Insurance plan from our friends ac**** the street. Is this not a good idea? Can this be done here?

[TheMDKid]

Just recieved this email from MW tonite:


MajorWager would like to address the concerns of many players and reinforce confidence in our advertisers by offering secured accounts to our active MajorWager posting participants. If you qualify, your accounts with any of our advertising books will be secured up to $500.

ALL EXISTING ACCOUNTS ARE SECURED

1)Sign up for a new account using MW as a reference if you are not already a customer.

2) Email your real name, majorwager posting name sportsbook and account number to secured@majorwager.com

3) You will be required to send a weekly screenshot showing your current account balance every Monday to secured@majorwager.com

4) Sportsbook will then be provided a weekly list of the accounts we secure.

In case of a MW book failure, MajorWager will assume liability for amounts up to $500. You MUST send your Monday screenshot every week, and whatever the balance is on that day will be insured by MajorWager Up to $500). For example: A book goes broke and your last (current) screenshot shows $418. That is the amount you are secured for. We can not secure pending wagers nor futures. If you fail to send the required screenshot, you will not be covered for that week.

Who qualifies? Majorwager is putting their own pockets on the line here. We don't ask much. This offer is not available to just anyone, it is for Majorwager regular members who are active participants in our forums. To be blunt, we are not interested in insuring dupe accounts for scammers, nor the accounts of people who would only be signing up through MajorWager to secure their funds. We have tentatively set a requirement as 25 posts per week or an average of at least 75 posts per month over the prior 6 months in order to qualify.

This will start on Monday February 16th (subject to the above mentioned criteria). It will be up to my discretion if I think a poster is just posting 25 quick posts to take advantage of this. If so you will not qualify. We are looking to be a large family with people who particpate to make this site better than ever and in return we will put our money against your accounts.

 

[Dante]

IMO, I do not see a problem with it...its small amounts of 500$ and that helps the small time players, I would like to get this as I am one, BUT the big time players would not be interested as 500 is probably there WU fee they get reinbursed . The idea can not HURT IMO

 

[TheMDKid]

Dante,

The value in this proposal by MW is not in the amount of insured funds. I agree, $500 is relatively small to a lot of the big time players. The value in the proposal is that since MW is backing every book that they are advertising with REAL DOLLARS and not just EMPTY WORDS, you have a better feeling that they are not just shilling for their buddies and that they have no doubt gone to great lengths to verify the financial strength of each advertiser. I agree this is by no means the final answer to all this industries problems, but it is a good first step. Perhaps if RX, Bettersworld, Covers, et al, all started doing the same thing, then a more significant percentage of customer's deposits could be insured.

 

[Fishhead]

I think it is a good idea for the small time player, a person who doesnt mind posting that much every week, and a person that doesnt mind showing their balance to a third party every week.

The fact is, it at least gives somebody the option if they choose to do the above criteria to give themselves $500 worth of insurance.

One really terrific thing this can provide is the ability for somebody to check out a book, risk free for $500.

My personal take on this is this, and this is only MY PERSONAL take on this and in no way intended to bash the concept.

If I feel that I was obligated to make a certain amount of posts on a forum and also have to submit a balance sheet to the forum owner on a weekly basis for an extended period of time and I have a significant balance higher than $500, really not worth the trouble and plus if I felt that I needed insurance in a book, I probably shouldnt be playing there.

MW has by the most part, top quality advertising books. Most of which I if I wasnt a regular poster, take the time to make the required posts and send a balance sheet to Major every week for insurance in that book.

In closing, I think the majority of posters will not bother with the concept for the reasons stated above.

However, there will be some that will definetly take advantage of the concept and will enjoy having the comfort of knowing they have a $500 insurance policy if they adhere to the rules set forth........and anything is obviously better than nothing.

Good stuff??

YES!!

But for the majority of players, nothing to get really to excited about.

 

[TheGeneral+]

There are just certain people I would not want to share much personal detail to. Good luck with this but god forbid a new poster come along, share his info, then have problems as a poster at MW. We have seen the personal info of people posted at other sites.

All the best with the plan.

 

[TheMDKid]

Fish and General,

As I stated in the post that I submitted right before yours - just knowing that MW is willing to put real money, and not just empty rhetoric, behind their recommended books is a HUGE plus to all posters of MW whether the poster actually "purchases" MW's insurance or not. I would hesitate to show my personal info, too, but the nice thing is you don't have to. You get the insurance anyway. Look at it this way - The $500 is no doubt small potatoes to most of MW's posters, but multiply it by 150 posters and it becomes a huge potential liability to MW. Therefore, you have a much better feeling that MW has done everything possible to check out their advertiser's financials, business plan, track record, etc.

Ask yourself this - Would MW have advertised Panam last year if this proposal was in effect back then. I highly doubt it. No matter how good they looked on paper and how stand up their hierarchy was, it would have been foolish to back them (with real money) until they made it through at least one year in this cutthroat industry. Every one of their posters would have been saved from this debacle by just avoiding any non-advertised book. And you wouldn't have had to post 25 posts a week to get that insurance either! It would be available to anyone who stopped by just to check out their advertisers. Hmmmm ... MW isn't accepting ad dollars from Panam ... maybe I'll hold off on signing up there for a while.

 

[THE SHRINK]

Well, it's a start...

But, not a good one...

Heck, I could insure at least half of the books on either site for up to 2k per account without losing any sleep...

Do you really think that books such as WWTS, WSEX & PINNACLE are risky?

Hell, on second thought, I'd insure any new player up to 10k on those 3...

Oh, and you don't have to post on this forum for me to insure you, though I think it's a nice business move by The Major to try and get more traffic for his site...

THE SHRINK

 

[TheMDKid]

Shrink,

What a generous offer. Just name which books you'll insure to 2k, and I'll take you up on this. Consider it a contract.

 

[TheMDKid]

Well I've been gone all day, and after checking on Shrinks answer to my offer, I see he was just kidding apparently. By the way, Shrink, why is it that you only are willing to insure HALF the books that you advertise here? Is it because the rest of them are just your buddies or are they just fly by nights that are willing to pay you to advertise? You see, THIS IS THE VALUE IN MW'S PROPOSAL. The Major is willing to back every one of the sites he advertises. If you tell us which ones you are willing to back then that is very valuable information that ALL of us can benefit from. Not which ones have stand-up guys, but which ones you are willing to back with your own $. Am I right or wrong here?

 

[buddyboy]

I had to look at the dates of these posts just to make sure I wasn't looking at a thread from a few years ago when MW first started.

what was the reason MW pulled the first insurance off the table? didn't one of the books go under and they got killed?

 

[ThrillOfGambling]

What a joke. take a look at their advertising books..all pretty freaking solid. Now, you use Mw as a reference.. which puts cash in Majors hands. now he is securing your account for only 500 ?? I guess that would appeal to someone who bet 25 dollars a game.

This is a way for him to make money..not a way to protect you. get real.

 

[TheFunkMonkey]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ThrillOfGambling:
What a joke. take a look at their advertising books..all pretty freaking solid. Now, you use Mw as a reference.. which puts cash in Majors hands. now he is securing your account for only 500 ?? I guess that would appeal to someone who bet 25 dollars a game.

This is a way for him to make money..not a way to protect you. get real.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Exactly. Also, as Shrink said, it is designed to increase traffic to MW. I assume that more traffic would allow MW to increase their advertising rates?

 

[TTinCO]

Heck, I could insure at least half of the books on either site for up to 2k per account without losing any sleep... (THEN DO IT!!!)

Do you really think that books such as WWTS, WSEX & PINNACLE are risky? (THAT"S THE POINT)

Hell, on second thought, I'd insure any new player up to 10k on those 3...(THEN DO IT)

Oh, and you don't have to post on this forum for me to insure you...(HOW MANY BEARDS DOES THAT INCLUDE?)

 

[SoundofSilence]

I don't really take sides on this issue as I post on both forums -- but I think Major Wager shouldn't totally try and hide where exactly their benefit on this is...

Sending traffic to these sportsbooks using Major Wager as a referral, in addition to any commission plans they are possibly like (like 30% of net losses of the player) will more than make up for any amount of money they have to shell out if any of these books happens to go under.

Hell, reference the "Are you up this year" post from a month or so back -- most forum posters are down on the year, meaning that MW will be getting a % of their net losses. I also wouldn't be surprised to see MW make an announcement and pull a book off their "list" days before one possibly goes bust.

In short, I think *ANY* business man would treat this as a wise investment -- this aint just the kindness of their heart

 

[lakerfan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Heck, I could insure at least half of the books on either site for up to 2k per account without losing any sleep... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Then do it, I am sure many would appreciate. Is this like you insuring Rio, where it is almost impossible to get you to agree to once you made the offer? Would PanAm have risen to the level which you would have been willing to insure?

 

[TheMDKid]

I was just gonna let this thread die a peaceful death. I had resigned myself to the fact that the vast majority of people on this planet are only happy if they are bitching about the problems life hands us. They bitch about the problems and whine about the proposed solutions and shoot down anyone who's willing to try something new, yet NEVER will they propose a solution of their own. I see several posters have kept the thread going, however, so I will throw in my FINAL 2 cents on the subject.

1. After accepting the Shrinks generous offer to insure HALF (not all, mind you, just half) of all the books on this site and MW's, I eagerly waited for his response on specifically which ones they were. The silence from the Shrink was truly deafening. Why no response Shrink? Did you get caught when I called your bluff? Would letting us know which ones you are willing to back with real money cause the other ones to go elsewhere to spend their ad dollars?

2. To Thrill of Gambling and others - the idea that this proposal by MW is just a way to increase traffic to their site, I say SO WHAT? That's the wonderful thing about capitalism - the pursuit of self interest is BENEFICIAL to society as a whole! I don't doubt that the Major is doing this to increase his bottom line and not because he's a nice guy. Good for him. Yet the fact remains, it also helps every customer that visits his site, by letting them know which books he'll back with his money. Then, Thrill, in a bizarre attempt to bolster your argument, you claim that every book that advertises on his site is pretty damn solid. Well, duh, isn't that the point? Don't you wish you could tell which ones SHRINK believes to be solid on THIS site??

3. Sound of Silence - You say that you wouldn't be surprised to see the Major pull one of his advertisers BEFORE they go bust. Well, duh again, isn't that information that would be truly valuable to everyone? If and when the Major does this, he is in effect saying to everyone "Because of recent circumstances that I alone am privy to, I am no longer willing to risk my money to back this book." He can come on and post all day long about what stand up guys they are, but if he pulls the ad, you KNOW how he truly feels.

4. To all of you that claim the $500 insurance is measily and means nothing to anyone but the small $25/game player. You people are completely missing the point. At the risk of repeating myself for the 4th time - I agree that the amount of the insurance is small to each individual player, but the AMOUNT OF POTENTIAL LIABILITY TO THE MAJOR IS HUGE, if enough posters take him up on his offer. In addition, as I have stated before, if enough sites like MW participate in a similar plan, then the amount that one player can insure himself for increases exponentially.

5. Buddyboy - I wasn't around when MW tried this insurance proposal before. My question to you is - did MW pay? If so, then they should have plenty of evidence that they can be trusted to be true to their word this time also. In addition, if they truly did get killed by paying, then you would have to guess that they will do everything in their power to insure they don't get killed again, ie. make damn sure the books they advertise are solid. And in the end, isn't that what you really want? I mean the true value of the insurance here is NOT that you will get paid 10 cents on the dollar for a failed book, it's recieving the knowledge of which books the INSIDERS think won't fail in the first place! And THAT part of the insurance is FREE to everyone!

 

[lakerfan]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Buddyboy - I wasn't around when MW tried this insurance proposal before. My question to you is - did MW pay? If so, then they should have plenty of evidence that they can be trusted to be true to their word this time also. In addition, if they truly did get killed by paying, then you would have to guess that they will do everything in their power to insure they don't get killed again, ie. make damn sure the books they advertise are solid. And in the end, isn't that what you really want? I mean the true value of the insurance here is NOT that you will get paid 10 cents on the dollar for a failed book, it's recieving the knowledge of which books the INSIDERS think won't fail in the first place! And THAT part of the insurance is FREE to everyone! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

They did pay MD and your analysis of what that means is dead on.

Good post

 

[TheMDKid]

Thanks Lakerfan. It's nice to know SOMEONE gets it.