TGT April 2010 E-mail
Welcome to the April edition of the TGT newsletter. We have some ratings round ups, exclusive competitions and Poker news from the forum tournaments.
RATINGS AND NEWS ROUND-UP
Bet365 (7*): Bet365 sent out an email regarding updates to the baseball rules so if you bet baseball with them you may want to check your emails or look over their rules section to see the changes.
Betafterbet (1*): The troubled Malta based bookmaker reportedly still owes dozens of players tens of thousands of £s. It was previously offline for a time and was not responding to emails for a period too. However, it has apparently paid one player after a six month wait. Whilst some sites do not rate them as a scam site, our assessment is that a 1* (scam) rating is fair and would advise no-one deposits funds there.
Betdos (unrated): After numerous reports of slow-paying surfaced on the net over the last few months, Costa Rica based Betdos went offline over a week ago and remains offline.
Betfair (10*): Betfair have altered their rules on F1 this year saying "Further to feedback we have received from customers on how Betfair settles its Formula 1 markets, we have changed our settlement rules from the 'official' result, to the 'podium' result. This means that from the 4th march 2010, the settlement of Formula 1 markets will be based on the podium presentation, shortly after completion of the relevant race. Going forward we also intend to settle Moto GP markets on the same basis. Where applicable, these revised 'podium' rules will be set out in the Market Information for the relevant market, which is available under 'Rules' tab in the Bet Manager to the right hand side of each market."
Betfred (8*): For race one of Cheltenham, Betfred offered a £100 'no-loss' style bet. A number of players who participated received only partial free bet credits on losing their £100 stake even though they had followed terms which stated they could expect the full £100 free bet refund. Some of the correspondence back on this matter from Betfred was very poor and for some players it took several emails of complaint to get Betfred to abide by the terms of the offer. Reports on other forums also reveal a longer wait than usual for large payouts has been experienced by some players.
Betpresto (1*): With numerous reports of players not being responded to or paid their outstanding balances, we have downgraded the now 'offline' Betpresto (formerly Sunderlands and later redirecting to Sunderbet) to 1* (scam). We would advise no-one deposits into any site seemingly related to Sunderlands Online Ltd such as Sunderbet.
Bodog (7*): X-rated photos of Calvin Ayre, the billionaire behind Bodog, have appeared on the internet courtesy of his nephew. Well, not quite. It was all part of an April Fools joke. Thankfully Betfred didn't come up with a similar marketing tactic yesterday.
Ladbrokes (10*): The next CEO of Ladbrokes has been named as Richard Glynn, the current chairman of Sporting Index. He takes to his new post on the 22nd April.
McBookie (7*): McBookie planned a Cheltenham daily offer but after one day it had to be pulled through bonus abuse (multiple accounts). Communication of the early end to the offer was swift and the company gave customers a goodwill gesture of a £10 free bet offer to use on any remaining Cheltenham race. The reported level of customer service from McBookie regarding the placing of free bets via email etc. was exceptional.
Pinnaclesports (9*): 'Pinnies' have just announced that MLB Money Lines for the forthcoming season will be 6 cent margins (-103/-103) and Run Lines will be 8 cent margins (-104/-104).
Skybet (8*): Last month, TGT regular 'SteveSharpe' reported that Skybet applied a Rule 4 deduction using the price of the withdrawn horse at the time his bet was struck rather than the price at the time of its withdrawal. After speaking to a trader, Steve reported this was down to his bet being an Early Price wager so this is something to consider when betting at Skybet on the horses. Ladbrokes does state this rule in their documentation but we could see no mention of it on Skybet and it is something we have not heard of before.
Totesport (7*): Totesport has added Moneybookers to their list of accepted
payment methods.
William Hill (8*): William Hill have looked to advertising agency The Bank to create their latest marketing campaign. There will be a heavy focus on William Hill being the 'home of betting' especially when it comes to football which makes sense considering it's a World Cup year. Hopefully the increased marketing spend will still mean the regular offers for existing customers continue!
TGT EXCLUSIVES
Grand National sweepstake: At £5 to enter and with prizes of £100 (plus exclusive TGT prize), £60 and £40 to be had, isn't it time you reserved your slot for our Grand National sweepstake?:
McBookie 'spin-up' tournament: who will reach £1000 first? The 50 TGT users able to participate in this offer (3 x £10 'spin-up' attempts for the price of 2) are named in this thread along with all the other relevant details:
Baseball contests: US Sportsbooks moderator, 'kidpoker', is looking into arranging the sponsoring of some baseball contests for TGT users. You can air your interest and keep an eye out for developments here:
Star Posts: A special mention for TGT users 'GibletHead2000', 'zenmaster' and 'Fella' who were all awarded with a 'Star Post' £10 free bet during March. Remember, this general TGT forum feature is ongoing and the TGT mods are always on the lookout for some great posts.
In March, TGT ran a debate thread on the topic of limiting during rollovers. We would like to thank all who contributed their thoughts and our congratulations go to U4EA who received a £10 no-lose free bet for his post:
http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/board/215567-post2.html
TGT Exclusive Interview: The first installment of our TGT industry interview email appears to have been well received so watch out for future chats with all kinds of figures from the gambling world. If you have any suggestions for future interviews or would like to tell us the kinds of things you'd be interested in finding out about the industry in general, you can write to:
and your thoughts will be taken on board.
TGT POKER ZONE
On 11th March, 'Aunty_Fanny' took the honours in the TGT poker event at Chilipoker with Eaustin finishing 2nd and TGT's very own Lana making 3rd. The following week saw 'slim' taking home the $162.50 top prize with great performance from 'TimRobertson' and 'eaustin' in 2nd and 3rd. Those games brought to an end our time with Chilipoker.
Finally, on 28th March there was a $1 buy-in at PowerPoker with $75 added to the pot. 'ThreeBetter', 'guojing' and 'DireEmblem' brought home the goodies in that one.
TGT TRADER ZONE
Will you be trading on the football this weekend? Why not tell us about your strategies and results here?:
http://www.thegamblingtimes.com/board/tgt-trading-forum/6634-weekend-football-trading-thread.html
Forum regular 'Fella' has started a trading related thread on the Grand National. Will you be looking to trade on any particular horses in the Grand National?:
GOODBYE
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Good luck with your bets - remember, "Why gamble when you can win!"
Until next time.
Team TGT
