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Surprised they lasted this long
Time for the UKGC to step up
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good riddanceComment -
Both metroplay and 666bet are currently offline. UKGC says they must honour balances and winning wagers still to be settled. Anyone think this will actually happen? Or do you think the UKGC know they're About to go bust and have made it look like they're regulating the gaming industry by issuing a suspension.Comment -
These have become fairly well known in the UK with their recent advertising and sponsorship campaigns. I can imagine quite a few casual bettors would have had money in here.Comment -
The owner has an involvement in numerous businesses, at least 60. The operation involves forces in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and the UK, so it will be complex.Comment -
Most of which appear pretty worthless. I found a complete list of companies that Paul Anthony Bell(end) is associated with and it is extensive. Not sure if I can post the link as it's a PDF...... his current directorships and previous directorships are listed on this document. They start on the 2nd Page and continue to the end of the document on Page 4.
www.hcrplc.com/sitemedia/user/CHC%20result%20of%20GM%20270411.pdf&sa=U &ei=DhsOVaPhL9jiapblgqgK&ved=0CBIQFjAA&u sg=AFQjCNFkdcIsP-HEq4k93bu_SpiiQRpwlQComment -
Indeed, and one of the first links you get if you do any searches on him relates to a deal where he lost money.
I am not sure if the concern has arisen because the current owning company is Metro Play Limited, which was only formed a few days ago on 10 March, with Bell being one of only two directors.Comment -
I noticed that as well. Perhaps the UKGC informed them that they must have a registered address in the UK to pay the taxes generated by UK players.
Most of the other companies he's associated with appear just to be registered names with no capital etc.. Ones that do appear to be in operation have either little net worth or negative net worth.Comment -
Alderney also suspended its licence on 20 March.
Both make a point that none of these actions prevents paying out of funds.Comment -
I wonder why neither say THEY MUST pay players, considering both jurisdictions require segregation of player funds.
Actually I don't wonder really, as the system for confirming the segregated player balance is easily gamed by depositing the required amount in the nominated account on the reporting day each month or quarter, or simply whenever asked to show a balance. New UK laws stop this gaming. Or try to..Comment -
So there was an exorcism?Comment -
I reported them to the Gambling Commission 2weeks ago after they stole 7k GBP from my account. They suspended my account on the 17th of February with a message that my bets are under "investigation". A couple weeks later I got another message where they stated I was cheating:
"666BET is committed to keeping betting fair for all. We accept bets in good faith on condition that customers use our Services in a fair and honest manner. Having reviewed your betting transactions, we have reason to believe that you have taken unfair advantage of our in-play tennis markets through the use of prohibited software and/or otherwise exploited a delay, loophole or error in our Sportsbook; this activity resulted in bets being accepted at a time when the result of the betting market was beyond reasonable doubt. As a result, your winnings from all in-play markets are considered illegitimate and have been voided."
obviously this was a lie, there were no errors, no late bets, 99% of my bets were placed on the AUS OPEN while watching it on the telly and placed the bets at the bookie who offered better odds for the outcome and I had a lot of lost bets as well. They must be stupid anyway, as all bets are time stamped so It is pretty clear to see that all the bets were placed way before the result was known and also all the bookies were updated at the same second so their system worked perfectly. They are nothing but a scam.
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I presume that is why on the so-called 'maintenance' page refers to contacting support in the case of a failed money transfer. This would be far more convincing if (a) they didn't restrict this to email contact and (b) they actually stated an email address.
They have had some high profile markets where they have been offering stale odds, most noticeably for the Champion Chase at Cheltenham, where they still had Champagne Fever listed as a runner hours after it had been withdrawn from the race.Comment -
Somebody I know received a bank payout from these this morning which was requested early last week. He's still another 1 due but at least it's good to know they're still paying out.Comment -
Hardly surprising - their email support has been quoting this at the top of their autoreply since Cheltenham finished
"Thanks for contacting 666BET support.We have received your message. We hope you're as excited about the Cheltenham Festival as we are, but it does mean we might take a little longer than normal to get back to you. Please allow 48 hours for a response."Comment -
Firstly, why did you have so much money in a relatively unknown bookie? And secondly why did you wait 3 weeks before doing anything? You're not going to turn out to be a shill who claims shit against a bookie and then miraculously gets paid your thousands over small time / casual players who are owed a few hundred.
I assume you've had contact from the UKGC since you contacted them 2 weeks ago?Comment -
Well, I had so much money on there because i could not withdraw it despite sending verification documents multiple times, they just kept saying it will be processed and receive the money 3-5 working days.. Also Im from the UK and saw their adverts with Harry Redknapp also seen their banner on PL matches, so i gave them a try. Like i wrote, they suspended my account on the 17th of February, and closed it on the 4th of March alongside that letter I copied. Obvioulsy between 17-4 I contacted 666bet multiple times regarding my issue but always got the message that I will receive a reply later. The 5th of March I filed my complaint to the GC. I only got a confirmation from the GC that they received the complaint:
"This email is to confirm that Alderney Gambling Control Commission (“AGCC”) has received your complaint. Please rest assured that this will be processed accordingly and we will regain contact with you, via email, in due course.
Kind regards
Alderney Gambling Control Commission
Alternative Dispute Resolution Provider to UK Gambling Commission"
They also cheated their own TC's when voided my winning Match betting. This was in their TC's:
"The following general rules apply to tennis betting markets:
If a player withdraws after one set has been completed the player progressing to the next round will be deemed the winner of the match, all other bets will be void unless a result has already been determined."
The other player retired in the 3rd set, so 1 set was clearly completed, but instead of settle the bet as a winner it was settled as VOID.
And when I complained I got this message:
"I have been back and forth with trading regarding this and they are sticking to their guns and saying its a void bet"
"The reason is due to that as we use a 3rd party trading company their rules with certain sports and markets do conflict with ours but it is being worked on a dealt with as we speak to try and make it so were all on the same page."
So they just dont care about TC, what they decide over the phone that is the new TC. Obviously If my pick retire that would be settled as lose.Last edited by itheboss; 03-24-15, 03:44 AM.Comment -
Regarding their betting rules they were blatently cobbled together by cut and paste from various sources including other bookies, revealed by them referring to certain promotional names for bets used only by one company.Comment -
Some oddsmatrix bookies too have conflicting rules regarding tennis, its stupid, you can read both sets of rules on sections of their websites.Comment -
Nice work UKGC. Seriously, what is the point in them -
A spokesperson for the Gambling Commission said that gamblers use online bookmakers “at their own risk” and it was not within the regulator’s “remit to recover funds”.
They added: “While remote operators licensed by the [Gambling] Commission must keep customer funds in a separate account or accounts, there is no guarantee that this will ensure that customers get all their money back if the company runs into financial difficulties.”
If its at my own risk, why drive pinnacle and sbo away?Comment -
Gotta love the way they mention, 'oh by the way, we know everyone thinks players funds are segregated in order to protect he players, but it doesn't'. Secured creditors get first dibs on whatever money a company has, segregated or not, by the sounds.Nice work UKGC. Seriously, what is the point in them -
If its at my own risk, why drive pinnacle and sbo away?
Did not realize that and it's a sad joke if true..Comment -
I don't believe that to be true.
Segregated funds are trust monies beneficially owned by players.
They are not an asset of the company thus creditors secured or not have no claim to them.
This was the core of the problem with SportsAlive.
The ACT Commission hadn't ensured that they were keeping player funds segregated and thus the judgement found that they were available to secured creditors.
And by the way that whole saga is still dragging on. Almost 2 years now since the Ombudsman was asked to review his original decision not to blame the ACT Commission for failures. This is a huge scandal but there's just been no publicity about it.Comment -
That's what i thought too.
But what do you make of this statement?
“While remote operators licensed by the [Gambling] Commission must keep customer funds in a separate account or accounts, there is no guarantee that this will ensure that customers get all their money back if the company runs into financial difficulties.”.Comment -
The first thing which comes to mind there is that whilst customer account balances are hopefully locked away in a trust account, outstanding bets might lead to losses by the bookie which can't be paid.
I think that's why as well as segregation of account balances, Australian bookies are required to lodge a deposit which hopefully is large enough to cover such an eventuality. Of course in the case of SportsAlive even that deposit wasn't lodged in an account which the ACT Commission could access. Instead it was actually given by SportsAlive as security to the bank to cover their debts! Such was the total failure of the ACT Commission to carry out their duty.Comment -
I didn't know that about the Sports Alive guarantee. You'd think someone should be held to account for doing that..Comment -
The UKGC has three defined levels of player fund protection - basic, medium, and high. 666bet was on the basic level. I would prefer the term 'minimal' myself as it more accurately describes to me the protection in insolvency.
Some of the UK major plc betting companies opposed enforced funds segregation on the grounds that it gave a false optimism to the long term security of deposits in small bookies. I didn't agree with them in principle in the time, but maybe they have a point about this rather weak level.
As to what to do with 666 deposits, if they don't establish a proper withdrawal route, then it is back to the courts where you have to be early to get what is there.Comment -
Amazingly after all this stalling quite a few people have been paid today.Comment -
Yep, surprisingly they did payout - got mine on Tuesday. Although think it's a bit sly they haven't actually released a statement telling people they can now withdraw. (I've not seen anything anyway). Their last statement was about opening a skrill account. Perhaps they're hoping loads of people just write off the funds and don't check the site againComment -
This statement was issued on 29 April:
As you are aware, customers can now withdraw their funds from 666BET. However, due to the volume of withdrawals currently being processed, please be aware that it may take a day or two longer than the advised 3-5 day turnaround.
We would like to remind customers that all withdrawals will be processed via Skrill so you will need a Skrill account in order for your withdraw to be processed.
In addition, we are aware of a problem with pending withdrawals from March and are working on a resolution to return balances to customer accounts as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your continued patience.
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