I would like to welcome-SLIM-in for a `Sitdown with The Journeyman` (A clerks take on the biz)

[-Slim-]

huggy, tsb was in my opinion, a very good book. It was a small operation which allowed us to pay particular attention to every single customer and their needs. Money was never an issue but unfortunately, management turned into a cheap soap opera, personal issues got in the way of working, the employees were the ones that suffered and after a long period of just way too much stress, I ended leaving the place. To this day I wish things would have worked out differently. There was a real group of people that cared about that place working there. That group is now scattered.

Its an issue I dont like to mention much because of what happened but you can do a search here on the prescription around April, May and June of 2002 if you{re interested.

 

[Journeyman]

Slim, what are some of the other responsibilities the average clerk has...Do books encourage forum shilling? Are most clerks part time employees?

Have you ever seen corruption between a clerk and a customer, where they tried to scam the book?

What % of clerks gamble regularly? I am sure you have seen your share of clerks who ended up working for free?

 

[-Slim-]

Responsibilities of a clerk: basically the only responsibility is that of taking calls. They sit at their station waiting for the phone to ring, take the call, give the lines, read em back and hang up. They do this over and over and over again for the entire shift. Of course, clerks in customer service have an entirely different job as some are in charge of netellers, others work with Western Union offices, others take payouts and make sure something funny is not happening etc etc...

I doubt most books encourage shilling and those that Ive seen shilling usually are pretty bad at it like the guy whos attempted to shill for getmoresports in the past....

 

[-Slim-]

Corruption? Yup, theres been all kinds of things going on between customers and clerks.

First example: clerk would open up the software to take the wagers, enter an account, access the lines, then minimize the program. He would then open up the software a second time and work with that program for the entire day. At night once games were done, he would go back to the first program and enter the winning bets... I guess he didnt put enough losers in there because he got caught.

Second example: To put in a Bonus Play into an account, its usually done as a flag......A flag that the clerk reads when they enter the account. Once the customer places the bet, the flag is erased, but what happens when the guy in customer service keeps putting up "Bonus Play flags" in the account...well, the customer keeps playing them...

Both cases, the customer was a friend/family member of the employee down here....

Like those, there are many different ways of pulling of crap...

 

[-Slim-]

Ive just conducted a survey here between everyone in terms of the percentages that bet and we've come up with a figure of about 15 to 20% during high season...

 

[Journeyman]

Slim , back in the day what % of Credit Card deposits were chargebacks? Why in your opinion did books take CC deposits anyway?

It just seems way too much risk to me...

 

[-Slim-]

Id actually say the percentage of chargebacks on credit cards is actually pretty low and personally I think the places Ive been at have been lucky because it hasnt been much of an issue. In fact we did get screwed but by the guys that were processing the cards..

The amounts that books charge outweigh the amounts of chargebacks by so much that it only made sense to keep on taking them. Getting into a dispute with someone that opened up with a Cc, though, is a pain in the ass because you know that if they dont like the decision, you'll always end up getting the "good luck tying to get the money" speech...

 

[Journeyman]

Why in your opinion do top notch books fail?

What are the biggest reason books collapse?

 

[TheGeneral+]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Journeyman:
Why in your opinion do top notch books fail?

What are the biggest reason books collapse?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let me try. Poor management and more poor management.

 

[-Slim-]

Hmmm, LOL, I couldnt find this thread anywhere the last couple of days.

Why do books fail?

Man that is a combination of so many things it can be difficult to describe. First, not just any moron can start a book and become succesful. Alot of people have taken the "I have enough money so I can start a book" and thats just not true. You or someone you hire to manage the place has to have a pretty good idea of whats to be done or done it before for a period of time. Many just simply are not bookies but businessmen that think you can succeed at this if you've succeeded at something else. In a way the "poor management" quote pretty much sums it up.

Also, many sportsbook try to get too cute with certain facets of the book. For example, putting up their own lines on certain events, booking obscure sports they know nothing about, offering bonuses left and right like the world was ending tomorrow, spending thousands on meaningless gifts that they send to customers such as coffee, calendars, mugs, etc etc....

One of the main things you also need is patience. If you have no patience you wont go anywhere. Just like a gambler cant panic when they lose 6 straight, a book cant panic if they have a bad couple weeks. Many do, start messing up numbers and the avalanche starts...

 

[Journeyman]

Slim, in all your years of taking wagers could you share with us a story of a winning gambler and a story of a losing gambler?

What is the highest of the high and lowest of the low you can recall?

Maybe something a few of the readers could learn from ?

 

[-Slim-]

Well, there have been some very odd customers that stand out......

For example.....

One that would western union about 50-100 bucks every single day....We would pick up his WU fees because in like four years, he asked for a payout once I think. He usually liked to parlay stuff and would pretty much go down every single night. Who knows, maybe it was dell dude....

One that would bet every single thing we put, regardless of who was playing, hed just take a side and a total for each game.....Unfortunately, he died on a Saturday....That same Saturday he had 104 pending bets going.......How someone knows the following morning whether they won or lost after 104 bets is beyond me...

There was a guy in particular that was a very very strange character......He wasnt the sharpest tool in any box by any stretch of the imagination.... Funny thing was, he actually sounded like he was jerking off the whole time....uhhh...uhh.uh...uhhhhh..uuuu....uhhhh.. He disappeared for a while and then called back, told the clerk that he had actually been in jail.... I looked up his name on the internet and lo and behold I found the newspaper story...

He had met like a 14 year old girl over the internet, they went out and apparently things got a bit out of control in the canoe in some waterpark where they met. The cops grabbed him and he got locked up for I think,about 8 months.

He would call up and deposit money and would tell me, Im going to bet again cause Id like to buy some real estate...

 

[-Slim-]

Winning customers are difficult to remember, particularly because 1) there arent that many and 2) you want to forget them.....

However we did have one guy that was a small bettor that ended up winning like $40,0000 on I think the Kentucky derby about 5 years ago.. I dont even remember what horse it was but he really cleaned house with a future he had.... I remember this guy in particular because I think we had the wrong horse number or something and actually ended up cheering for the horse that cost us that much..... The owner was here.....LOL. It was funny to see everyone cheering on the wrong horse. I was actually the first one to look up at the tv and say, Um, I think somoene screwed up somewhere cause so and so won the race....... The owner couldnt have been more pissed.

 

[Journeyman]

You seem to take it personal when customers win Slim? Do the managers come out and tell the employees who they need to root for?

Slim, I still find it amazing how you claim no one wins??? Before my slump in 2003 I was always winning...Unfortunately I did single handidly fund the new wing at BetGrande in 2003, but I could honestly say I have done some damage in other years Slim, do you really think no one wins longterm?

Also getting back to customers ....what % are women, I would think very few women call?

 

[-Slim-]

I take it personal but thats because Im very competitive...... and about the rooting thing....books dont like it when employees are rooting for the wrong side.....it really pisses some of them off....

When you're just taking bets over the phone, you dont care who wins or who doesnt but ask any of the guys in charge of the lines and they'll tell you they really care whether or not the book won during their shift.

What percentage of customers are women? I would say less than one percent. There are a few out there but for every women gambler you'll probably find more than 99 guys gambling.

 

[-Slim-]

In terms of whether or not someone can win doing this.....which seemed to incense more than a few of you.....

As I stated initially. If you pick up and leave for good, you're sharp. Go, take your winnings and disappear for good. Can many do that? No. Can some do that? No. Im sure you'll find exceptions to the rule but if you continue playing for enough time, you will go down. Ive seen a shitload of "sharp credit bettors" disappear and stiff their agent after their sharpness turned dull..... The sharpest ones go through it.....

I dont think Im insulting anyone with a comment like that but for someone to come in and say that for a fact, they will not lose in the longrun is, well, absurd. Then again, if people didnt have that mentality, they wouldnt be gambling. I know I think every time I bet a game its going to win....otherwise why would I bet it? Odds and percentages dont seem to get along with opinions though.

 

[RIOSHILL]

Slim, your info has been very helpful. You are a bigtime asset here.

 

[Journeyman]

I agree Rio Shill...I use to think Slim was just some opinioneted punk kid when I first read the forum, I have grown to respect the guy a whole bunch, he brings some very good well thought out insight to the forum...
...I do not agree with his assessment of how many gamblers do win though...

 

[-Slim-]

LOL, thanks guys.

I am a kid though so you're half right

I only have about 6 or 7 years experience, so who knows, maybe Ive just been lucky enough to create the opinion that almost no one walks away a winner in the long run. Out of 100 players, how many do you think win, in the long run.

 

[sven]

Slim,
What would you say are the top 3 offshore books?