in hoops, where the inclusion/exclusion of 1 player sends a line out of orbit. Watch and closely follow the INJURY REPORTS by Don Best through March Madness and the NBA tournament and you guys will see what I’m talking about.

To those books in the know… have you guys thought why the NCAA Basketball Tournament is giving you guys more and more handle year after year? My guess would be that the syndicates and wise guys in general have access to information that is not available to everybody and that gives them an edge. In my opinion, how should this action be booked? Aggressively, make the groups kill each other for the numbers.

LACK OF COOPERATION

We should be able to recognize a good idea and we should be willing to progress that idea, if it’s for the sake of the players. While I do not possess all the information on the matter, I do think that Russ from MW and Ken from the RX have lacked the vision to understand how really beneficial it is for the players an ESCROW plan, like the one proposed by Carl from OGD.

In my opinion, the plan might have been flawed; but the right thing to do was to take the idea and take it to a higher level through team work and idea improvement. If the plan dies, the players will have missed one of the most advantageous ideas for them.

A house divided can’t stand. And as I said already, the offshore wagering community should be seen as that, a COMMUNITY.

The situation with BetPanAm comes to mind. If the kids @ BetPanAm fail to pay the players and OGD gets to pay all those players in the program, the OGD ESCROW account should be retaken.

Dunes, Aces Gold, Camelot, NAB, Gamblers Avenue, Blue Marlin. These are some of the most sound names of books that have failed as enterprises; how many more before we do something?

Those are way too many for the sake of this industry. For whatever reasons, many of these books have gone broke and they have stiffed players in the process. Not only did they fail to their players, but by going down in the manner that they did, they have shattered the trust that the players have in the offshore industry.

“An internal sense of righteousness dwindles into an external concern for reputation” (A.R. Gurney, Jr.).

Damn, that was long... sorry guys

Good points Walk - Speaking as a player only, although connected to the sports betting community, that connection is a cyber-connection. As a player, I can navigate anywhere in the sports gambling community I want. Bookmakers, marketers, and any one else involved in the industry to make a living (non-betting) have a lot more to lose. The burden is on the operational end, (sportsbooks, web-sites like this one, etc.) of the offshore community to protect itself from those powerful people out there who want to take down the industry. Once the Industry somehow creates an enviornment where "Internal Malfunctions" are a thing of the past, then the player can regain lost confidence. Realistically is it possible to create a self governing community of Sportsbooks that will instill confidence in an extremely skeptical customer base? That remains very debatable. I believe it can be done to some degree, but it will take the cooperation of the sportsbook owernership to create a type of coalition, lose, but viable, that protects the industry from cancerous malfunctions. The kind of unnecessary malfunction that is anathema to players both large or small, wise or square.


wil.

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Semper Fi.

Good post Walk

Its Official. WALK is on "A ROLL"

Walk and all,
Walk thanks for taking the time to type all your well thought out views. I personally could not agree with you more. The Secure Gaming Alliance has developed a program that is very close to Wil's solution. We are close to an official launch date and are excited to report that so far we have been getting very positive reactions from the sportsbook operators we have contacted, as well as, individual posters who have taken the time to report their feelings about our program. We invite all posters to preview our site and offer us their opinions as well. Please check the promotions forum to find more information about our program and our website.