Improving odds in online gambling
By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 11:20 AM ET Jan. 31, 2002




Some sites safer than others for betting the Super
Bowl

CHICAGO (CBS.MW) - Fear flying to Vegas? Can't find a
friend to cover the spread? Just longing to get some
action on the Big Game?

Don't sweat: There's still time to bypass the bookie
for a browser.

While credit-card issuers are making it harder for
Americans to lay money down online for Super Bowl
XXXVI (See full story), there are plenty of Web-based
sportsbooks ready, willing and able to take their
wagers.

The trick is figuring out which sites to trust - and
to make sure a winning hunch gets paid off in full and
on time.

The sheer number of operators, along with their
quasi-legal status and offshore locations, complicates
that task. But following a few simple rules can
drastically decrease the odds of being victimized by a
welshing Webmaster.

"I would never, ever, play at a casino or sportsbook
that doesn't have their phone number available."

Eric Morris,publisher, Online Gambling Magazine


By most accounts, the majority of Internet gambling
sites are run honestly. Like the brick-and-mortar
casinos they often compete with, the sites don't have
to cheat to make money. And while there have been
instances of bettors getting stiffed, it's far more
likely to occur due to incompetence rather than
deliberate rip-off.

The very first thing to look at before placing any bet
online, industry experts seem to agree, is whether the
site has actual human beings readily on hand to answer
questions, try to resolve disputes, etc.

"I would never, ever, play at a casino or sportsbook
that doesn't have their phone number available," said
Eric Morris, publisher of Online Gambling Magazine.

Spot checks

Next, do the research. Check the message boards at
review sites like winneronline and casinomeister to
see what is being said about who and why. Crooks and
cretins alike can get called to account pretty fast in
cyberspace; if people are complaining about a specific
site, stay away.

Morris also recommends that players "stay with sites
that are advertising in multiple publications and
newspapers" instead of just using cheap or no-cost
online banners. With that kind of marketing
investment, "chances are they are legitimate and will
pay you out."

Sue Schneider, chief executive of River City Group, an
interactive gambling research, publishing and
brokerage firm, echoed Morris' sentiments about what
consumers should check before placing an online bet
for the first time. To the list, she adds "they should
see if a site is licensed by a specific government and
if it has a 'Seal of Approval' from the Interactive
Gaming Council."

Although betting sites operate in some European
countries and Australia, they will not usually take
wagers from people in the U.S. Among the
multinationals currently getting a taste of that
action are Playboy Enterprises(PLA: news, chart,
profile), Sun International (SIH: news, chart,
profile) and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (NWS: news,
chart, profile)

Top jurisdictions

While it's not actually illegal as yet for Americans
to make bets online, the issue is such a political hot
potato here that regulators in other industrialized
nations have taken a pass on the market for now.

Meanwhile, formal regulations for South-of-the-Border
operators vary from the relatively stringent and
recently upgraded, in Antigua, to the virtually
non-existent, in Costa Rica.

Frank Catania, head of an interactive gambling
consultancy that bears his name, is a former director
of gaming enforcement for New Jersey - the nation's
No. 2 casino market after Nevada. He describes himself
as a proponent of "player protection" via strict
regulations.

Players "need to look for a site that comes from a
jurisdiction with significant gaming regulation" he
said, and named Antigua as the best of the Caribbean
-- in no small part because he helped draw their
rulebook. He says other good sites are run out of
Australia, the Isle of Man and from a Mohawk Indian
reservation in Canada.

In these locales, at least, "a consumer can feel
relatively safe that they are going to get paid," he
said.

Steve Schillinger is director of wagering at World
Sports Exchange. Based in Antigua, it's one of the
most-established online bookmakers, up and running
since 1996. Schillinger claims a customer base of
30,000 and says "on a typical Sunday in football
season, we process over 200 bets a minute."

Ways around

Schillinger says his company hasn't experienced any
problems with credit cards yet, but that it's still
easy to bet should your issuer balk. There are other
ways to set up an account, including wire transfers.

Winnings typically are sent via overnight mail, he
says, and can be considerable: World Sports Exchange's
limit is $20,000 per bet and people will sometimes
make as many as five bets on a single game.

"Business for us is very good," he said. "We increase
about 50 percent in volume every year."

Those kind of numbers are one of the main factors that
have some U.S. casino companies panting for a piece of
the action. The management of MGM Mirage (MGG: news,
chart, profile)is among the industry's more outspoken
boosters of the potential of online gambling.

Their counterparts at archrival Park Place (PPE: news,
chart, profile) are more low-key about it, but they've
also indicated they don't intend to be left behind.
Their theory is, when Vegas operators enter the
business, they'll grab market share and greatly
expanding the pie by providing bettors with U.S.-based
brand name service.

They also could leverage their existing databases to
drive business and use a "comp" system to reward
players with free rooms, trips to Las Vegas and other
cherished amenities.

That may pose something of challenge to sites like
Schillinger's - if it ever happens. In the meantime,
he asks with obvious self-interest, "Where is your
safer bet? With a local bookmaker or a reputable
online company that pays everybody?"

Anyone care to wager on that one?

William Spain is a reporter for CBS.MarketWatch.com in
Chicago


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