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/// Something I Learned from Sonny Reizner Sports Betting Money Management Howard Schwartz on Sports Betting
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Like any other
business, there are reputable and disreputable internet sportbooks The number of Internet sportbooks continues to grow at a hard-to-believe rate, but you should know not all of them are trustworthy. There is at least some evidence that some were never meant to be legitimate in the first place. Nothing could be more depressing than beating the bookmaker at his own game only to get stiffed, unable to collect your winnings or even your original investment. Until our United States Government allows our own American casinos to do business on the Internet, and regulates that business, the watchword is 'caution.' The majority of Internet sportbooks are licensed and legitimate with no need to be otherwise. After all, they are in a very lucrative business. Here are a few simple guidelines to help you find reputable on-line sportbooks, along with a list of sportbooks in which we have confidence. First of all, go to some of the gambling related message boards and/or forums on the Internet. If people are not happy with an Internet sportbook, word spreads quickly on the Internet. If people are complaining about a certain sportbook, stay away. You should be aware, however, that people on forums and message boards are not always whom they pretend to be. Sportbook managers and other sportbook employees have been known to masquerade as "regular" sports bettors while touting their own sportbook and spreading misinformation. Most importantly, be very sure a sportbook is licensed and tightly regulated by a specific trustworthy government, such as Australia, England, the Netherlands, or any European entity. Also check to see if it has a 'Seal of Approval' from the Interactive Gaming Council. Many Internet sportbooks are popping up in assorted Caribbean countries, but not all those countries have adequate oversight or regulation. We understand that Antiqua's rules have recently been dramatically tightened, and that's good, whereas Costa Rica has virtually no laws concerning the regulation of Internet gaming. At the time of this writing we recommend staying away from Costa Rican sportbooks, but we tend to trust Antiguan sportbooks. Find out who owns the company. Is it a public company, such as Canbet in Australia, or is it privately owned by some fellow you've never heard of who's been known to have problems with the law, such as English Sports Betting? It is obvious you should forget sending money to a sportbook that does not have a telephone number clearly displayed on their website. Make sure you can talk to 'live' human beings if you have questions. Eric Morris, publisher of Gambling Online Magazine, recommends staying away from sites that do not advertise in several different publications and newspapers. Don't rely solely on those 'click-through' banners that you'll find throughout the Internet. Those banner ads are most often posted at no cost to the sportbook, along with the promise to pay the website host a percentage of your losses. We at ProfessionalGambler.com have had offers as high as 30% of your losses to post a sportbook's banner. We consider such arrangements a clear conflict of interest on our part, and you will find no such ads here. In fact, we accept NO revenues from any sportbooks. We recommend being suspicious of any website with click-through banners, especially those websites selling picks, claiming to help you win, but at the same time getting paid by the sportbook if you lose. One of the best on-line sportbooks is World Sports Exchange. It is based in Antigua and has been in operation since 1996. The head man is Steve Schillinger. The limit on football bets is $20,000 per bet, and some high rollers bet as many as 5 times on a single game. "Business for us is very good," Schillinger is quoted as saying. "We increase about 50 percent in volume every year." Gaming companies based in the United States obviously want part of the action. Internet gaming is quickly dwarfing the total handle in places like Las Vegas. Companies such as MGM Mirage and Park Place Entertainment are chomping at the bit to 're-educate' our legislators and wake them up to the lost tax revenues currently going to foreign countries. It is ironic that the United States is the only Western country where gambling has been prohibited. In the old Soviet Union, even during the darkest days of communism, there were casinos in all the major cities. Gambling has always been legal in England, Germany, France, and more or less throughout Europe and the Far East. We trust these online sportbooks: www.pinnaclesports.com (Pinnacle Sports) www.canbet.com (Canbet Sports) www.wsex.com (World Sports Exchange) www.wagerstreet.com (Wagerstreet) http://www.bowmans.com (Bowman's International) Of course, those are not the only trustworthy sportbooks on the Internet, and because we trust the above sportbooks does not mean they always offer the best prices. Be sure to shop for the best lines. As of 2006, skip Bowman's altogether. Their prices are outrageous, used 20-cent baseball lines is like stealing. Twenty-cent baseball lines are strictly for suckers and beginners. Ten-cent baseball lines have been a fact of life in Las Vegas for many years, and sportbooks with dime lines are doing just fine, thank you, even though they have much higher overhead expenses in Las Vegas than sportbooks on the Internet. Do not play baseball into 20-cent lines; - if you're doing so, you are being over-charged (and probably laughed at). Of those 5 sportbooks listed above, we have found Pinnacle consistently charges less vigorish than all the rest. Canbet is also cheaper than most in some cases, but beware of Canbet's over-priced money lines. /// LEARN
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