Will offshore books be closed by next Football season?

Dark Horse · 02-18-07, 06:41 PM

Originally posted by bedada

No.

WWTSblows · 02-18-07, 07:54 PM

The nine month window was a guideline set by the act itself to the banking system. Many of the applied changes have already been incorporated. They had 9 months to comply, not that it was 9 months before it started.

We are probably seeing some of the worst of it right now, Most of us are left with few or no ways to deposit. They will still be around, but possibly in a diminished capacity for the US market. Remember, the European/Asian/Australian markets are thriving right now and they will still be around for football season (granted most already don't service US players).

The offshore sportsbooks catering to the US market were illegal (according to the US) and will continue to be, nothing really changed legally for them. The only thing affected here is the banking industry.

The major avenues that will take the longest to get shut down will probably be paper checks/bank wires/**. These will probably be the final lines for us to deposit/wd.

hanco21 · 02-18-07, 07:55 PM

I sure hope not. The books have come up with no solutions for withdrawals besides bank wires, checks. They have had months to prepare but still nothing has changed and nothing will probably change. So I would think the majority of the books out their will slowly fade away.

WSEX is one of the best books out there for US citizens and they came up with the bank card idea but was shut down after it was introduced.

louis · 02-18-07, 08:31 PM

Of course books are going to close

We have already seen them close - WWTS, Bet On Sports, Betbbb. The industry is entering a depression now. There is a sharp decline in business. Books are scrambling to make payments.

Books are going to close. Books most likely to close are those rated C or less, those that depend too much on the U.S. market, and books that are not managing their situation well by acting stupid as described below. Be careful of books rated A or B that seem to be solid but rely too much on American clients. Especially those that do not offer good customer service. The total number of customers is dropping, and the customers that are left are being very picky.

The danger of losing funds is real, and much greater than it ever has been. It is very important to stick to books that are rated high, reputable, financially healthy, and do not depend too much on the American market. Books that do not seem to have their act together, or are not managing the situation well, should be avoided regardless of rating.

Books to avoid are those that are acting stupid - for example not accepting **** gift cards, and insisting you send western unions to Pedro on the other side of the world. Other books act stupid by charging fees that are not standard in the industry. Other books acting stupid by only allowing customers to withdraw a couple thousand per week. Remember the number of potential customers is dropping, and those remaining are increasingly picky. They are going to avoid the stupid books causing these books to lose their business. These are not the books in which you want money on deposit.

Most of the books rated C or less are stupid books - avoid them, but some of them rated B and higher have been acting stupid, and it makes me nervous.

bedada · 02-18-07, 08:41 PM

When I say offshore sportsbooks, I'm only talking about the A rated books. I never considered playing with any less than an "A" So I guess my question is will Wsex, Bodog, Greek, etc be closed to US customers?

louis · 02-18-07, 08:56 PM

My prediction one or two of them will close

Sorry bedada I may have misunderstood your question.

Amongst the A rated books that accept U.S. customers - I think there are about 10 of them, my guess one or two of them will close.

The ones most likely to close are those that rely too much on the U.S. market, and/or those that do not seem to be managing their operations very well.

We saw an A book, WWTS, drop to C- very fast recently. It could happen again.

I think it is important to diversify and do business with all the A books, rather than just picking one or two, rather than keeping all eggs in one basket.

caracalla · 02-19-07, 03:55 PM

Will offshore books be closed by next Football season? NO

Fortunately there are only 300.000.000 americans people. 7.000.000.000 in the world.
Inspite of Bush administration, USA is not the WORLD

Closed to US customers? I'm afraid YES. Even if 50/60% of gambling market today is from USA , in the future bookies will have more attention to european/asian markets, % growing year after year

pags11 · 02-19-07, 06:14 PM

I sure hope not...

ShamsWoof10 · 02-20-07, 04:24 PM

It's my opinion that all the major books in one way or another are in bed together and all this is simply about consolidation and regulation.. This is similar to the "War on Drugs" of the 1980's.. Instead of doing away with the drugs which "THEY" (C.I.A.) provide, they pentalize you for doing it.. For all you US readers if you have ever been in a court room or jail you will notice that a LARRRRRRRRGE percentage are drug related so if there was no drug problem then what would all the judges, cops, lawyers, wordins, rehad centers, probation officers, ETC, ETC. do for a job...? What I am saying is Online Wagering is going NO WHERE and is provided to us as an addiction.. My additcion tells me Michigan St. is the play tonight..

jjgold · 02-20-07, 07:18 PM

I say about 5 are left

tblues2005 · 02-20-07, 10:26 PM

I would say that there will be about 10 legit ones for next football season probably. They will get methods straightened out to deposit and withdrawal by then I would think. I think some of them will make a deal with some processor in some country that doesn't like the United States and the United States has to buy a product that they need, like petroleum maybe. That country could just tell the United States that if they don't let these processes go through then they could cut off what they need and that could cause a problem. I wouldn't be surprised at all if something like that happens in one of them countries that sure don't like the Bush Administration. Just putting that out there and I think it is a strong possiblity that could happen.

pags11 · 02-21-07, 12:56 AM

there are only 7 I'd even consider playing with as of now (and that includes cascade, which appears to be on shaky ground)...

SBR_John · 02-21-07, 02:05 AM

Not much will change. It will be like the old days though. Payouts open on Monday only. $50 for a check. Limit 2 payouts per month. Something along those lines.

Take a look at some of the med large shops like 5Dimes or Bestlines or Legends, Matchbook or whoever. Take your pick. You think they are going anywhere? They still make money. They don't make as much, true. But they still earn and will continue to.

The smaller shops and newer ones are always in danger of closing. Nothing new there. Right?

Hence; not much changes.

tblues2005 · 02-21-07, 04:05 AM

Your right there SBRJohn, I don't think there is any danger of the major books that want to do business in the USA, they will make a profit in the business but maybe not as much though, I like the way the Greek and Bet Jamaica planned for this, I think they were well prepared for this.