They were mentioned in a thread about people's favorite risk-versus-reward books so I checked out the website. I couldn't see information on deposit/payout methods so I phoned them.
A guy started asking for my personal information to set up an account. I said I would need to know how they process payments to decide if I wanted an account. He said that's not how they work; they need the account first. I said that's not how I work; I need the information first.
He hung up (rudely, by the way. Without even a good-bye).
I'm trying to decide if that was smart or stupid. The case for stupid is probably pretty obvious. I'm not going to bother with them now. They chased away an easy deposit - possibly several.
But maybe smart. I make money in the long run so they are better off without me.
But stupid. They didn't know who I am. If I was most players, it would just be a lost deposit and, as a fundamental rule, sportsbooks want deposits. I mean, I assume their processing options aren't that radically unusual that they would totally scare someone away just by talking about them.
But maybe smart. They aren't committed to anything. It's not like a WagerWeb who have outright lies in their banking options. If Betpop offers something today but then that changes for some reason, at least they don't look like sleazy bait-and-switchers.
But stupid. Why piss of a potential customer over such a simple bit of public knowledge. I know 20 people that could give me this information they are guarding so jealously. Why be so sneaky about that in particular?
But maybe smart. Maybe there is some kind of reverse psychology thing that works on some people. Maybe when they treat people like they don't care about them, it makes some types want in that much more.
And maybe also smart. If they get that account information, they can telemarket and spam forever. That is good for them. If telemarketing and spamming had no effect there wouldn't be so much of it.
But it can't be that smart. If that increased telemarketing/spamming ability was so valuable I'm sure more books would behave like betPOP did and I don't know of any that do. I realize that's not exactly a scientific argument but I'm just saying.
So I dunno. Smart or stupid?