online sportsbooks

Anyone have any online sportsbook horror stories? I recently opened a few online accounts after seeing the laughable odds in Vegas sportsbooks and not feeling too comfortable with some people in that "industry" I know locally.

How much is safe to keep in which online books? I know there are sources and reviews out there but would like the input of people on here. Also, even though lines are easily shopped between online books I wonder if this edge offsets the possibility of not collecting compared with the certainty of collection at a brick and mortar casino sportsbook.

Quote: clarkacal

Anyone have any online sportsbook horror stories? I recently opened a few online accounts after seeing the laughable odds in Vegas sportsbooks and not feeling too comfortable with some people in that "industry" I know locally.

How much is safe to keep in which online books? I know there are sources and reviews out there but would like the input of people on here. Also, even though lines are easily shopped between online books I wonder if this edge offsets the possibility of not collecting compared with the certainty of collection at a brick and mortar casino sportsbook.

I would feel perfectly confident keeping any amount $1 or less in an online sportsbook account.

There are three hazards attendant to online sportsbook (or any online casino betting) play:

1. The site may refuse to pay youwhen you win, for whatever reason. You, of course, have no remedy or recourse, and are SOL.
2. The site may vanish into thin air (or, cyberspace), along with your money. People pooh-pooh this possibility, but I've had it happen twice, for a total loss of $500--lesson learned, though it had to happen twice before that lesson sank in.
3. You may run afoul of the fact that it is illegal to gamble in an online casino. Once again, people tend to dismiss this as a concern, but I would think twice about online playing, for this reason alone, even so.

It now seems utterly incomprehensible to me to send good, real money to some utterly anonymous and untraceable location, to purchase ANYTHING, let alone a sports bet. Call me paranoid (had I been paranoid several years ago, I would have saved $500).

The probability of any of those things happening are pretty remote, especially for the major sports books. After betting sports online for years my only problem was getting my money tied up in Neteller for about four months, because the US government seized it. However, they eventually gave it back, and players were paid.