[Sin City Sharp]

I’m not a “full time” professional, as I have a regular job, but I’ve supplemented my income over the past 18 years by betting on sports. My standard unit size right now is $500. I live in Las Vegas, and it’s a royal pain in the ass driving around from book to book to bet into crappy, stale lines at -110. Also, I obviously can’t jump up and leave work during the day to drive around to make bets in person. I do have my personal laptop available with wireless broadband. The only convenient book in town right now is Station Casinos, who offer online betting to locals. However, even with them, I’m still stuck with the same crappy -110 lines.

A few years ago, I did quite a bit of offshore wagering at Pinnacle, but when the UIEGA was signed into law back in 2003, I didn’t do any more offshore betting. However, in order to increase my ROR, I’m really thinking that I need to open two or three offshore accounts. With that in mind, what would be the best options for a nickel player like me? I’m just getting into baseball betting this year, after years of betting pro and college football and basketball. Also, what are the best deposit options, assuming that I’d probably be making an initial deposit of about $2,500 into each book?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[HedgeHog]

5-Dimes. Skip the bonus and you'll get reduced juice, plus they have great props and futures.

[Sin City Sharp]

Originally Posted by HedgeHog

5-Dimes. Skip the bonus and you'll get reduced juice, plus they have great props and futures.

I was reading that they were mostly a recreational betting book? I'm not a big time player, but I would be making multiple $500 bets. The only reason that I ask is that I got banned a few years ago from a recreational book called Sportsinteraction.com betting even less that that.

[Peep]

Getting barred is no big deal, long as they give you a check on the way out the door. 5 Dimes probably won't bar you anyway, just cut limits a bit.

[Sin City Sharp]

Originally Posted by Peep

Getting barred is no big deal, long as they give you a check on the way out the door. 5 Dimes probably won't bar you anyway, just cut limits a bit.

Yes, I have to say that Sports Interaction paid me everything I was due. This was way back in 2002.

You guys will have to forgive me for being overly paranoid. I used to do everything through Neteller, and I never lost a moment’s sleep over my deposits through them. Man, times have changed, to say the least.

I just got off the phone with customer service at 5Dimes, and I was talking to a guy who sounded like “Hector the Toad” from the movie Scarface. He told me that Western Union or Moneygram was pretty much it for me as far making my initial deposit. Maybe I’m not understanding the process accurately, but as I see it I’m supposed to wire $2,500 to some strawman in a 3rd world country and trust that he’s going to deposit the money into my 5Dimes account?

Maybe someone who has done this numerous times without any problems can clarify this for me. Thanks.

[Frank]

Originally Posted by Peep

Getting barred is no big deal, long as they give you a check on the way out the door. 5 Dimes probably won't bar you anyway, just cut limits a bit.

A bit?

I think what you meant to say was from a nickel to $20.


Go with Matchbook for sure for baseball.

[ijustwant2bpaid]

i would stick w/station casinos otherwise ur taking a risk will still see -110 often and will have to pay for wires or cashouts, if u had to go with a book id take bookmaker.com and their 20%bonus code, i forget the rollover but they are legit but lack in their customer service, thats just me though do what you like, i hear pinnacle is very good too and can be trusted, its just a shady time for the whole industry, if i lived in vegas you wouldnt catch me betting online at all!

[Sin City Sharp]

Originally Posted by ijustwant2bpaid

i would stick w/station casinos otherwise ur taking a risk will still see -110 often and will have to pay for wires or cashouts

Stations has been a decent online option as a Las Vegas resident, but I'm often forced to take the worst of the line, with no shopping options. Their baseball lines are highway robbery 20 cent lines. As I mentioned, I'm not a full time professional gambler, and I can't be driving all over town during the day to make bets at various sports books.

Originally Posted by ijustwant2bpaid

i hear pinnacle is very good too and can be trusted, its just a shady time for the whole industry

Pinnacle is fantastic. I was with them for several years, but they no longer cater to US players.

Originally Posted by ijustwant2bpaid

if i lived in vegas you wouldnt catch me betting online at all!

If you lived in Las Vegas and had a normal job, you'd be in the same situation that I'm in! Unfortunately, I'm a ways off from being able to quit my job and be a full time professional gambler.

[Vince Carter]

You can't use pinnacle in the US. I suggest 5dimes. If you skip the bonus, you get reduced juice for bets up to $500 (which may suck if you want to up your bets).

[Sin City Sharp]

Originally Posted by Vince Carter

You can't use pinnacle in the US. I suggest 5dimes. If you skip the bonus, you get reduced juice for bets up to $500 (which may suck if you want to up your bets).

Thanks, Vince. 5Dimes looked promising initially, but my experience with their customer service department about funding my account sent off some red flags (see the 5th post up).

Thanks.

[TobiasFunke]

Originally Posted by Sin City Sharp

Yes, I have to say that Sports Interaction paid me everything I was due. This was way back in 2002.

You guys will have to forgive me for being overly paranoid. I used to do everything through Neteller, and I never lost a moment’s sleep over my deposits through them. Man, times have changed, to say the least.

I just got off the phone with customer service at 5Dimes, and I was talking to a guy who sounded like “Hector the Toad” from the movie Scarface. He told me that Western Union or Moneygram was pretty much it for me as far making my initial deposit. Maybe I’m not understanding the process accurately, but as I see it I’m supposed to wire $2,500 to some strawman in a 3rd world country and trust that he’s going to deposit the money into my 5Dimes account?

Maybe someone who has done this numerous times without any problems can clarify this for me. Thanks.

Yeah my only complaint with 5 dimes is the limited funding options...but I have sent a moneygram to them many times and never had a problem...my only advice to you would be to deposit in $500 increments if your going to be starting with $2500, I dont know if you want to hand a 16 year old cashier $2500 in cash lol....also I believe they take down your DL number if its over $1000 so my advice would be to make sure your deposits are for less than that just to be safe.

[Casi]

5Dimes is the most overrated book probably..
If you have Matchbook you don´t need them. Them and the MB "market makers" always copy Pinnacle anyway, and MB will have the lower juice.

If you are sharp you can get a handful of good plays in at 5Dimes, but don´t expect your limits or delay-free experience to last longer than a week.
And if you are not sharp, you can as well use Matchbook only.

[BouncedCheck]

Is there anyone who can confirm for certain that WU and MG will not ask for a state ID if sending under $1000? I think I read somewhere that MG had a limit of $900 without ID and $3000 with ID, but again, I'm not 100% sure.

[Sin City Sharp]

Based on the favorable comments I've received about Matchbook, I'm going to attempt to wire them my deposit tomorrow from my credit union here in Las Vegas. Matchbook suggests that their players send them a blank copy of the bank wire form, and they'll fill it out and e-mail it back to the player. However, when I went into my credit union today and asked for a blank form, the lady looked at me like I was crazy and said that they do it at the counter electronically, with the customer providing them the pertinent information.

I'm a bit concerned about some of the information that Matchbook requires on the bank wire. Up front, it looks fine with the wire going to Lloyds TSB Bank in London. However, I also have to specify the Antiguan Overseas Bank as the beneficiary and I also must specify "Matchbook Ltd.", and that's liable to set off some red flags and questions. I'm going to try and get away with "I'm buying products from them", but that might not fly.

[Peep]

I don't know how these guys can anticipate being thrown out of a book, unless they chase steam, in which case they are bad boys anyway, shame on them!

I have been shown the door at maybe a half dozen books over the years, gotten soft boot (limits cut to almost nothing) at maybe a half a dozen more.

But I am still fine at Intertops and 5 Dimes where others have had problems.

Go figure.

[Casi]

Originally Posted by Peep

I don't know how these guys can anticipate being thrown out of a book, unless they chase steam, in which case they are bad boys anyway, shame on them!

I have been shown the door at maybe a half dozen books over the years, gotten soft boot (limits cut to almost nothing) at maybe a half a dozen more.

But I am still fine at Intertops and 5 Dimes where others have had problems.

Go figure.

Maybe it would help if you list the ones that showed you the door
Compared to Bet3.65 and similiar clown books, 5dimes is surely professional.

[Peep]

Hard to go back six years, I'll try and remember some.

For sure the clown books, Bet365, SIA, then Bowmans when 365 too them over.

Las Palmas.

There were a bunch that went broke without my help, one was Bet247, another was a group, playersoffshore group (?). Then of course wagerweb, they cut me back to $100 I think. Been cut back to $100 by the sportingbet group too, for halftimes, props etc. Think I can still bet what I want straight bets there.

I don't play at 5 dimes all that often, I find I can get same numbers at thegreek with less wait time for them to be posted.

What books have you been shown the door at Casi and why (as best you know or can guess)?

[Casi]

Shown the door: Bodog, BetTrojan, 5Dimes, VIP, Skybook, Bowmans and maybe a few others..
Usually i only get my limits cut or delayed, but in most cases that is basically the same.

[Peep]

Oh yeah, the VIP group didn't like me either, I almost forgot.

Yeah, soft boot or hard boot, basically the same.......

[BouncedCheck]

Originally Posted by Sin City Sharp

Based on the favorable comments I've received about Matchbook, I'm going to attempt to wire them my deposit tomorrow from my credit union here in Las Vegas. Matchbook suggests that their players send them a blank copy of the bank wire form, and they'll fill it out and e-mail it back to the player. However, when I went into my credit union today and asked for a blank form, the lady looked at me like I was crazy and said that they do it at the counter electronically, with the customer providing them the pertinent information.

I'm a bit concerned about some of the information that Matchbook requires on the bank wire. Up front, it looks fine with the wire going to Lloyds TSB Bank in London. However, I also have to specify the Antiguan Overseas Bank as the beneficiary and I also must specify "Matchbook Ltd.", and that's liable to set off some red flags and questions. I'm going to try and get away with "I'm buying products from them", but that might not fly.

I just sent them the "form" to have it confirmed by them. They got back to me in less than 24 hours saying that all the information looked correct.

What they mean by the form is whatever information you're required to give to your bank to perform the wire transfer to Lloyds.

In my case, I was able to sign in to my consolidated online banking accounts and initiate an international wire transfer using U.S. dollars. Once the information had been entered, I was given the option to "send now" or "save as model only."

I saved the entry as a model, took a screen shot, saved it as .jpg and sent it to matchbook for confirmation. Then they got back to me and said it looked fine.

I too wonder about the special instruction to specify Matchbook Ltd. in the special instructions field, but I think this is more to help direct the funds to the proper account once they reach Lloyd's in England and/or the account in Antigua. All the necessary information that my bank needs to send the money out is in the information required specifically. I seriously doubt anyone at my bank is going to bother reading the special instructions on the way out. If a human being even looks at it (which is unlikely since I'm doing it online - your case could be different since you're doing it in person) they'll probably see the Lloyds of London name and assume it's perfectly reputable and legal without investigating further. I'm sure other U.S. players have wired money to matchbook. Maybe someone with first-hand knowledge can help explain this further.

In any case, I wouldn't worry about getting arrested. The worst that will happen is your credit union will refuse to process the wire.

[BouncedCheck]

I just sent the wire... I had to go through a routine identification check over the phone with my bank, but I wasn't asked about the Matchbook code number I entered in the special instructions section. From what I could gather, the person I spoke to wasn't even able to see the details of the wire transfer, since she was only confirming that I was in fact the owner of the checking account from which the money was being taken and that I was the person who initiated the wire transfer. Even after I passed the quiz to verify my identity, the wire transfer status still says "pending review." I'll update as soon as I see anything changes.

[Sin City Sharp]

Thanks for the info.

Unfortunately, since my credit union doesn't have a bank wire form, I'm going to try to get this done by giving the bank clerk a homemade Word document with all of the required information per the Matchbook accounting site.

[thezbar]

Money Gram will send $900.00 or less without an I.D. in California. I have always kept it under that amount and have had few problems. Once the clerk at Wal Mart enter the wrong I.D. for the country and the funds were sent to Africa. The book caught the mistake and I had to go back to Walmart and have them call Money Gram to cancell the transaction. Its wise to stay on top of things till you see the funds credited to your account. Various books have different qualities of customer service with regards to these situations. I tend to be loyal to the ones that can handle fund transfers within one hour via Money gram. Guardian and Betjam have been very prompt for me in the past.

[Reggie Dunlop]

Wal Mart employs a lot of idiots. They have screwed up my moneygrams on more than one occasion. Then you have to call moneygram and sit on hold for 20 minutes waiting to speak to someone, to give them the correct info the stupid wal mart clerk did not type in.

As for bank wires, I don't see why you are sweating this. It is your ****ing money and you can send it to Antigua if you want to. The bank clerk doesn't give a shit anyway where you send it.

[unluckysob]

You live in LV. open up a phone act and stay the **** away from offshore.

[Sin City Sharp]

Originally Posted by unluckysob

You live in LV. open up a phone act and stay the **** away from offshore.

AFAIK, Station Casinos is the only book that offers phone and online accounts to locals, and as I mentioned, I'm already with them. They offer standard -110 lines on football and basketball and 20 cent baseball lines. For a nickel player who makes 500 to 600 bets per year, this translates into forfeiting upwards of $15,000 in juice every year. I suppose you also have to factor in the pros as well as the cons, such as being guaranteed payment on winning bets and no potential legal problems, but it's still debatable whether or not it's better to get bent over on the juice as a tradeoff for the piece of mind.

A few years ago, the Stardust (before it went out of business and was imploded) used to allow telephone wagering, and I had an account with them.

Quite a few of the books around town offer 10 cent baseball lines, but they don't have phone or online accounts available. I suppose I could drive home after work and handicap the next day's baseball games and drive all the way across town every night to bet into the Las Vegas Hilton 10 cent overnight lines, but that's a huge time and fuel commitment.

[BouncedCheck]

Wire transfer to Matchbook went smoothly. I sent $500 and my bank charged an additional $20. There was a $15 intermediary bank fee, so my betting account was credited $485.

I don't get why they offer commission credits to reimburse the 4.9% flat fee on credit card deposits regardless of amount, but they only offer to reimburse wire transfer fees on deposits of $1000 or more.

[Mac4Lyfe]

Originally Posted by Sin City Sharp

For a nickel player who makes 500 to 600 bets per year, this translates into forfeiting upwards of $15,000 in juice every year.

Only if you lose...