Bestlinesports: 1 man's tale

[Stumpage]

Greetings...Just wanted to pass along a story regarding an incident I had with bestlinesports (B- rating I believe) and hopefully get the thoughts of some of the esteemed Forumites.

I opened up an account with this organization a couple of months ago, and to give credit where it is due, all was well. However, recently I logged in and saw the somewhat alarming message: "Account disabled; Call customer service." I did so and was told that my account had been locked due to betting irregularities. Basically, I was informed that I was making too many large half-time wagers, as opposed to my more conservative "regular" bets. My account would remain disabled unless I agreed to "spread my wagers out" as it was explained to me.

Seeing that my account was inaccesible and that they were in possession of my fairly significant funds, let's just say that I felt compelled to agree. Situation resolved to their liking, the padlock came off of my account and it was active again. I made 3 more bets, achieved my bonus rollover, and got the hell out, withdrawing everything and running for the hills.

Again, I had no problems whatsoever up to that point, but when a sportsbook, in my opinion, opens up the playbook and starts inventing rules on an apparently individual basis, that to me is a sure sign to abandon ship.

Anyway, just wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience and/or if the decision of a full-scale retreat on my part was too rash. Thanks.

[BuddyBear]

interesting stumpage...never happened to me before but that's b/c i always place the same amount on each bet and only on sides.

I agree...abandon ship when sportsbooks start making up imaginary rules in their favor!

[SquareShooter]

Irregular betting is serious charge, everyone knows that. Bestlinesports had full rights to confiscate your account balance and you're incredibly lucky the situation resolved the way it did. Punters got millions of dollars confiscated every year due to betting irregularities.

[Stumpage]

Wow...Of course, the "irregularity", as they saw it, was the fact that I liked to bet half-time a lot. I find it amazing that they could confiscate my account on that basis alone. Not doubting what you're saying; just amazed. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

[SquareShooter]

HEY! I WAS KIDDING, BIG TIME!
Sorry for misleading you!
I did so because this is the second funniest excuse I have ever heard from a bookie. "Irregular betting", say what!
(Nothing beats "Sorry, I have to inform you that we have donated your funds to charity, can I help you with anything else, sir?" from Bet55. This stays No. 1 forever I guess).

[Stumpage]

Sorry Square-Shooter...New to the whole posting thing, and to the whole sportbook world pretty much...Are you serious? About the donation? That's a riot (Well, not to the poor individual involved, needless to say).

[SquareShooter]

30/04/2006 23:54:00 SBR Bill Dozer reports:

Sport55 (not rated) claims it donated client’s account balance to charity. The player requested a payout four months prior but states the transaction was never processed. The withdrawal showed as pending until the money was removed. The account history lists the debit as: "Customer Not Claimed (within 4month) expire. Fund transferred to Gambling Act Charity\232263". Web-based messages, the sportsbook’s only offered contact method, to Sport55 have not been returned. SBR is attempting to learn more about this sportsbook which claims to be licensed in the UK.

[Mudcat]

Thanks for posting stumpage. I've heard of similar scenarios with a few other sportsbooks in the past.

It's never happened to me (except once with WagerWeb who said I was placing too many props wagers - but they later conceded it was a mistake).

I don't blame you for bailing. These unwritten rules give sportsbooks too much discretion to start voiding bets. Saying you need to "spread your bets out" is pretty damn vague. Who's to judge if you are doing that?

[Stumpage]

I have to agree, Mudcat...The thing I found most odd, which I didn't put in my original post, was the fact that I was not on a major winning strak or something like that, a situation that might have prompted a knee-jerk reaction from bestlinesports. In fact, I literally broke even overall at bestline at the time of my withdrawal, almost right down to the dollar. Perhaps they felt I was some sort of "sharp", which has me chuckling even as I write it. If they only knew.....

[SBR_John]

Strong post Stumpage. This is an old BetOnSports & Little NASA(BetUS) trick and its total BS.

This group has high hopes but they are going nowhere with these old worn-out policies.

[Halifax]

From an ethical standpoint, there's nothing inherently wrong with a book requiring that a certain percentage of your bets be "bread and butter" bets, as opposed to halftimes, props, etc.

The problem is that these books don't tell you at the start that they have these rules, and they don't have these rules written into their rules page. If they want you to adhere to these rules, they need to write them down so everyone is aware of them.

[dog]

I've played with Bestline off and on for a few years and never had a problem. I rarely even check their half-time lines as I use them for reduced vig for whole games. I might see if they have some value there tomorrow! I wouldn't bail on a book just because of this flimsy rule if you get value there otherwise (and of course if they pay promptly). I was kicked out of Betonsports for playing too many props and halftimes (and going on a huge winning streak) and wish I still could play there.

This tells me Bestline probably isn't getting a ton of action so I plan on keeping my balance small there if I don't blow it away.