04.01.2008 (11:04 PM CST)SportFanatik (SBR rating D-) player accepts $10 free-bets; book confiscates $820Sportfanatik shares the same ownership and management as
Sportsbook.com (SBR rating D-). The
Sportsbook.com Group regularly refers to these $10 free-bet offers as a reason the bettor is not entitled to his/her balance, claiming the user violated the bonus rules or "the spirit of the promotion." The scam is always used on winning players who are often debited for more than they have received in bonuses over the life of the account. Even long-time
Sportsbook.com account holders should use caution. The book has proven it will attempt to increase profit margins by stealing funds from players with positive balances who are no longer perceived to be profitbale. Other recent scams include voiding winnings on parlays and stealing five and six figure balances from winners who used different sportsbooks within the Sportsbook.com family.
Player: I have a problem with sportfanatik in that my account has been disabled ,there was a small balance of $20 and a pending bet of 800/1000 San Antonio for NBA champs ,reason being they are accusing me of playing both sides in the weekly free $10 bet . I have an acc with Hollywood as well but I didn’t realise they were connected , I thought it strange that they would offer the same proposition but I did take the free bets most weeks ,as I had no opinion of the propositions I mainly ticked the boxes at random and obviously at times they would differ . For at least a year I have only been taking the free bet with sportfanatik and one is only allowed 1 free bet per week so it is strange that this complaint should surface now . I fail to understand how they can adopt such stringent measures and if they are legally entitled to cancel my bet and confiscate my funds. Hoping that you can assist in this matter
01.11.2008 (08:39 PM CST)Sportsbook.com Group steals $5,677 from playerThe player held accounts at
Sportsbook.com (SBR rating D-),
Sportsbooks.com (SBR rating D-),
Sportfanatik (SBR rating D-),
and
PlayersOnly (SBR rating D-). He was debited for the amounts won over the life of the account totaling $5,677. Sportsbook.com cites "bonus abuse" as the reason for stealing these funds. The Sportsbook.com operation often labels players who have won money and utilized promotions in more than one of the many sister sportsbooks as
bonus abusers. Sportsbook.com and sister
Jazette books do not have rules against using multiple brands and using their promotions. It is often encouraged through cross marketing and the sales departments which market each website as an independent sportsbook.
Player: I did everything above board and was having a good season of NFL picks and now they've stolen from me. I guess I should have known better since you had it listed as D- but they'd fixed their payout issues over the last few months and I had never had other problems with them over 5+ years of active use. However, I have no email to send you since they didn't even bother to email me.
04.21.2006 (02:57 PM CST)Sportingbet Plc returns $24,000 confiscated from client in October 2005. Over the course of a year the player had used multiple Sportingbet Plc sites including PlayersOnly(SBR rating D+), LinesMaker(SBR rating D+), SportFanatik(SBR rating D+), SportingBetUSA(SBR rating D+), Aces(SBR rating D+) and Sportsbook.com(SBR rating D+). The amount confiscated was the sum of what the player had earned in bonuses and won overall from the family of sportsbooks. SBT management originally stated that the player was violating the spirit of the bonus although the company’s client support has maintained that utilizing multiple sportsbooks and incentive offers was acceptable. Other Sportingbet players hope to experience the same success in resolving their issue and recovering their funds. SBR is currently speaking with Sportingbet’s corporate office about these matters.