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11/28/03 11:37 PM EST
Your
Blue Marlin Bailout Q&A
Christopher Costigan,
Sports911.com
A
number of you affected by the Blue Marlin closure have posed questions to me and
I’m not so sure I have answered these questions to the best of everybody’s
satisfaction. I will try to answer as best I can here.
Sting, are there other bailout offers besides the one advertised here from
Sports-Gambling.com?
We
are in talks with four other books, three of which are expected to get back to
us by Saturday. These books will approve players on an individual basis for
specified amounts. I am trying hard to get amounts owed fully covered by these
bailouts, however, there are three players owed around 20K or higher and this
will be a difficult task indeed. Sports-Gambling.com is welcoming everybody up
to $5000 so that much for the most part is guaranteed to be covered.
What are the deadlines to notify Sports911.com and what are the deadlines to
join one of the “bailout” books?
There
are no deadlines announced at this time, however, the longer players wait to get
in contact with me the less likely the chances of getting them in an appropriate
bailout program. I would like to assist all those affected whether they came
through my website to join Blue Marlin or not.
This is a black eye on Sports911.com, how can you guarantee this will never
happen again?
I
cannot guarantee ANYTHING unfortunately. What I CAN do is promise to bring on
only the most established sponsors possible. Outside of BetPanAm, our sponsors
have all been in business for more than three years and, with few exceptions,
this has got to be among the single most important criteria in selecting new
sponsors. I want the risk factor playing at Sports911.com books to be under 20
percent….In fact, I want it to be closer to 10 percent. You have my word I am
not going to invite shit advertisers to participate on this website any more.
Blue Marlin is such a rare exception and the exception I would have expected to
happen sooner or later. Remember, readers of this site need to realize only
THREE established books with good reputations have ever gone under stiffing
their clients: Sports International (1997), Aces Gold/Sports Market (2001) and
now it appears Blue Marlin (2003). Some might argue that Action Sports (2000)
might fall into this category, however, it is not known if all players were
stiffed here or if it was only a few “sharps”. This book was later reincarnated
under the name Pro5Sports (PlayHorizon), which amazingly continues to operate
after two plus years.
I
understand there are books that fall by the wayside seemingly every week but
these are books NOBODY should have been playing with in the first place. New
Age Bets (NAB)? Gimme a break! I liked Lance as a person but he was off the
wall and a degenerate gamblers. Everyone in the industry KNEW this. Mark
Delpopolo of Camelot? My God, this guy was the biggest crackpot on the forums.
I all but retired from the posting forums because of this guy and it was really
sickening to watch him manipulate people. Eddie Hadeed of Aladin’s Gold? When
the Shrink (TheRx.com) and I exposed him first time around with his “flat broke”
Premiere League, it was disheartening that a few people wished not to pay
attention (no doubt one of the shadiest guys ever to run an offshore book who
had me fooled early on). Many other small books that had no business being on
watchdog type websites also disappeared into the night. In hindsight, Gamblers
Avenue should not have been featured on Sports911.com and even though the damage
here was not all that significant, players are still not out of the woods as
long as they continue to patronize Royal Sports.
What are some recommendations you have for players to minimize their risk?
I
recommend depositing no more than $2500 at any one book and make frequent
withdrawals. Don’t worry about having to pay a fee either. A number of books
allow for one free withdrawal per month. This $2500 figure I find the easiest
to cover where bailouts are concerned. So many of these Blue Marlin accounts
are $5000 and up, very difficult to help with.
Also
play at proven books, stay clear of books that seem to cater exclusively to a
very sharp clientele without proper balance (this is a death sentence) and be
leery of sports books where the principals feel it necessary to post recklessly
in various forums (Lance of New Age Bets, Gerry from Aces Gold, Mark Del from
Camelot and I’d be remiss in forgetting our good friend Roberto at Royal
Sports).
Watch
for signs and keep in mind it’s not always fair to announce a sports book’s
“inevitable” doom if it is not definitely “inevitable”. I have a tendency to be
more upfront and personal over the phone via the toll free phone number.
Contrary to my online persona, I am actually quite friendly and enjoy chatting
with players.
Again, your chances of getting hurt playing at an established book (three plus
years in business) are extremely low based on the statistics I have provided.
There are more and more books becoming established so chances are we will see
smaller gaps in between failures that result in stiff jobs. Most of the
failures that occurred this year involved books in business less than twelve
months. I think when one looks at the whole picture, things are not as bad as
they might seem. NAB, Camelot, Alladins Gold, Prime Time Sports, BetMega, these
were all books in business for less than a year and they were all taking on
business they were simply incapable of handling.
Will all players affected by the Blue Marlin closure be eligible for available
bailouts?
All
will be available for the Sports-Gambling.com bailout. The others will be more
selective especially when it comes to the big balances. I’ll do my best but the
books I am dealing with tend to be cautious when it comes to those that
maintained large balances in their Blue Marlin accounts. The perception being
that they are too sharp. That is the common perception, whether true or not.
Most of the players I am dealing with understand this and it is a hurdle we have
to try and overcome. It’s not an easy hurdle at that.
All
Sports911.com readers affected by the Blue Marlin closure will be notified this
weekend as to the latest update involving their own specific situation.
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