Originally posted on 09/16/2012:

Justin, a few points for you to consider.


1. The sportsbook has admitted that it does not investigate losing accounts, but only winning accounts. This is unconscionable conduct. The evidence regarding the "style of play" would have existed for months, prior to account winning. The player's money was always at risk, and the sportsbook has devised a deliberate, systematic attempt to freeroll its players. The book does not come to the dispute with "clean hands".

2. Since the book is alleging fraud, the primary burden is on the book to produce evidence to establish a presumption of fraud (to the extent that the player, in order to the defend the allegation, would need to produce evidence to rebut the presumption). The evidence does not really establish anything:

a) The genealogy website stuff has zero evidentiary value, which you have acknowleded.

b) Inconsistency re knowing Cory. It is natural for a person, especially an eldery lady, to deny charges in order to protect herself and her son. Even if there is a relationship between Cory and the player, this doesn't really establish anything. There's certainly nothing fraudulent about two family members holding an account with a book.

c) Inconsistency re where the player opened the account. Again, entirely irrelevant. The book is not prejudiced by the location of where the account is signed up, so pursuing this line of questioning is merely a fishing expedition to discredit the player.

d) Inconsistency re IP addresses. This is simply not evidence because the IP address that the book is interacting with is not necessarily the IP address that the player is playing from. For the obvious reason that the player's internet connection, or the ISP, could be routed through Florida.

This case would be a slam dunk for any competent attorney for the player:


Attorney: How many times did the sportsbook contact you during the x month period during which you lost about $30,000 in their casino?
Player: Nil
Attorney: And then, when you started winning, how many times were you contacted?
Player: xx times in xx weeks.
Attorney: What was the nature of the sportsbook's contact with you during this period?
Player: They were accusing me of fraud.
Attorney: Did the sportsbook provide you with clear, written reasons for their allegations, before asking you for information?
Player: No
Attorney: What did they do?
Player: They called me on the telephone x times.
Attorney: How did you react to these telephone calls?
Player: I panicked, I was flustered, I was confused
Attorney: How old are you?
Player: 64
Attorney: How's your memory?
Player: Not very good
Attorney: Do you sometimes get confused and incorrectly recall information?
Player: Yes.


The above "evidence" would get laughed out of court, and would not support a presumption of fraud against the player. If the book wished to establish fraud, they could have, for example, arranged for surveillance of both the player and Cory, or obtained disclosure of travel records and/or electronic records from the ISP of both the player and Cory. Fraud is a very serious allegation, and the book has not obtained any evidence.


3. Clearly, the book's cause of action is with the software company. If Cory has figured out how to exploit the game, it's inevitabe that others will do so too.