I'm fairly new to gambling. I have done a few sports pools, been to vegas, atlantic city a few times. But never really could get into the online gambling thing. It never got me excited to sit in front of a computer and play poker or use a sportsbooks site to place a wager (though I should note I never really bet much more than $20-50).
My current situation is that I am currently and undergraduate student and will be attending law school. The recent flutter of gambling hearings and legislation has gotten me very interested in the legality and issues of internet gambling. I have been reading recently on this site (which is great for learning about internet gambling) about everything from what an if-action wager to halftime totals to buying points to financial issues to the sense of brotherhood between gamblers.
What I am really interesting in knowing is more to do with the legality side of it all (rather than the types of wagering). I've been reading that back in early 2001/02 or so, credit card companies stopped accepting gambling transactions because of "chargebacks". From what I have read this is where a person either legitimately or illigetimately makes a transaction over the phone or online to a sportsbook. I've also learned that almost all of the sportsbooks have operations either in Canada or outside the US, thus the term "offshore."
As an ex-accounting major (I dropped out of that boring program!), I can see that the use of chargebacks could be devasting problem for sportsbooks. While I can understand why the sportsbooks do not want to have their transactions reversed, I can understand the side of the player who has been cheated or frauded out of their money. Either way it is a sticky, no-win situation.
While most of what I have read regarding advice on not using credit cards because all the hassle of identification and potentially high interest rates on balances, it seems that people still continue to use credit cards and sportsbooks continue to keep accepting them. I realize that some sportsbooks have stopped. Some still do though.
By the way, I am just telling what I know so that I can make sure I have it straight and also to inform anyone who is interested in this issue but may not know about it. In my opinion, having a central discussion on the real issues would be a helpful resource. I am considering doing some more research on the legal issues on it later in life and potential law career. I'd be all for legalizing internet gaming by the way. I will save all my questions that I am unclear about until the end.
Within sportsbetting, I have realized that there are 3 of methods that seem to cause problems with fraud, chargebacks or forfeiting winnings: credit card, bank ACH check deposits and 3rd party (which is often a form of ACH or credit). It appears as though 3rd party is the least risky to both the player and the sportsbook because it creates a neutral party to arbritrate any dispute.
However, with the first two aforementioned methods, it seems there can be a large discrepancy between word vs word over any dispute. I realize that of course, a sportsbook must protect their earnings and play the role of not being at fault the majority of the time. They also hold the service that the player wants. However, the player holds the money that drives their business.
Ok on to the questions:
1. What reprocussions are there for people who illegitimately chargeback transactions to a book?
-Some books say they will prosecute you, some say that your account remains disabled. Of course, no winnings are paid.
2. If each book has it's own method of dealing with the situation, what is each's method?
For example, I have read of an account of someone charging back a transaction of $750 to the website sportsbook.com. The person posted how their account was disabled and they were no longer able to use the site. However, the collection of the funds would not be pursued.
On the other hand, I have read of two instances were a scenario at bodog.com and intertops.com received chargebacks from one of their players. The player complained that the transactions were not his (whether legitimately or not I don't know because I don't know enough about internet gambling yet). The player said that their bank reversed the transactions and were under the impression that everything was fine. Then they received an email and letter stating that their account was in negative state and they would be sent to a collections agency if they did not pay. Collections agencies are a totally different subject, I'll hit those some other times.
So my question is, what sites approach this issue in different ways?
To use some of this sites sponsors, what do these companies do:
Sportsbook.com -
superbook.com -
bodog.com -
intertops.com -
betus.com -
heritagesports.com -
pinnaclesports.com -
5dimes.com -
nine.com -
How does each respond to the scenario of a chargeback?
I'm interested in anyone who knows from experience or factual knowledge of it. I've realized that many people claim to know what will happen, but in actuality are pretty far off. Any experiences with these books or ones similar to it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not so much interested in any US Casinos legislation at the current time, but will probably start a dicussion about that in the future.
Thank you in advance for your time in reading this and hopefully sharing your background with me and anyone else who is curious about this situation.
My current situation is that I am currently and undergraduate student and will be attending law school. The recent flutter of gambling hearings and legislation has gotten me very interested in the legality and issues of internet gambling. I have been reading recently on this site (which is great for learning about internet gambling) about everything from what an if-action wager to halftime totals to buying points to financial issues to the sense of brotherhood between gamblers.
What I am really interesting in knowing is more to do with the legality side of it all (rather than the types of wagering). I've been reading that back in early 2001/02 or so, credit card companies stopped accepting gambling transactions because of "chargebacks". From what I have read this is where a person either legitimately or illigetimately makes a transaction over the phone or online to a sportsbook. I've also learned that almost all of the sportsbooks have operations either in Canada or outside the US, thus the term "offshore."
As an ex-accounting major (I dropped out of that boring program!), I can see that the use of chargebacks could be devasting problem for sportsbooks. While I can understand why the sportsbooks do not want to have their transactions reversed, I can understand the side of the player who has been cheated or frauded out of their money. Either way it is a sticky, no-win situation.
While most of what I have read regarding advice on not using credit cards because all the hassle of identification and potentially high interest rates on balances, it seems that people still continue to use credit cards and sportsbooks continue to keep accepting them. I realize that some sportsbooks have stopped. Some still do though.
By the way, I am just telling what I know so that I can make sure I have it straight and also to inform anyone who is interested in this issue but may not know about it. In my opinion, having a central discussion on the real issues would be a helpful resource. I am considering doing some more research on the legal issues on it later in life and potential law career. I'd be all for legalizing internet gaming by the way. I will save all my questions that I am unclear about until the end.
Within sportsbetting, I have realized that there are 3 of methods that seem to cause problems with fraud, chargebacks or forfeiting winnings: credit card, bank ACH check deposits and 3rd party (which is often a form of ACH or credit). It appears as though 3rd party is the least risky to both the player and the sportsbook because it creates a neutral party to arbritrate any dispute.
However, with the first two aforementioned methods, it seems there can be a large discrepancy between word vs word over any dispute. I realize that of course, a sportsbook must protect their earnings and play the role of not being at fault the majority of the time. They also hold the service that the player wants. However, the player holds the money that drives their business.
Ok on to the questions:
1. What reprocussions are there for people who illegitimately chargeback transactions to a book?
-Some books say they will prosecute you, some say that your account remains disabled. Of course, no winnings are paid.
2. If each book has it's own method of dealing with the situation, what is each's method?
For example, I have read of an account of someone charging back a transaction of $750 to the website sportsbook.com. The person posted how their account was disabled and they were no longer able to use the site. However, the collection of the funds would not be pursued.
On the other hand, I have read of two instances were a scenario at bodog.com and intertops.com received chargebacks from one of their players. The player complained that the transactions were not his (whether legitimately or not I don't know because I don't know enough about internet gambling yet). The player said that their bank reversed the transactions and were under the impression that everything was fine. Then they received an email and letter stating that their account was in negative state and they would be sent to a collections agency if they did not pay. Collections agencies are a totally different subject, I'll hit those some other times.
So my question is, what sites approach this issue in different ways?
To use some of this sites sponsors, what do these companies do:
Sportsbook.com -
superbook.com -
bodog.com -
intertops.com -
betus.com -
heritagesports.com -
pinnaclesports.com -
5dimes.com -
nine.com -
How does each respond to the scenario of a chargeback?
I'm interested in anyone who knows from experience or factual knowledge of it. I've realized that many people claim to know what will happen, but in actuality are pretty far off. Any experiences with these books or ones similar to it would be greatly appreciated. I'm not so much interested in any US Casinos legislation at the current time, but will probably start a dicussion about that in the future.
Thank you in advance for your time in reading this and hopefully sharing your background with me and anyone else who is curious about this situation.
