[cornmeal]

I apologize ahead of time for the long post(its my first post), I have been a daily reader for many years.
Im just so completely frustrated guys.....

I can't thank all of you enough for all your contributions to this forum. I gamble on sports as a hobby, without a doubt over the many years I am down money(few years I have done well), but I really enjoy it. I play with only A+ rated books ( not really sure what that means anymore)...

I just want to know Im not the only one completely frustrated with payout options from these A+ rated books.
Im not going to list any of the books names, I just want to give you examples of the issues Ive had over the last few years with some of these A+ rated books. Last year I had one A+ rated book send me 5 checks in a row that where no good, they would call me when the check arrived , to let me know they had to issue me a new check. I had this problem with this book a few times prior to this over the years, but it was here and their ,you let it go as this is how the industry is, but 5 times in a row, that was all I could handle( this same book would make you sign basically a contract if the check was over a certain amount, just putting this in their as that may ring a bell with some players).
A+ huh......

Another A+ rated book, you can deposit as much as you want into this book, fantastic deposit options, but if you get up a large amount of money, your limited to what you can withdrawal, they wont even let you pay for an additional payout to get your money out. Before someone says this is the industry standard 1 payout per 7 days, I could probably accept that, the problem is the 7 days doesnt start till they actually do the payout, so if your waiting 5 days after you request the payout for processing now, your basically at 14 days between payments(getting a max of between 2,500 and 3k out).

Another A+ rated book, almost every FEDEX check payout would get opened by customs arriving from Canada, yeah thats a great feeling when you finally have FEDEX knock at your door with that express envelope covered in "opened for U.S. customs and homeland security tape"........

I love A+ rated books...........

Im trying to stay on that bitcoin train, but even with bitcoin, I have received a few phone calls from my banks "compliance" department about frequent in and out transfers to coinbase. It is very possible I am doing to many transfers between my bank and coinbase, and it is raising a red flag, but its just another "awkward" conversation.

You guys are the best, sorry about the long post and rant

[littlekona]

its not BTC or coinbase its the KYC rules that banks have now that they have to apply to cover themselves..use other methods sometimes there are tons of ways to get your BTC

[themike78]

Unfortunately until betting on sports becomes legal in the U.S this is what we have to deal with. It's not really the books fault it's just it's so hard to move money back and forth because of all the stupid laws. Bitcoin has helped tremendously. I am banned from both money transfer options and they were starting to ban my fake names lol. Let's just hope Bitcoin lasts before the feds start fuking with that option.

[cornmeal]

I hear you guys, it just drives me nuts, they seem to figure out deposit options so they can get get their money, but coming out doesnt seem to get "nearly" the same attention. I know regulation etc make it very hard, but maybe try harder.
A+ is supposed to be the cream of the crop, not xxxx on the crop..

themike78 I hear you on the fake names with ** and ** , could tell you stories my friend....

[Rockl]

I apologize ahead of time for the long post(its my first post), I have been a daily reader for many years.
Im just so completely frustrated guys.....

I can't thank all of you enough for all your contributions to this forum. I gamble on sports as a hobby, without a doubt over the many years I am down money(few years I have done well), but I really enjoy it. I play with only A+ rated books ( not really sure what that means anymore)...

I just want to know Im not the only one completely frustrated with payout options from these A+ rated books.
Im not going to list any of the books names, I just want to give you examples of the issues Ive had over the last few years with some of these A+ rated books. Last year I had one A+ rated book send me 5 checks in a row that where no good, they would call me when the check arrived , to let me know they had to issue me a new check. I had this problem with this book a few times prior to this over the years, but it was here and their ,you let it go as this is how the industry is, but 5 times in a row, that was all I could handle( this same book would make you sign basically a contract if the check was over a certain amount, just putting this in their as that may ring a bell with some players).
A+ huh......

Another A+ rated book, you can deposit as much as you want into this book, fantastic deposit options, but if you get up a large amount of money, your limited to what you can withdrawal, they wont even let you pay for an additional payout to get your money out. Before someone says this is the industry standard 1 payout per 7 days, I could probably accept that, the problem is the 7 days doesnt start till they actually do the payout, so if your waiting 5 days after you request the payout for processing now, your basically at 14 days between payments(getting a max of between 2,500 and 3k out).

Another A+ rated book, almost every FEDEX check payout would get opened by customs arriving from Canada, yeah thats a great feeling when you finally have FEDEX knock at your door with that express envelope covered in "opened for U.S. customs and homeland security tape"........

I love A+ rated books...........

Im trying to stay on that bitcoin train, but even with bitcoin, I have received a few phone calls from my banks "compliance" department about frequent in and out transfers to coinbase. It is very possible I am doing to many transfers between my bank and coinbase, and it is raising a red flag, but its just another "awkward" conversation.

You guys are the best, sorry about the long post and rant

Wow, 5 bad checks in a row? That's crazy! I know what you mean by frustrated. I once had an A+ book stop payment on 2 Candian checks two weeks after they were deposited in my US bank. Apparently, they found a bug in their third party live dealer software that was overpaying bonuses so they revoked payouts for anyone affected. I was surprised they could stop payment that long after the checks had cleared my bank...

The 1 payout per week limit is frustrating as well. I can somewhat understand 1 check and 1 wire per week due to banking restrictions, but I don't understand how they can justify limiting BC payouts whatsoever. This is just a ploy to slow-pay winning customers IMO.

One of the best examples of a frustrating policy is A+ BOL and their mandatory 10 business day wait period after any credit card deposit. This means if you deposit $500 with your CC, win some games, then hit a nice parlay for $5k, you have to wait 2-weeks to even request a payout. Again, just a ploy to slow-pay their customers...

[SBR Forum]

Welcome to SBR Forum. We appreciate your feedback. You touched on some great points. The issues you're describing are felt by the industry as a whole, but the top books more often than not have better payment policies in place than their competitors. Bitcoin is seemingly the way of the future until legislation changes or there is another new method that enables easier transactions.

[cornmeal]

I appreciate the welcome SBR FORUM
For many years it never bothered me, I understand transactions are a huge problem with the books.I used the same excuse we all use with this industry "its not the book,its their processors". I had this conversation last week with an A+ rated book, I was waiting on a bitcoin payout from one book to deposit in another book. It was taking longer than I had hoped(I still received it in a reasonable time frame, so no complaints)but I wanted to get down on a game at another book.
I use my CC, it gets declined, the usual drill, bank blocks transaction, you call to verify your making the transaction. The book immediately starts calling your phone to help you get that transaction thru,literally seconds after it gets declined. (even thou 99% of us know to call the bank) . My point being when it comes to deposits theirs no delay or waiting on help, its instant, they are their for you all hours of the day.
I dont get those same calls when I am requesting payouts that they cant process.....
Again these are A+ rated books

You are 100% right about bitcoin, but I am starting to see the same tactics, I hope they work it out as well

[thomorino]

I am a full-time professional bettor - the one thing you learn - and you learn it quickly - do not let your balance get over 5k if you can help it. Obviously if your betting a couple grand a game that's hard, but the best way to manage your bankroll is to use only A books, keep your balance at each book below 5k, only use books that cashout using bitcoin, and be smart - understand its much easier to cashout at certain times like not right after the super bowl when every square on the planet who bet the patriots wants their money.

[ouzoun]

This is an excellent but sad post. I hope European bookmakers don't fall that low.

[jayc88]

It's the same in many parts of europe as well. A few years ago i could get Money in and out within seconds using skrill and neteller. Both Options are now dead at most books and there are no real alternatives. Only books left are square books with 50 Euro Limits or Agent accounts.

[lonnie55]

It's the same in many parts of europe as well. A few years ago i could get Money in and out within seconds using skrill and neteller. Both Options are now dead at most books and there are no real alternatives. Only books left are square books with 50 Euro Limits or Agent accounts.

This is the reason why I think the European betting industry is going downhill:

In nearly every online sector there is a process of oligopolisation or even monopolisation:

search engines: -> google
shopping: -> amazon
auctions: -> ebay
videos: -> youtube

The online betting industry is still a young business. At the beginning there was a predatory competition between many many competitors where sportsbooks couldn't afford to lose customers. Meanwhile the process of downsizing is well underway. I have a feeling at the end of this process there will remain four or five big online operators and maybe a small group of hybrid/offline only sportsbooks, depending on national/regional distinctions.

When you look up Alexa traffic rank* bet365 is on #1 with already a huge gap to #2.

bet-at-home, bwin and unibet used to be big players in the European market, but with more and more payment and betting issues coming up it's obvious that they are struggling. bet365 has over 22 million customers. bet365's CEO is a multi-billionaire. It's an A+ rated book for years. Virtually no complaints about them. Whereas bet-at-home, bwin and other former big players do have their problems, not to mention the smaller ones. bet-at-home had to merge with BetclicEverest Group to stay competitive. bwin went nearly broke several times but were finally saved by an investor who already acquired sportingbet few years ago.

Sharps (plus multi accounts) get limited, move to other books and cause a lot of damage, especially to the smaller books. The losing players won't get limited so no reason for them to leave the main book (beside of promotions). So what happens is that the smaller books can't compensate the damages they suffered by sharps with winnings from losing players because the proportion of losing players is too small. Countermeasures by bookies: They confiscate the winnings from the sharps or from punters who just had luck when the amount is too big.

I am betting for over 12 years now, had accounts at 190+ different sportsbooks. I can't remember a situation like now where you always have to fear big winnings at soft books, even at big ones, because you don't know if the bookie pays out. The development in the last months and years is sad but logical.


*)

[jjgold]

JUst leave in Coinbase

If your doing a lot of transactions you really should not be gambling because you need the money to live