Written by :
Thomas Somach
Published on :
Professional sports bettor Gadoon “Spanky” Kyrollos is disputing a claim by FanDuel CEO Amy Howe that unregulated offshore sportsbooks stiff bettors “25% of the time.”
Howe made the claim Wednesday during a panel session at the SBC North American Summit, a trade industry conference for sports betting entities, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey.
“I think the 25% estimate wasn’t founded on any research,” Spanky told Gambling 911 in an exclusive interview.
“I’ve been playing offshore for more than 20 years, betting a total of billions of dollars, and given my experience, I would say a stiff rate of 5 to 10% would be more accurate.”
Does Spanky think Howe was trashing the offshores because they are her competition?
“I’m not sure there was any malice in her comments, just blissful ignorance,” he said.
Spanky was then asked if he has ever been stiffed by an offshore sportsbook, and if so, which ones?
“World Sports Exchange, Nasa Sports, English Sports Betting, Caribbean Sports and a few others,” he said.
The four mentioned sportsbooks all went out of business years ago.
“Without regulation, there will always be bad apples,” Spanky continued. “However, the big difference now is the offshore world has a 25-year track record.
“It’s pretty clear that there are honorable bookmakers who have been in business for a very long time and have an impeccable track record of paying their customers.
“Playing the old tired tune of ‘your money isn’t safe’ won’t fool anyone.”
By Tom Somach
Gambling 911 Chief Correspondent
