ANGELCITI /BETUS SAGA MORE INSATIABLE THAN A HOLLYWOOD SCREENPLAY
Sting
Lately the Angelciti Group has gone from hero to zero in a month after much disastrous press in recent weeks; this according to online gaming authority, Brian Cullingworth.
One of the more recent complaints comes from a player who is unable to collect $28,700 from an Angelciti casino, WelcomeToOurCasino.com, utilizing the Real Time Gaming platform. Angelciti President, George Gutierrez, countered with the following:
"Ms. XXXX played Video Poker at our casino last summer. She purportedly received 3 Royal Flushes over the course of 7,591 games of Double Jackpot Poker and Double Bonus Poker. It strains the odds and belief that a person could get that many Royal Flushes in such a short period of time. She was paid out $4,000 on a $50 deposit during the term of her play. Upon the occurrence of the 3rd Royal Flush we closed her account due to suspicions of foul play."
Cullingworth investigated further and learned that this "unsupported hunch and implied criticism" of the Real Time Gaming software has already been refuted by the software supplier.
"They (Real Time Gaming) have done little else to resolve the seven month long issue, during which Angelciti has repeatedly stalled, ignored emails and offered smaller amounts "in settlement"," according to Cullingworth.
Angry online players are calling for Real Time Gaming to pull the plug on Angelciti.
"Even though Royal Flushes are rare, they do happen. There are numerous players out there who have won a number of RF, sometimes quite close together," Bryan Bailey, owner of Casinomeister.com states on his website. "To not pay a player based on a hunch is bordering on the criminal. I feel sorry for any of their players who may win big in the future, and for their shareholders who will feel the brunt of the casino group which seems to be in a tail spin."
As an online casino group, Angelciti may not be a well known entity to those who frequent theRx.com website, however, its BetUs.com (otherwise known as "Little NASA") sister sports betting operation is certainly no stranger to theRx wagering community.
Our own Stephen Nover recently documented the exploits of BetUs.com in his piece aptly entitled Complaints About Little NASA. BetUs.com is often referred to as "Little NASA" after the two brothers who oversee the operation, Joey and Tommy Rizzo (or so they call themselves) endured a painful partnership breakup back in 1997 with the founder of BetonSports, Greg Champion. At one time the three individuals ran a business out of Antigua called NASA Sports. Upon severing ties, both Champion and the two brothers held on to the NASA name, relocated to Costa Rica and began running entirely separate sports books. With both companies looking to emphasize their online presence, the two later changed their names to BetonSports and BetUs, respectively, opting to no longer employ the "NASA" name. BetUs, a favorable sized wagering business in its own right, is now dwarfed by the much larger BetonSports.
Thieves, cheaters, whores and scum. These were among the nicer words hurled back and forth between aggrieved gamblers and a top consultant for Little NASA sports book in Costa Rica.
Nover reported that a player named David is allegedly owed $25,000 by BetUs.com as he fielded at least ten responses from individuals detailing frustrating experiences with another related sports book, Omni Sports. John Walker, Director of the sports betting consumer site, SportsbookReview.com, has also received complaints lodged against BetUs.
David's dispute with Omni is about a match play bonus he utilized to make three $2,500 money-line bets, one of which hit big. Meanwhile, John Walker disclosed another gambler had to settle for $40,000 after winning six-figures from BetUs.com.
Joey Rizzo claims these gamblers tried to scam bonuses and violated rules stated on the Web site. One of those rules states that bonuses shall be determined by management and go to recreational players.
"They (the players) got paid every dime they were owed," he informed Nover. "They didn't get paid their bonus money. There have been customers like these three guys who haven't had their bonus paid, but there's never been a customer that has had winnings he won and not been paid. It doesn't exist."
The Rizzo Brothers treatment of players at times mirrors past business relationships. In 2000, "Big NASA" (now BetonSports.com) founder, Greg Champion, filed a lawsuit against the two brothers in the Circuit Court of the County of Fairfax, Virginia, demanding that they turn over the domain name NasaSports.com. Although both businesses operate out of Costa Rica, Fairfax was cited as the home of Digital Solutions, the company that sold Joey Rizzo the domain name in dispute.
For years, the owner of "Big NASA" complained that his former partners had used the "NASA" name as a means of capitalizing on his own company's huge success. At the time, Champion's sports book advertised as NASA Sports International while the Rizzo Brothers would often take out ads in the same publications using the name NASA Sports. Champion, widely recognized as one of the biggest spenders in print medium, bought out all sports book ad space in several betting publications including Pro Football Weekly as a means of keeping his former partners at bay.
Another sports book owner, who wished not to be identified, had little good to say about his past business dealings with the Rizzo brothers.
"In this business, your word is your bond, if you say you are going to do something, you do it. THESE guys did not honor their word with me. After that, I wanted nothing more to do with them. The last thing I wanted was to have someone accidentally affiliate myself or my company with them."
In many ways, this is the same sentiment shared by those individuals who have had dealings with the Angelciti group of online casinos. Angelciti's WelcomeToOurCasino.com, BetUs.com and ExecutiveSportsbook.com, among others, all feature a Mr. Dean Ward as the Administrative Contact.
In the SEC filing, Mr. Dean Ward is listed as a principal of Wye & Walsay, Ltd., in addition to his role as a "control person" of Baroda. Wye & Walsay, Ltd. currently owns 2,000,000 of our issued and outstanding common share. Additionally, in April of 2002, Mr. Ward made a gratuitous contribution of $16,000 to Angelciti/Omega, which had been treated for accounting purposes as contributed capital.
A more definitive connection between all these operations seems to center around one Larry Hartman, a partner in Angelciti who also represents the Rizzo brothers in what appears to be a "consulting" role. Hartman once contacted another website, Sports911.com, in regard to postings copied from the Sportsbookreview.com website which alleged BetUs was in the process of "stiffing players". During the conversation, Hartman suggested the possibility that legal action might be taken against what he claimed to be "erroneous accusations" made by the owner of Sportsbookreview.com.
Sources close to theRx.com have told us that Larry Hartman previously acted as CEO of Angelciti prior to a reverse merger that netted the company an online gaming software provider called iChance. Following the reverse merger, Hartman became a consultant after which George Gutierrez was named President and CEO of Angelciti in his place.
According to SEC filings, on November 7, 2002, Angelciti entered into a Share Exchange Agreement with IChance International, Inc. ("IChance") to sell their wholly owned gaming subsidiary, Worldwide, for 21 million shares of IChance common stock, or approximately 88% of the outstanding common shares of IChance.
The Share Exchange Agreement with IChance (the "IChance Agreement")
closed on January 20, 2003. At that time, the company owned approximately 88% of IChance, changed their name from AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. to Omega Ventures, Inc., and IChance changed its name to AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. ("AngelCiti").
"I am not sure I understand these complicated links and inter-holdings myself," said Cullingworth. "(As) one has to wade through copious filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission where the companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries are listed on the OTC exchange (they've just launched through Moneylinebrokers.com on the Global Internet Stock Brokerage Exchange (GISBeX) too as a means of widen the net). But there are very clearly close relationships, and the common thread that runs through them all is a shortage of cash."
One individual, who we will call Stan, provided us with a novel solution for those looking to receive monies owed out by either of the connected parties.
"If the people that are complaining about BetUs.com want to make some waves, they should contact the Securities Exchange Commission about AngelCiti," commented Stan, who has met with the Rizzo brothers on a number of occasions.
Angelciti is listed on the OTC (Over The Counter) Bulletin Board under the symbol AGLC. The OTC Board often acts as a hornet's nest of unscrupulous corporations looking to sting naïve investors with their worthless penny stocks.
In order to learn more about Angelciti and its variegated roots, one must travel outside of the online gambling realm to the underbelly of Hollywood seediness where dreams are bought and quickly spent.
For Larry Hartman's partner in Angelciti, Adam Zoblotsky, those dreams would generally cost $300.00 and up. Zoblotsky ran a company called Hollywood Underground Film Festival (also known as HUFF). Aspiring filmmakers were all given the same song and dance: "this is your opportunity to network with the players in the film industry. It's copacetic!"
Few of these filmmakers ever realized their dreams, at least not through HUFF. Angelciti Multimedia Inc. (as it was called), Angel City Film and Music Market, these were all companies interwoven together as a means of profiting from high entry fees, sale of booths, websites and other services of borderline value to filmmakers, though Zoblotsky claimed otherwise.
"We're not in this for the money, it's for the love of independent and underground film," Zoblotsky would tell his patsies.
In addition to the Hollywood Underground Film Festival, Zoblotsky also ran the now defunct NY International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF).
When indieWIRE writer Dave Ratzlow was sent to cover the now tri-annual event, he discovered a whole range of opinions on the festival, from a few satisfied customers to a number of disgruntled participants, the most serious of whom was filmmaker Will Lyman who contacted indieWIRE alleging the festival forged a check in his name for $1,200. Lyman refused to pay for services rendered, noting Zoblotsky had billed the festival as taking place at Madison Square Garden when in fact it was held in a tavern next store.
"Unfortunately, this festival serves a niche; it's a bottom feeder's festival," one participant told the reporter.
A Village Voice article appearing in October 1997 panned Zoblotsky's film festival.
Zoblotsky and Hartman have since begun focusing almost entirely on their Internet gambling ventures. Angelciti's online casinos lost $1,568,880 on total bets of $6,906,028 for the first three quarters of 2002.
One of the Angelciti casino group's more recent SEC filing lists among its investors the likes of Morgan Fairchild, Tom Arnold, Johnnie Walker and Blair Witch.
Interestingly enough, Angelciti/Omega Ventures latest SEC filings states that Larry Hartman has expanded his duties to serve as president, treasurer and chief financial officer in addition to his other duties. Hartman is mentioned as the replacement for Adam Zoblotsky, who is said to have resigned the end of 2001.
The filing goes on to state the following:
We paid an annual salary of $52,800 to Mr. Hartman as well as a non-accountable expense allowance to reimburse his reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred on our behalf, up through January 20, 2003. Mr. Hartman had not been employed pursuant to the terms of an employment agreement and has been free to compete with us once his employment with us was terminated. As of January 20, 2003, Mr. Hartman receives no compensation from us of any kind other than the reimbursement of his expenses associated with his attendance of board
"We have a Lawrence Hartman at a listed outfit called Omega Ventures Inc which doesn't pay Larry apparently," Cullingworth said. "(But) he owns a majority chunk of shares. They seem to be at 9000 Sheridan Avenue, Pembroke Pines, Florida from whence much of the stock hyping releases seem to emanate from Gutierrez."
The latest SEC filing seems to indicate that Omega Ventures Inc and Angelciti are one in the same (The Share Exchange Agreement with IChance (the "IChance Agreement") closed on January 20, 2003. At that time, we owned approximately 88% of IChance, changed our name from AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. to Omega Ventures, Inc., and IChance changed its name to AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. ("AngelCiti"). Omega Ventures is also classified as a SERVICES-MOTION PICTURE & VIDEO TAPE PRODUCTION [7812].
Other affiliated companies include Worldwide Management (Costa Rica), an apparently dormant company called Worldwide Entertainment (Belize) and a share exchange deal with the Futurebet associate Ichance. Then there is George Gutierrez's other company Baroda which has seemingly been a source of loans and is the non-charging landlord for for Angelciti.
It should be noted that Both BetUs.com and LTBaroda.com are registered under the name CLTBSA. In their filing, Angelciti/Omega states the following:
Baroda, our former landlord, permits us to utilize a portion of its business space located at Oficentro La Sabana, Edificio #1, Piso#3, San Jose,
We believe that each of the foregoing properties is suitable for our needs for the next 12 months. While we believe that additional space would be
readily available to us should we need it, we do not, at this time, have the financial resources necessary to lease such space. [/I]
Meanwhile, online gamblers continue to be in an uproar over Angelciti casinos and the BetUs.com franchise of sports books.
"You're dealing with a small group of people who are so mad they got screwed out of their bonuses and they know there's no way they're going to get their money," BetUs.com "consultant" Joe Rizzo disclosed to our own Stephen Nover. "In order to make money in this industry you can't let 'wise' guys and bonus whores come in and just steal money," Rizzo said. "The industry will be ruined if that happens."
It's one thing to fear losing out on bonus money depositing with an offshore sports book these days, it is quite another thing when the book nearly goes belly up.
Hartman, during a phone conversation we had with him in January, admitted that BetUs.com had come dangerously close to financial ruin.
"They were having problems last season but they paid everyone," Hartman disclosed. "This year BetUs.com has had a great football season."
The inner circle of offshore bookmaking comprises of a tight knit group of guys who either love or hate each other. There really is no in between. They all know each other's business as well. Speak to any BM and there is a strong likelihood they will name the Rizzo Brothers among the top five "degenerate" gamblers offshore today.
"Joey claims to be an expert at college football," commented Stan. "But apparently he doesn't know that much because I have heard through the grape vine Joey owed money to several bookmakers for gambling debts."
By most accounts, the Rizzo boys probably enjoyed a solid and profitable football season, as did the vast majority of bookmakers offshore. Joey's reluctance to settle disputes with players is likely derived from a steadfast stubbornness more so than anything else. But in the real world of business, escalating bad public relations can ultimately lead to extinction.
Rizzo says he's had about 20,000 accounts the past two years and has had only nine customer complaints during this span.
"Think about those numbers," Rizzo stated in the Nover piece. "You're always going to have some disgruntled customers. No company can stay away from them. Guys who haven't been paid don't exist. The only guys who exist are these six to ten bonus whores."
Unfortunately for Rizzo, these six to ten bonus "whores" add up mighty quickly and they rank among the most vocal in the online gaming community. For every one of them there are several thousand quiet players who listen and won't step near BetUs.com or the Angelciti Group of casinos with a ten foot pole.
The storm of player protest swirling around the Angelciti group of casinos continues to mount.
"CEO George Gutierrez refused to do the right thing after taking what seemed to be an inordinately long time to investigate a simple dispute," Cullingworth said.
To recap, players have incontrovertible documentary evidence that they received email invitations to participate in attractive promos. The emails were specific in not excluding blackjack play for wager through purposes on the bonus, and experienced gamblers took screenshots of the sit. Yet after they had accepted the promo, deposited and wagered, the casino group disqualified their rewards and appeared to try to retroactively change both email content and site print work, according to Cullingworth.
"Up until recently they apparently had sufficient funds to run a reasonable operation in terms of reliable and timely payouts to winners," Cullingworth stated. "But lately, with a disastrous promo error which they have refused to honour, and a long running "big win" claim which they refuse to honour on extremely questionable grounds, the speculation is that they do not have the cash to pay their larger obligations."
More scary still are the intentions outlined in Angelciti/Omega's SEC filing, something to be mindful of in light of the fact that the Costa Rican government has imposed stringent licensing requirements upon its gaming operators effective this past March 20th.
Although management of AngelCiti believes that the operations of Worldwide do not require a gaming license, both Worldwide and its sole customer currently operate their respective businesses under the gaming license of Commercial LT Baroda, SA ("Baroda"), pursuant to the terms of Worldwide's Sublease and Service Agreement with Baroda, as amended. To the extent that the Costa Rican government determines that a gaming license is required for Worldwide to conduct its business, no assurance can be given that the Costa Rican government will permit Worldwide and/or its sole customer to operate their respective businesses under Baroda's gaming license. In such event, Worldwide and/or its sole customer may each be required to obtain a gaming license as a
condition of doing business in Costa Rica. Such a requirement could have a material adverse effect on our business, the business of Angelciti, Worldwide and Worldwide's sole customer, and could result in the termination of the current operations of each of the aforementioned companies.
"Allied to Angelciti's recent and strongly contested decision to disallow bonuses and winnings achieved fair and square on promo offers sent to players and in T&Cs on the site, the latest decision is likely to have a profound impact on the way players perceive this formerly efficient casino group," commented Cullingworth.
Cullingworth has made it his personal mission to warn players across the Net, at least until Angelciti decides to do the right thing. The Angelciti Group is comprised of Angelciti Casino, Vacation Casino, Welcome to Our Casino, Netgaming Casino, eMazing Casino, Star-bright-Casino, Casino Paycheck affiliate program, Road Runner Casino, Lucky Dog Casino, Que Pasa Casino.
Meanwhile, those customers adversely affected by Angelciti's "sister site", BetUs.com, refusal to grant bonuses have also relentlessly tore into the sports book on various posting forums, including therx.com, which is widely considered the epicenter of offshore sports betting interactive chatter. Most experts do believe that regardless of what transpires with Angelciti, BetUs.com and the remaining sports betting arm of this business can continue trudging along.
Some final food for thought:
While we are hopeful that AngelCiti's online gaming operations will generate positive cash flow during the fiscal year ending 2003, we cannot be
certain that this will be the case or that it will ever generate positive cash flow. To the extent that AngelCiti cannot do so, it will be required to rely upon loans or other funds that it raises to remain in business. If it cannot obtain such funding before it attains a level of positive cash flow, AngelCiti's operations, our investment in AngelCiti, and our ongoing prospects will be
materially and adversely affected. We are insolvent, as our current liabilities are significantly greater than our current assets.
Sting
Lately the Angelciti Group has gone from hero to zero in a month after much disastrous press in recent weeks; this according to online gaming authority, Brian Cullingworth.
One of the more recent complaints comes from a player who is unable to collect $28,700 from an Angelciti casino, WelcomeToOurCasino.com, utilizing the Real Time Gaming platform. Angelciti President, George Gutierrez, countered with the following:
"Ms. XXXX played Video Poker at our casino last summer. She purportedly received 3 Royal Flushes over the course of 7,591 games of Double Jackpot Poker and Double Bonus Poker. It strains the odds and belief that a person could get that many Royal Flushes in such a short period of time. She was paid out $4,000 on a $50 deposit during the term of her play. Upon the occurrence of the 3rd Royal Flush we closed her account due to suspicions of foul play."
Cullingworth investigated further and learned that this "unsupported hunch and implied criticism" of the Real Time Gaming software has already been refuted by the software supplier.
"They (Real Time Gaming) have done little else to resolve the seven month long issue, during which Angelciti has repeatedly stalled, ignored emails and offered smaller amounts "in settlement"," according to Cullingworth.
Angry online players are calling for Real Time Gaming to pull the plug on Angelciti.
"Even though Royal Flushes are rare, they do happen. There are numerous players out there who have won a number of RF, sometimes quite close together," Bryan Bailey, owner of Casinomeister.com states on his website. "To not pay a player based on a hunch is bordering on the criminal. I feel sorry for any of their players who may win big in the future, and for their shareholders who will feel the brunt of the casino group which seems to be in a tail spin."
As an online casino group, Angelciti may not be a well known entity to those who frequent theRx.com website, however, its BetUs.com (otherwise known as "Little NASA") sister sports betting operation is certainly no stranger to theRx wagering community.
Our own Stephen Nover recently documented the exploits of BetUs.com in his piece aptly entitled Complaints About Little NASA. BetUs.com is often referred to as "Little NASA" after the two brothers who oversee the operation, Joey and Tommy Rizzo (or so they call themselves) endured a painful partnership breakup back in 1997 with the founder of BetonSports, Greg Champion. At one time the three individuals ran a business out of Antigua called NASA Sports. Upon severing ties, both Champion and the two brothers held on to the NASA name, relocated to Costa Rica and began running entirely separate sports books. With both companies looking to emphasize their online presence, the two later changed their names to BetonSports and BetUs, respectively, opting to no longer employ the "NASA" name. BetUs, a favorable sized wagering business in its own right, is now dwarfed by the much larger BetonSports.
Thieves, cheaters, whores and scum. These were among the nicer words hurled back and forth between aggrieved gamblers and a top consultant for Little NASA sports book in Costa Rica.
Nover reported that a player named David is allegedly owed $25,000 by BetUs.com as he fielded at least ten responses from individuals detailing frustrating experiences with another related sports book, Omni Sports. John Walker, Director of the sports betting consumer site, SportsbookReview.com, has also received complaints lodged against BetUs.
David's dispute with Omni is about a match play bonus he utilized to make three $2,500 money-line bets, one of which hit big. Meanwhile, John Walker disclosed another gambler had to settle for $40,000 after winning six-figures from BetUs.com.
Joey Rizzo claims these gamblers tried to scam bonuses and violated rules stated on the Web site. One of those rules states that bonuses shall be determined by management and go to recreational players.
"They (the players) got paid every dime they were owed," he informed Nover. "They didn't get paid their bonus money. There have been customers like these three guys who haven't had their bonus paid, but there's never been a customer that has had winnings he won and not been paid. It doesn't exist."
The Rizzo Brothers treatment of players at times mirrors past business relationships. In 2000, "Big NASA" (now BetonSports.com) founder, Greg Champion, filed a lawsuit against the two brothers in the Circuit Court of the County of Fairfax, Virginia, demanding that they turn over the domain name NasaSports.com. Although both businesses operate out of Costa Rica, Fairfax was cited as the home of Digital Solutions, the company that sold Joey Rizzo the domain name in dispute.
For years, the owner of "Big NASA" complained that his former partners had used the "NASA" name as a means of capitalizing on his own company's huge success. At the time, Champion's sports book advertised as NASA Sports International while the Rizzo Brothers would often take out ads in the same publications using the name NASA Sports. Champion, widely recognized as one of the biggest spenders in print medium, bought out all sports book ad space in several betting publications including Pro Football Weekly as a means of keeping his former partners at bay.
Another sports book owner, who wished not to be identified, had little good to say about his past business dealings with the Rizzo brothers.
"In this business, your word is your bond, if you say you are going to do something, you do it. THESE guys did not honor their word with me. After that, I wanted nothing more to do with them. The last thing I wanted was to have someone accidentally affiliate myself or my company with them."
In many ways, this is the same sentiment shared by those individuals who have had dealings with the Angelciti group of online casinos. Angelciti's WelcomeToOurCasino.com, BetUs.com and ExecutiveSportsbook.com, among others, all feature a Mr. Dean Ward as the Administrative Contact.
In the SEC filing, Mr. Dean Ward is listed as a principal of Wye & Walsay, Ltd., in addition to his role as a "control person" of Baroda. Wye & Walsay, Ltd. currently owns 2,000,000 of our issued and outstanding common share. Additionally, in April of 2002, Mr. Ward made a gratuitous contribution of $16,000 to Angelciti/Omega, which had been treated for accounting purposes as contributed capital.
A more definitive connection between all these operations seems to center around one Larry Hartman, a partner in Angelciti who also represents the Rizzo brothers in what appears to be a "consulting" role. Hartman once contacted another website, Sports911.com, in regard to postings copied from the Sportsbookreview.com website which alleged BetUs was in the process of "stiffing players". During the conversation, Hartman suggested the possibility that legal action might be taken against what he claimed to be "erroneous accusations" made by the owner of Sportsbookreview.com.
Sources close to theRx.com have told us that Larry Hartman previously acted as CEO of Angelciti prior to a reverse merger that netted the company an online gaming software provider called iChance. Following the reverse merger, Hartman became a consultant after which George Gutierrez was named President and CEO of Angelciti in his place.
According to SEC filings, on November 7, 2002, Angelciti entered into a Share Exchange Agreement with IChance International, Inc. ("IChance") to sell their wholly owned gaming subsidiary, Worldwide, for 21 million shares of IChance common stock, or approximately 88% of the outstanding common shares of IChance.
The Share Exchange Agreement with IChance (the "IChance Agreement")
closed on January 20, 2003. At that time, the company owned approximately 88% of IChance, changed their name from AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. to Omega Ventures, Inc., and IChance changed its name to AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. ("AngelCiti").
"I am not sure I understand these complicated links and inter-holdings myself," said Cullingworth. "(As) one has to wade through copious filings at the Securities and Exchange Commission where the companies and their wholly owned subsidiaries are listed on the OTC exchange (they've just launched through Moneylinebrokers.com on the Global Internet Stock Brokerage Exchange (GISBeX) too as a means of widen the net). But there are very clearly close relationships, and the common thread that runs through them all is a shortage of cash."
One individual, who we will call Stan, provided us with a novel solution for those looking to receive monies owed out by either of the connected parties.
"If the people that are complaining about BetUs.com want to make some waves, they should contact the Securities Exchange Commission about AngelCiti," commented Stan, who has met with the Rizzo brothers on a number of occasions.
Angelciti is listed on the OTC (Over The Counter) Bulletin Board under the symbol AGLC. The OTC Board often acts as a hornet's nest of unscrupulous corporations looking to sting naïve investors with their worthless penny stocks.
In order to learn more about Angelciti and its variegated roots, one must travel outside of the online gambling realm to the underbelly of Hollywood seediness where dreams are bought and quickly spent.
For Larry Hartman's partner in Angelciti, Adam Zoblotsky, those dreams would generally cost $300.00 and up. Zoblotsky ran a company called Hollywood Underground Film Festival (also known as HUFF). Aspiring filmmakers were all given the same song and dance: "this is your opportunity to network with the players in the film industry. It's copacetic!"
Few of these filmmakers ever realized their dreams, at least not through HUFF. Angelciti Multimedia Inc. (as it was called), Angel City Film and Music Market, these were all companies interwoven together as a means of profiting from high entry fees, sale of booths, websites and other services of borderline value to filmmakers, though Zoblotsky claimed otherwise.
"We're not in this for the money, it's for the love of independent and underground film," Zoblotsky would tell his patsies.
In addition to the Hollywood Underground Film Festival, Zoblotsky also ran the now defunct NY International Independent Film and Video Festival (NYIIFVF).
When indieWIRE writer Dave Ratzlow was sent to cover the now tri-annual event, he discovered a whole range of opinions on the festival, from a few satisfied customers to a number of disgruntled participants, the most serious of whom was filmmaker Will Lyman who contacted indieWIRE alleging the festival forged a check in his name for $1,200. Lyman refused to pay for services rendered, noting Zoblotsky had billed the festival as taking place at Madison Square Garden when in fact it was held in a tavern next store.
"Unfortunately, this festival serves a niche; it's a bottom feeder's festival," one participant told the reporter.
A Village Voice article appearing in October 1997 panned Zoblotsky's film festival.
Zoblotsky and Hartman have since begun focusing almost entirely on their Internet gambling ventures. Angelciti's online casinos lost $1,568,880 on total bets of $6,906,028 for the first three quarters of 2002.
One of the Angelciti casino group's more recent SEC filing lists among its investors the likes of Morgan Fairchild, Tom Arnold, Johnnie Walker and Blair Witch.
Interestingly enough, Angelciti/Omega Ventures latest SEC filings states that Larry Hartman has expanded his duties to serve as president, treasurer and chief financial officer in addition to his other duties. Hartman is mentioned as the replacement for Adam Zoblotsky, who is said to have resigned the end of 2001.
The filing goes on to state the following:
We paid an annual salary of $52,800 to Mr. Hartman as well as a non-accountable expense allowance to reimburse his reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred on our behalf, up through January 20, 2003. Mr. Hartman had not been employed pursuant to the terms of an employment agreement and has been free to compete with us once his employment with us was terminated. As of January 20, 2003, Mr. Hartman receives no compensation from us of any kind other than the reimbursement of his expenses associated with his attendance of board
"We have a Lawrence Hartman at a listed outfit called Omega Ventures Inc which doesn't pay Larry apparently," Cullingworth said. "(But) he owns a majority chunk of shares. They seem to be at 9000 Sheridan Avenue, Pembroke Pines, Florida from whence much of the stock hyping releases seem to emanate from Gutierrez."
The latest SEC filing seems to indicate that Omega Ventures Inc and Angelciti are one in the same (The Share Exchange Agreement with IChance (the "IChance Agreement") closed on January 20, 2003. At that time, we owned approximately 88% of IChance, changed our name from AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. to Omega Ventures, Inc., and IChance changed its name to AngelCiti Entertainment, Inc. ("AngelCiti"). Omega Ventures is also classified as a SERVICES-MOTION PICTURE & VIDEO TAPE PRODUCTION [7812].
Other affiliated companies include Worldwide Management (Costa Rica), an apparently dormant company called Worldwide Entertainment (Belize) and a share exchange deal with the Futurebet associate Ichance. Then there is George Gutierrez's other company Baroda which has seemingly been a source of loans and is the non-charging landlord for for Angelciti.
It should be noted that Both BetUs.com and LTBaroda.com are registered under the name CLTBSA. In their filing, Angelciti/Omega states the following:
Baroda, our former landlord, permits us to utilize a portion of its business space located at Oficentro La Sabana, Edificio #1, Piso#3, San Jose,
We believe that each of the foregoing properties is suitable for our needs for the next 12 months. While we believe that additional space would be
readily available to us should we need it, we do not, at this time, have the financial resources necessary to lease such space. [/I]
Meanwhile, online gamblers continue to be in an uproar over Angelciti casinos and the BetUs.com franchise of sports books.
"You're dealing with a small group of people who are so mad they got screwed out of their bonuses and they know there's no way they're going to get their money," BetUs.com "consultant" Joe Rizzo disclosed to our own Stephen Nover. "In order to make money in this industry you can't let 'wise' guys and bonus whores come in and just steal money," Rizzo said. "The industry will be ruined if that happens."
It's one thing to fear losing out on bonus money depositing with an offshore sports book these days, it is quite another thing when the book nearly goes belly up.
Hartman, during a phone conversation we had with him in January, admitted that BetUs.com had come dangerously close to financial ruin.
"They were having problems last season but they paid everyone," Hartman disclosed. "This year BetUs.com has had a great football season."
The inner circle of offshore bookmaking comprises of a tight knit group of guys who either love or hate each other. There really is no in between. They all know each other's business as well. Speak to any BM and there is a strong likelihood they will name the Rizzo Brothers among the top five "degenerate" gamblers offshore today.
"Joey claims to be an expert at college football," commented Stan. "But apparently he doesn't know that much because I have heard through the grape vine Joey owed money to several bookmakers for gambling debts."
By most accounts, the Rizzo boys probably enjoyed a solid and profitable football season, as did the vast majority of bookmakers offshore. Joey's reluctance to settle disputes with players is likely derived from a steadfast stubbornness more so than anything else. But in the real world of business, escalating bad public relations can ultimately lead to extinction.
Rizzo says he's had about 20,000 accounts the past two years and has had only nine customer complaints during this span.
"Think about those numbers," Rizzo stated in the Nover piece. "You're always going to have some disgruntled customers. No company can stay away from them. Guys who haven't been paid don't exist. The only guys who exist are these six to ten bonus whores."
Unfortunately for Rizzo, these six to ten bonus "whores" add up mighty quickly and they rank among the most vocal in the online gaming community. For every one of them there are several thousand quiet players who listen and won't step near BetUs.com or the Angelciti Group of casinos with a ten foot pole.
The storm of player protest swirling around the Angelciti group of casinos continues to mount.
"CEO George Gutierrez refused to do the right thing after taking what seemed to be an inordinately long time to investigate a simple dispute," Cullingworth said.
To recap, players have incontrovertible documentary evidence that they received email invitations to participate in attractive promos. The emails were specific in not excluding blackjack play for wager through purposes on the bonus, and experienced gamblers took screenshots of the sit. Yet after they had accepted the promo, deposited and wagered, the casino group disqualified their rewards and appeared to try to retroactively change both email content and site print work, according to Cullingworth.
"Up until recently they apparently had sufficient funds to run a reasonable operation in terms of reliable and timely payouts to winners," Cullingworth stated. "But lately, with a disastrous promo error which they have refused to honour, and a long running "big win" claim which they refuse to honour on extremely questionable grounds, the speculation is that they do not have the cash to pay their larger obligations."
More scary still are the intentions outlined in Angelciti/Omega's SEC filing, something to be mindful of in light of the fact that the Costa Rican government has imposed stringent licensing requirements upon its gaming operators effective this past March 20th.
Although management of AngelCiti believes that the operations of Worldwide do not require a gaming license, both Worldwide and its sole customer currently operate their respective businesses under the gaming license of Commercial LT Baroda, SA ("Baroda"), pursuant to the terms of Worldwide's Sublease and Service Agreement with Baroda, as amended. To the extent that the Costa Rican government determines that a gaming license is required for Worldwide to conduct its business, no assurance can be given that the Costa Rican government will permit Worldwide and/or its sole customer to operate their respective businesses under Baroda's gaming license. In such event, Worldwide and/or its sole customer may each be required to obtain a gaming license as a
condition of doing business in Costa Rica. Such a requirement could have a material adverse effect on our business, the business of Angelciti, Worldwide and Worldwide's sole customer, and could result in the termination of the current operations of each of the aforementioned companies.
"Allied to Angelciti's recent and strongly contested decision to disallow bonuses and winnings achieved fair and square on promo offers sent to players and in T&Cs on the site, the latest decision is likely to have a profound impact on the way players perceive this formerly efficient casino group," commented Cullingworth.
Cullingworth has made it his personal mission to warn players across the Net, at least until Angelciti decides to do the right thing. The Angelciti Group is comprised of Angelciti Casino, Vacation Casino, Welcome to Our Casino, Netgaming Casino, eMazing Casino, Star-bright-Casino, Casino Paycheck affiliate program, Road Runner Casino, Lucky Dog Casino, Que Pasa Casino.
Meanwhile, those customers adversely affected by Angelciti's "sister site", BetUs.com, refusal to grant bonuses have also relentlessly tore into the sports book on various posting forums, including therx.com, which is widely considered the epicenter of offshore sports betting interactive chatter. Most experts do believe that regardless of what transpires with Angelciti, BetUs.com and the remaining sports betting arm of this business can continue trudging along.
Some final food for thought:
While we are hopeful that AngelCiti's online gaming operations will generate positive cash flow during the fiscal year ending 2003, we cannot be
certain that this will be the case or that it will ever generate positive cash flow. To the extent that AngelCiti cannot do so, it will be required to rely upon loans or other funds that it raises to remain in business. If it cannot obtain such funding before it attains a level of positive cash flow, AngelCiti's operations, our investment in AngelCiti, and our ongoing prospects will be
materially and adversely affected. We are insolvent, as our current liabilities are significantly greater than our current assets.
