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What follows is a sad story that happens all to often in this business..........
Player loses millions to tout service
A California man has settled a lawsuit he filed against a Fort Myers-based sports handicapping business he says scammed him out of more than $2 million.
But Timothy Edwin Bronkhurst, 49, of Carlsbad said Friday the settlement he agreed to about 10 days ago doesn’t compensate him for anywhere near the $2.3 million he lost in his dealings with Player’s Edge Inc. and National Sports Consultants Inc.
“I lost millions with these guys,” Bronkhurst said. “Thank God I’m almost 50 years old and had a lot of money still. I’m glad we collected what we did.”
According to the suit, which was filed Nov. 25 in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Bronkhurst got involved with a pair of companies that advertised nationally they could guarantee big profits for gamblers because they had “inside information” on sporting events.
The suit claimed the companies actually are “scamdicappers” instead of handicappers and use high-pressure sales techniques to squeeze money out of those who call their toll-free phone numbers.
The suit said Player’s Edge operated from about December 1994 until May 2003, when it was sold to National Sports Consultants.
Both businesses, according to the suit, operated in essentially the same manner — by luring gamblers with national radio advertisements that promise earnings so quickly that the money spent is more of an investment than a gamble.
“This is about getting inside information,” the ads say. “We have contacts everywhere.”
According to the suit, the companies make their money by charging “package fees” for inside information and allegedly by getting kickbacks from the offshore sports bookies that take the bets. The suit said Player’s Edge was run by John J. Rodney Jr., who used the names “Brian Edwards” and “Dan ‘The Man’ Wilson” in radio ads.
Rodney, the suit alleged, sold his interest in Player’s Edge in May to National Sports Consultants’ owner Robert Robitzek, who calls himself “Mike Gibson” in radio spots.
Also named as defendants were a dozen other people who own at least 11 other corporations allegedly tied to the operation.
According to state Division of Corporations records, Player’s Edge and National Sports Consultants list their addresses as a pair of strip malls in south Fort Myers — the Island Park Shopping Center at 16520 S. Tamiami Trail and the Summerlin Crossings shopping center at 15880 Summerlin Road.
The News-Press tried contacting National Sports Consultants on Friday by calling the company’s 1-800 number.
At first, a man who said he was Mike Gibson answered and said he would give no details on the settlement.
“Why should I?” he asked.
A subsequent call was answered by a man who said his name was Jimmy Rogers.
“We have nothing to say about that,” he said of the settlement. “No comment.”
The suit claimed the companies have had more than 7,000 “customers/victims” since 2000 who initially are given free tips.
The handicappers, according to the suit, don’t have any inside track on betting and instead “simply take their best guesses” based on public information.
According to the suit, Bronkhurst sold a business in 1998 and was looking for ways to invest his money when the stock market took a downturn.
What follows is a sad story that happens all to often in this business..........
Player loses millions to tout service
A California man has settled a lawsuit he filed against a Fort Myers-based sports handicapping business he says scammed him out of more than $2 million.
But Timothy Edwin Bronkhurst, 49, of Carlsbad said Friday the settlement he agreed to about 10 days ago doesn’t compensate him for anywhere near the $2.3 million he lost in his dealings with Player’s Edge Inc. and National Sports Consultants Inc.
“I lost millions with these guys,” Bronkhurst said. “Thank God I’m almost 50 years old and had a lot of money still. I’m glad we collected what we did.”
According to the suit, which was filed Nov. 25 in U.S. District Court in Fort Myers, Bronkhurst got involved with a pair of companies that advertised nationally they could guarantee big profits for gamblers because they had “inside information” on sporting events.
The suit claimed the companies actually are “scamdicappers” instead of handicappers and use high-pressure sales techniques to squeeze money out of those who call their toll-free phone numbers.
The suit said Player’s Edge operated from about December 1994 until May 2003, when it was sold to National Sports Consultants.
Both businesses, according to the suit, operated in essentially the same manner — by luring gamblers with national radio advertisements that promise earnings so quickly that the money spent is more of an investment than a gamble.
“This is about getting inside information,” the ads say. “We have contacts everywhere.”
According to the suit, the companies make their money by charging “package fees” for inside information and allegedly by getting kickbacks from the offshore sports bookies that take the bets. The suit said Player’s Edge was run by John J. Rodney Jr., who used the names “Brian Edwards” and “Dan ‘The Man’ Wilson” in radio ads.
Rodney, the suit alleged, sold his interest in Player’s Edge in May to National Sports Consultants’ owner Robert Robitzek, who calls himself “Mike Gibson” in radio spots.
Also named as defendants were a dozen other people who own at least 11 other corporations allegedly tied to the operation.
According to state Division of Corporations records, Player’s Edge and National Sports Consultants list their addresses as a pair of strip malls in south Fort Myers — the Island Park Shopping Center at 16520 S. Tamiami Trail and the Summerlin Crossings shopping center at 15880 Summerlin Road.
The News-Press tried contacting National Sports Consultants on Friday by calling the company’s 1-800 number.
At first, a man who said he was Mike Gibson answered and said he would give no details on the settlement.
“Why should I?” he asked.
A subsequent call was answered by a man who said his name was Jimmy Rogers.
“We have nothing to say about that,” he said of the settlement. “No comment.”
The suit claimed the companies have had more than 7,000 “customers/victims” since 2000 who initially are given free tips.
The handicappers, according to the suit, don’t have any inside track on betting and instead “simply take their best guesses” based on public information.
According to the suit, Bronkhurst sold a business in 1998 and was looking for ways to invest his money when the stock market took a downturn.
