Bull's Sports Betting Journal

Nice dramatic title, eh?  I've mostly been faux pas-ing about the past week.  When moving money around to various gambling sites is as slow as its become, any false step becomes irritatingly magnified because it takes so long to undo and do over. 

For example, Caribsports sent me an e-mail notice that they were having a reload.  I've always liked Carib, and was sorry I had burnt them several months ago.  I took the e-mail notice as an indication that they were making me a special offer and suspending their policy of no reload bonuses unless you have a negative account balance.  (i.e. you gotta be a loser to get a reload).  I cashed out a wheel barrel of money from them in early summer, and never thought I'd see another reload from them. 

This turned out to be wishfil thinking on my part.  I deposited via Western Union/Swiftpay and then asked for the bonus.  "Your account is ineligible" came the reply.  I argued for a while and got a little steamed - but the bottom line is that it was my own fault for not clarifying with them before I moved the money in.  If I don't find an easy way to bet it out soon, I'm going to have to suck up the withdrawal fee and chalk another one up to experience.

I also decided to give casino chasing another go.  I have a Click2pay account from LONG ago, and decided to move some money into it.  Many online casinos accept Click2pay deposits.  Long ago I had set up an experimental account at NetBank, and this was the account attached to Click2pay.  I moved $500 into NetBank so that I could fund Click2pay.  I moved the money to Netbank, but then could not load my Click2pay account.  Click2pay does not answer their CS e-mails either.  Not a problem to abandon Click2pay, but now i have to dink around and get the $500 back out of NetBank - substantially more difficult than moving it into NetBank. 

One thing that is going right for me this week is my overdue discovery of Cake Poker.  I wrote about it at ITH, so read about it there.  Happy Chasing!

Posted by Bullajami at 01:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sportsbook bonus chasing is still alive and still way more profitable than poker bonus chasing.  I reach this conclusion after doing some intensive searching for new bonus opportunities in sportsbook land over the past week.  There are many untapped bonuses out there.

I would note that I am likely more willing to accept risks to my bankroll than many other bettors.  By risks I am not referring to the possibility that my bet will lose - I still rarely bet.  However, as I deposit at sportsbook after online sportsbook, I increase the odds that I will run into an unscrupulous sportsbook operator that witholds payment.  This has not yet happened to me - after dozens of sportsbooks - but it may at some point.  I am willing to assume that risk.  Many chasers are not.

Over the past month I have been chasing the New NFL Season reloads at my tried and true books.  I will chronicle my experiences with the newer books as I plow through them.  As always, my chronicles will be here and at the forums.

I did make a rare honest-to-goodness bet last night.  The red hot Rockies were going off at +120 at Bookmaker, where I had a $125 freeplay.  I decided to put it all on them to win.  CHA-CHING!

Posted by Bullajami at 04:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The UIGEA is a real ass pain, but I am DETERMINED to not let it stop me from betting online.  You can feel the noose tightening, though, and it sucks!  I get frustrated at times, but I keep on grinding.

I have used both Western Union (WU) and Moneygram (MG) a few times each to make deposits.  I prefer Western Union, but largely because the store where I go to use Western Union is nicer, with friendlier people.  There is not much difference in the process between the two services.

1. You contact the sportsbook and tell them you are going to make a deposit using WU or MG - whichever the book uses.
2. They give you a name and a country to send cash person-to-person. 
3. You take cash to the store that services either WU or MG.  Both companies have websites with store locator applets, so finding a store near you is very easy.
4. You fill out a one-page form supplying your info (name, address and phone) and the name and city, country of the person the sportsbook gave u as a POC.
5. Give the clerk the form and money and get a receipt with your control number on it.
6. Confirm to the clerk that you want the recipient to get USD, not the local currency. (Both services charge a conversion fee if you send it in local currency.)
7. I was once asked by MG if I was sending this cash to a sportsbook (that store clerk is a hard ass).  I did my best to look puzzled and asked what a sportsbook was, and he just moved on.
8. Go back home and call the sportsbook and give them the control number.  Sometimes they need additional stuff like the name of the person you sent it to, and the name of the person sending and amount.
9. They can usually credit it in a few minutes, because they can verify your transaction online.

If you are sending over $1,000 the agent at the store is required to see your ID - at least that is what they told me.  For smaller deposits they rarely ask to see an ID.  Not that I would ever be depositing using someone else's name.....

All the books I have used so far have reimbursed the fees charged by WU or MG as long as you make a minimum deposit, in the $200-$300 range.  Under $1,000 WU charges $12 and MG charges $9.99.  Over $1,000 and the fees go up very quickly.  You can send money online with both services, but the fee is trebled, and you will not be reimbursed for the online fee.  The books I have used thus far reimburse by adding cash to your account:  send $500 to Bookmaker using MG and your balance will be $509.99.

Many of the books also disguise their use of WU and MG.  SIA, for instance, calls it "RC Cash" and says you need to call CS for more info.  Call CS, and they will send you information in e-mail about how to use MG.  (Speaking of SIA, they now have a withdrawal option that allows you to get the money straight back to your bank.  I have used it once, and it worked very well - and no fees for that, either.)

Happy Chasing!

Posted by Bullajami at 08:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)