Bull's Sports Betting Journal

I am glad the all-star break is over and I can get back to betting the MLB games again.  I have some serious busting out to do!  I could have used that time to bet on some other sports, I guess, but I just took the time off and haven't made a bet since Sunday.

I have been thinking about gnoming sportsbooks - and the ethics of it.  "Gnoming" being a term for creating multiple accounts at a site under different names so that one can take advantage of the bonuses more than once.  I can't quite decide if it's ethical - or if the risk is worth it.

I have gnomed a few poker sites.  I started creating accounts in Mrs Bull's name quite some time ago in order to avoid being recognized.  When I play as "Bullajami" at Party Poker (etc.) I inevitably have someone at the table give me a friendly, "Bull, I really enjoy your posts at ITH" or some such thing.  While it is just good friendly stuff, I started to notice that it can cause the action to dry up.  I started creating accounts using new names - and different at each site so that people don't get 11,000 Poker Tracker hands on me.  At the largest sites I have even created some gnome accounts so that I could change my name.  I have always availed myself of the bonus opportunites for new accounts when I have gnomed, but I have never chased two bonuses at one site in the same month.  I just don't think it's ethical.  I realize other players don't have a problem with it, but I do.  MamaBull raised me to be a boy scout, I guess.

Sportsbooks seem different to me, though.  I see less of an ethical dilemma with gnoming them - especially the ones I have busted out of, as they have (presumably) made a tidy profit at the expense of some other sportsbook.  It seems reasonable that I should give that other sportsbook (likely Pinnacle in my case) an opportunity to win their money back.  Or, in the case of a book where I had to meet rollover and cash out, it gives them an opportunity to win some money back if I set up a gnome account and play there.

Not that I am freaking Robin Hood or anything.  I will clearly profit if I do this. 

There seems to be more risk in gnoming sportsbooks, too.  A poker site would likely cash me out and tell me to never come back.  A sportsbook is more likely to keep all the money, or maybe just keep everything except my initial deposit.  That could be VERY costly.  My perception is that the risk is higher.

I am still contemplating the issue.  I have plenty of books to chase with great bonuses and reloads right now, so it isn't an issue, but it may become a bigger issue in the future if the bonuses at good books start to dry up.  Happy Chasing!