Since my Sportbet saga elicited such a slew of responses last night, I figured I'd regale y'all with the story of my long-running feud with another well-regarded sportsbook: Canbet. Unfortunately, this one doesn't have as happy an ending as the Sportbet story...not yet anyway.
I became a Canbet customer back in 1998, after trying multitudes of other sportsbooks. When I finally discovered Canbet, I was hooked, and used it virtually to the exclusion of all others for the next four years. I liked the simple layout, the excellent customer service, the quick payouts, and the fact that when these guys spoke English with an accent, it was 'exotic'..not a reflection of their tenuous control of the language, as is the case with CS people in many Caribbean based books.
I recommended umpteen players to Canbet, and over the duration of my 'relationship' with them, easily bet hundreds of thousands -- perhaps over a million -- dollars (no exaggeration). Like most sports bettors, I lost far more often than I won -- in fact, when they drastically changed their layout a couple of years ago, I wrote them an email telling them what I thought of the design, ending it by quipping (only half-jokingly) that as the primary financier of their new web-design, I had a right to have my opinion heard.
On those few occasions when I did cash out winnings, the payout was quick (money appeared in Neteller within an hour...and in the days before Neteller, bank-to-bank withdrawals were free and appeared in my account within days) and the service was cordial. When they made mistakes in my favor, I would advise them and they'd give me bonuses. The relationship was pleasant and professional.
As you might expect, their good-naturedness lasted only as long as my bad luck did. When things finally began to turn around for the better in the spring of 2002, their attitude towards me changed markedly.
Between January and April, 2002, I made some $13,000 in profits on Canbet primarily on NBA betting...my longest and most successful run in 5 years of online wagering. Although Canbet paid every one of my payout requests in that period, 'problems' suddenly started to crop up in my account. It began with severe restrictions on the maximum amount I can bet. This was quasi-understandable...on the one hand, I know that books try to limit their susceptibility to massive losses by curtailing the ability of sharps and professionals to bet high. But considering the amount of money I had lost to Canbet over the years, their taking such drastic actions against me of all people was paranoid, to say the least.
I was still able to bet substantial enough sums of money to keep me happy, even after the restrictions went into place. But around NBA playoff time last year, things became unbearable. Someone or someone(s) at Canbet actually began deleting my NBA bets off the system! Read that sentence again...it's true. But let me clarify: placing a bet on Canbet is a multi-pronged process, (as it is with most other books)...first you select your games, then you press "submit", then "add to ticket", then confirm. There's a lot of clicking that goes on for each bet. I would select my bets, begin the clicking process and everything was fine. But when I got to the final confirmation step, my ticket was often empty! I'd start over, resubmit, and once again, when I got to the final stage, my bet would be deleted.
They never actually deleted a bet that was confirmed and placed on the system. Those were always honored. But it was as though there was a race on between myself and whoever happened to be manning the system at Canbet every evening...if they saw action coming in from me, immediately they would rush to erase my bet before it could be confirmed. Much to my chagrin, they succeeded most of the time, and potential profits lost went well into the four digits.
After failing to make any headway with Canbet's management, I submitted a lengthy complaint letter to the Australian Gambling Commission. After almost a year, they responded with an equally lengthy report of their findings. Their conclusion? Canbet didn't owe me a dime. I appealed the decision and several months later the Commission responded again, after conducting all the check-ups and interviews required for the procedure. The end result? The same. The Commission concluded that Canbet 'probably' did delete my bets deliberately, but under Australian gaming law, they had the right to delete any bets that they didn't want to take prior to their being confirmed. The Commission's report recommended that Canbet change its rules/policies section to clearly state that they reserve the right to delete wagers they don't want to take, even as far as the final confirmation screen, so that disputes like mine wouldn't arise again in the future. But even though that policy wasn't explicitly stated on their site, the Commission ruled that Canbet had indeed acted within the bounds of the law and thus, I was owed no money.
I'm currently in the process of appealing that decision to a higher governmental authority in Australia. I believe enough in the merits of my case to continue fighting it more than a year after the bets in question took place, and even though submitting this latest appeal cost me $210. I'm scheduled to have a hearing by telephone soon after dozens of pages of correspondence and evidence have been exchanged; I'll let you all know how it turns out.
I share this story with y'all for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if you're a small-time player or one who loses a lot more often than he wins, you can't do any better than Canbet. Their payouts come lightning quick and there's always someone available at customer service (though the late-nite guy had a tendency to be a bit surly.) But if you're a 'sharp', a 'pro', or even a perennial loser like myself who gets hot for a few months or a few grand, be prepared to have all kinds of heat come down on you. Canbet does not like to lose, and they will resort to any kind of conniving, low, deceitful, and cheating -- yet 'within the confines of the law' -- methods that they need to make sure that your money remains in their pocket.
So long as you don't quibble with that minor little preference on their part, they'll give you excellent customer service with a smile. And a helluva cute accent.
I became a Canbet customer back in 1998, after trying multitudes of other sportsbooks. When I finally discovered Canbet, I was hooked, and used it virtually to the exclusion of all others for the next four years. I liked the simple layout, the excellent customer service, the quick payouts, and the fact that when these guys spoke English with an accent, it was 'exotic'..not a reflection of their tenuous control of the language, as is the case with CS people in many Caribbean based books.
I recommended umpteen players to Canbet, and over the duration of my 'relationship' with them, easily bet hundreds of thousands -- perhaps over a million -- dollars (no exaggeration). Like most sports bettors, I lost far more often than I won -- in fact, when they drastically changed their layout a couple of years ago, I wrote them an email telling them what I thought of the design, ending it by quipping (only half-jokingly) that as the primary financier of their new web-design, I had a right to have my opinion heard.
As you might expect, their good-naturedness lasted only as long as my bad luck did. When things finally began to turn around for the better in the spring of 2002, their attitude towards me changed markedly.
Between January and April, 2002, I made some $13,000 in profits on Canbet primarily on NBA betting...my longest and most successful run in 5 years of online wagering. Although Canbet paid every one of my payout requests in that period, 'problems' suddenly started to crop up in my account. It began with severe restrictions on the maximum amount I can bet. This was quasi-understandable...on the one hand, I know that books try to limit their susceptibility to massive losses by curtailing the ability of sharps and professionals to bet high. But considering the amount of money I had lost to Canbet over the years, their taking such drastic actions against me of all people was paranoid, to say the least.
I was still able to bet substantial enough sums of money to keep me happy, even after the restrictions went into place. But around NBA playoff time last year, things became unbearable. Someone or someone(s) at Canbet actually began deleting my NBA bets off the system! Read that sentence again...it's true. But let me clarify: placing a bet on Canbet is a multi-pronged process, (as it is with most other books)...first you select your games, then you press "submit", then "add to ticket", then confirm. There's a lot of clicking that goes on for each bet. I would select my bets, begin the clicking process and everything was fine. But when I got to the final confirmation step, my ticket was often empty! I'd start over, resubmit, and once again, when I got to the final stage, my bet would be deleted.
They never actually deleted a bet that was confirmed and placed on the system. Those were always honored. But it was as though there was a race on between myself and whoever happened to be manning the system at Canbet every evening...if they saw action coming in from me, immediately they would rush to erase my bet before it could be confirmed. Much to my chagrin, they succeeded most of the time, and potential profits lost went well into the four digits.
After failing to make any headway with Canbet's management, I submitted a lengthy complaint letter to the Australian Gambling Commission. After almost a year, they responded with an equally lengthy report of their findings. Their conclusion? Canbet didn't owe me a dime. I appealed the decision and several months later the Commission responded again, after conducting all the check-ups and interviews required for the procedure. The end result? The same. The Commission concluded that Canbet 'probably' did delete my bets deliberately, but under Australian gaming law, they had the right to delete any bets that they didn't want to take prior to their being confirmed. The Commission's report recommended that Canbet change its rules/policies section to clearly state that they reserve the right to delete wagers they don't want to take, even as far as the final confirmation screen, so that disputes like mine wouldn't arise again in the future. But even though that policy wasn't explicitly stated on their site, the Commission ruled that Canbet had indeed acted within the bounds of the law and thus, I was owed no money.
I'm currently in the process of appealing that decision to a higher governmental authority in Australia. I believe enough in the merits of my case to continue fighting it more than a year after the bets in question took place, and even though submitting this latest appeal cost me $210. I'm scheduled to have a hearing by telephone soon after dozens of pages of correspondence and evidence have been exchanged; I'll let you all know how it turns out.
I share this story with y'all for a couple of reasons. Firstly, if you're a small-time player or one who loses a lot more often than he wins, you can't do any better than Canbet. Their payouts come lightning quick and there's always someone available at customer service (though the late-nite guy had a tendency to be a bit surly.) But if you're a 'sharp', a 'pro', or even a perennial loser like myself who gets hot for a few months or a few grand, be prepared to have all kinds of heat come down on you. Canbet does not like to lose, and they will resort to any kind of conniving, low, deceitful, and cheating -- yet 'within the confines of the law' -- methods that they need to make sure that your money remains in their pocket.
So long as you don't quibble with that minor little preference on their part, they'll give you excellent customer service with a smile. And a helluva cute accent.
