Thank you to our good friends at COVERS for providing this very informative article about DIMEPLAYER.
For a fledgling sportsbook, the offshore waters can be sharp-infested, and no book is more aware of this than Dimeplayer. The young book was bitten by some sharps recently, but survived to tell the tale and learn a valuable lesson in the process.
The sharps in this particular case were a group of unscrupulous bettors in Denmark. The tale began when members of the group opened multiple accounts to take advantage of Dimeplayer's generous bonus policy and circumvent their online betting limits for one account.
By the time Dimeplayer smelled something fishy and froze the group's accounts, the group had won about $50,000 on two accounts, but had also lost about $30,000 on several others. (All action was on baseball.)
Initially, Dimeplayer refused to pay the group their winnings maintaining the players broke the book's rules. In response, the players claimed they were cheated out of their winnings, and dropped the meaty story in posting forums and on watchdog websites.
Although Dimeplayer's reputation took a thrashing in the ensuing feeding frenzy, what was lost in all the gnashing of teeth was that the sportsbook returned the initial deposits to all the Denmark accounts. Even the accounts that had lost their entire balances were refunded.
Finally, in an effort to salvage its reputation, Dimeplayer eventually agreed to pay the Demark group's two winning accounts.
"It was an unfortunate situation and a learning experience. The most frustrating part is there are dishonest players just as there are dishonest sportsbooks," said Dimeplayer CEO Ryan Hill. "You rarely hear about the dishonest players, yet these players are able to use forums and 'watchdog sites' to tarnish the reputation of honest books.
"We are a fairly new book so not everyone knows that about us. A couple years from now, I look forward to being in a position where our reputation and history speaks for itself. In the meantime, we will continue to operate with honesty and integrity and align ourselves with people who run their operations that way as well."
Hill accepts responsibility for letting the Demark situation become an issue and escalating.
"I did not have the proper risk management in place for Dimeplayer. But I don't feel that gives players the right to break rules and steal from the book. I took a stand for what I felt was right," he said. "I can be very hardheaded when my integrity is questioned."
So why did Dimeplayer decide to pay if the players broke the rules?
"I had a chance to talk with the 'watchdog sites', forum moderators, and other book owners. It became clear that there were things that we should have done to prevent the situation from escalating.
"I value and respect the opinion of guys that have been in this industry with a proven track record of doing the right thing. I was fortunate to have an in depth conversation about the situation with Luke (Legendz - CEO), Gooch (Legendz - General Manager), and Spiro (Owner of Olympic Sportsbook).
"The one thing they pointed out was if the situation happened to them, they would pay the players. They would kick out any players that were breaking rules the minute they caught them, but they would pay on any bets that were made up to that point. I respected that and valued their opinions."
Hill's frustration was obvious when asked about the "black mark" Dimeplayer received over the Denmark issue, especially as it relates to the books' reputation for paying out.
"I can't express enough how important the payouts are to us. Players are trusting us by sending us their money to play with. That is their money. When they win and request their money, it is our job to get it to them that day," he said.
"I know if I make a bet and win, the last thing I want to do is worry about when or if I will be paid. We make receiving a payout just as easy as making a deposit."
Now safely out of troubled waters, Dimeplayer has joined forces with the Panamanian-based book Legendz Sports.
Legendz, a player in the offshore sportsbook business for eight years, will run the day-to-day operations for Dimeplayer, from customer care to risk management.
However, Dimeplayer will continue to have its own lines and offerings while being under the Legendz umbrella. Among those offerings are a wide variety of proposition bets, teasers and parlays.
"To be able to tie Dimeplayer in with someone like Luke (Luke King, CEO of Legendz) who shares the same philosophy is only going to help us grow," said Hill. "It would have taken us seven to 10 years to build the same management team that is in place with Legendz."
For a fledgling sportsbook, the offshore waters can be sharp-infested, and no book is more aware of this than Dimeplayer. The young book was bitten by some sharps recently, but survived to tell the tale and learn a valuable lesson in the process.
The sharps in this particular case were a group of unscrupulous bettors in Denmark. The tale began when members of the group opened multiple accounts to take advantage of Dimeplayer's generous bonus policy and circumvent their online betting limits for one account.
By the time Dimeplayer smelled something fishy and froze the group's accounts, the group had won about $50,000 on two accounts, but had also lost about $30,000 on several others. (All action was on baseball.)
Initially, Dimeplayer refused to pay the group their winnings maintaining the players broke the book's rules. In response, the players claimed they were cheated out of their winnings, and dropped the meaty story in posting forums and on watchdog websites.
Although Dimeplayer's reputation took a thrashing in the ensuing feeding frenzy, what was lost in all the gnashing of teeth was that the sportsbook returned the initial deposits to all the Denmark accounts. Even the accounts that had lost their entire balances were refunded.
Finally, in an effort to salvage its reputation, Dimeplayer eventually agreed to pay the Demark group's two winning accounts.
"It was an unfortunate situation and a learning experience. The most frustrating part is there are dishonest players just as there are dishonest sportsbooks," said Dimeplayer CEO Ryan Hill. "You rarely hear about the dishonest players, yet these players are able to use forums and 'watchdog sites' to tarnish the reputation of honest books.
"We are a fairly new book so not everyone knows that about us. A couple years from now, I look forward to being in a position where our reputation and history speaks for itself. In the meantime, we will continue to operate with honesty and integrity and align ourselves with people who run their operations that way as well."
Hill accepts responsibility for letting the Demark situation become an issue and escalating.
"I did not have the proper risk management in place for Dimeplayer. But I don't feel that gives players the right to break rules and steal from the book. I took a stand for what I felt was right," he said. "I can be very hardheaded when my integrity is questioned."
So why did Dimeplayer decide to pay if the players broke the rules?
"I had a chance to talk with the 'watchdog sites', forum moderators, and other book owners. It became clear that there were things that we should have done to prevent the situation from escalating.
"I value and respect the opinion of guys that have been in this industry with a proven track record of doing the right thing. I was fortunate to have an in depth conversation about the situation with Luke (Legendz - CEO), Gooch (Legendz - General Manager), and Spiro (Owner of Olympic Sportsbook).
"The one thing they pointed out was if the situation happened to them, they would pay the players. They would kick out any players that were breaking rules the minute they caught them, but they would pay on any bets that were made up to that point. I respected that and valued their opinions."
Hill's frustration was obvious when asked about the "black mark" Dimeplayer received over the Denmark issue, especially as it relates to the books' reputation for paying out.
"I can't express enough how important the payouts are to us. Players are trusting us by sending us their money to play with. That is their money. When they win and request their money, it is our job to get it to them that day," he said.
"I know if I make a bet and win, the last thing I want to do is worry about when or if I will be paid. We make receiving a payout just as easy as making a deposit."
Now safely out of troubled waters, Dimeplayer has joined forces with the Panamanian-based book Legendz Sports.
Legendz, a player in the offshore sportsbook business for eight years, will run the day-to-day operations for Dimeplayer, from customer care to risk management.
However, Dimeplayer will continue to have its own lines and offerings while being under the Legendz umbrella. Among those offerings are a wide variety of proposition bets, teasers and parlays.
"To be able to tie Dimeplayer in with someone like Luke (Luke King, CEO of Legendz) who shares the same philosophy is only going to help us grow," said Hill. "It would have taken us seven to 10 years to build the same management team that is in place with Legendz."
