Check out Shrink's interesting column on the home page regarding mailing lists. www.theprescription.com. Or go directly to the column at http://www.therx.com/nm/templates/article.asp?articleid=1278&zoneid=2
I never, ever, ever, post up with a book that mails me something. Also do not take well to phone calls. I will stick to the solid books that have something to offer and are not so desperate for players that they will cold-call someone.
Books - if you mail me or call me I WILL NOT post up with you!
Books - if you mail me or call me I WILL NOT post up with you!
For those who like to be spoon fed...
Opinions are welcome...
Thanks,
Ken
ARE YOU ON A MAILING LIST? 09/26/03 - Shrink
One of the most common ways offshore sports books attract new customers is to purchase lists of names from various sources. These lists are readily available and can sell anywhere from a penny per name to more than one dollar for the same name.
Recently, the owner of an elite sports book told me he had spent over $300,000 for a list of over 300,000 names that came from a "hot" source. This list contained some of the names of the highest rollers in the United States. These players frequented Atlantic City and Las Vegas often and were known to lose some serious coin.
This particular sports book claimed to have gotten a good return on its investment.
However, in most cases, these lists are not worth the paper they are written on. In fact, I will go on record to say the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
I don't believe it is right to cold-call or E-mail gamblers who have NOT inquired about a particular offshore sports book.
When bookmakers resort to this level of behavior, it is akin to telemarketing. Many gamblers like to gamble in the PRIVACY of their own homes.
What happens to this privacy when a wife or a girl friend answers the telephone and gets an aggressive marketer working for these bookmakers? The damage this alone can cause to the gambler should be enough of a deterrent to stop bookmakers from resorting to purchasing lists.
Unfortunately, it doesn't.
Many lists are stolen from bookmakers by disgruntled employees and are sold on the open market for a lot of money.
Imagine how YOU would feel if someone swiped your entire data base of customers that may have taken 10 years to develop. Then imagine your surprise to discover another sports book acquired this information in a matter of minutes for thousands of dollars.
My point here is simple. There is often no way of knowing WHERE these lists came from or HOW they were obtained. Yet, sports books gamble on them all the time.
There is also no way of knowing how many other people have purchased these lists before they get to you. If the list you are buying has been recycled many times, it is worth far less than a fresh list of names.
Usually, the broker will take the middle road by saying the list MAY HAVE been sold once or twice before. That's EXACTLY what has been presented to me every time a solicitor contacts us about buying a list that supposedly contains "hot" names.
Even with these drawbacks mentioned above, I don't expect sports books to stop purchasing these lists.
From a moral standpoint, buying lists is the WRONG way to go about doing business in what is already considered a suspicious industry at best.
Gamblers don't deserve to have their family contacted against their wishes. And no matter what the sports book uses to defend itself against this practice, it cannot know with 100 percent certainty this won't happen.
[This message was edited by THE SHRINK on September 26, 2003 at 01:33 PM.]
Opinions are welcome...
Thanks,
Ken
ARE YOU ON A MAILING LIST? 09/26/03 - Shrink
One of the most common ways offshore sports books attract new customers is to purchase lists of names from various sources. These lists are readily available and can sell anywhere from a penny per name to more than one dollar for the same name.
Recently, the owner of an elite sports book told me he had spent over $300,000 for a list of over 300,000 names that came from a "hot" source. This list contained some of the names of the highest rollers in the United States. These players frequented Atlantic City and Las Vegas often and were known to lose some serious coin.
This particular sports book claimed to have gotten a good return on its investment.
However, in most cases, these lists are not worth the paper they are written on. In fact, I will go on record to say the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.
I don't believe it is right to cold-call or E-mail gamblers who have NOT inquired about a particular offshore sports book.
When bookmakers resort to this level of behavior, it is akin to telemarketing. Many gamblers like to gamble in the PRIVACY of their own homes.
What happens to this privacy when a wife or a girl friend answers the telephone and gets an aggressive marketer working for these bookmakers? The damage this alone can cause to the gambler should be enough of a deterrent to stop bookmakers from resorting to purchasing lists.
Unfortunately, it doesn't.
Many lists are stolen from bookmakers by disgruntled employees and are sold on the open market for a lot of money.
Imagine how YOU would feel if someone swiped your entire data base of customers that may have taken 10 years to develop. Then imagine your surprise to discover another sports book acquired this information in a matter of minutes for thousands of dollars.
My point here is simple. There is often no way of knowing WHERE these lists came from or HOW they were obtained. Yet, sports books gamble on them all the time.
There is also no way of knowing how many other people have purchased these lists before they get to you. If the list you are buying has been recycled many times, it is worth far less than a fresh list of names.
Usually, the broker will take the middle road by saying the list MAY HAVE been sold once or twice before. That's EXACTLY what has been presented to me every time a solicitor contacts us about buying a list that supposedly contains "hot" names.
Even with these drawbacks mentioned above, I don't expect sports books to stop purchasing these lists.
From a moral standpoint, buying lists is the WRONG way to go about doing business in what is already considered a suspicious industry at best.
Gamblers don't deserve to have their family contacted against their wishes. And no matter what the sports book uses to defend itself against this practice, it cannot know with 100 percent certainty this won't happen.
[This message was edited by THE SHRINK on September 26, 2003 at 01:33 PM.]
