Offshore online betting

[Dick Schmidt]

I just found out about an offshore betting site called eHorse. Located in Costa Rica, it was recommend to a friend by Barry Meadows. Has anyone had any experience with this site? If offers several nice features besides actual online betting. It is not parimutual, and limits payouts to 275 to 1. They pay between a 2 and 5% rebate depending on your action.

You can find them at : www.betehorse.com

Yes, bete not beta. I checked twice.

[Dave Schwartz]

Dick,

How do you suppose these guys will respond after you've beaten them for a couple thousand dollars per week for 8 or 10 weeks?

I can only imagine that they'd cut you off. Don't you?

[MikeH]

I looked at their website, as well as the "Neteller" link that you can use to transfer money to them. I can't find a physical location anywhere, nor can I find any comments about licensing, or the lack thereof, by the Costa Rica government.

Maybe I've not looked in the right places, but these omissions would make me avoid them until I had some answers or references.

[Dick Schmidt]

Thanks for the thoughts.

Dave:

Ya, they probably would, though some bookies welcome a winning bettor. They use them to lay off their own bets. Tom Brohamer had a book that did that for years. I don't mind getting cut off. I've been cut off at a couple of books in Vegas over the years and just walked across the street. I am more concerned about getting that last payoff. Anyone have any experience?

MikeH:

Almost none of these places have a physical address. Neteller is a well established Internet third party conveyor of payments. People on E-Bay use it all the time. I have no idea if Puerto Rico licenses books or not. It hardly matters given the political climate in most of Latin America. I was looking for anyone who had some experience with them. I'd like to play a book so that I can make larger bets at small tracks and am hoping that this one will work, at least for a while.

Dick

[BMeadow]

I did not, and would not, recommend a new Internet racebook with no track record. The list of offshore racebooks I did recommend were listed in the February issue of Meadow's Racing Monthly.

I do have a Newswire item on betehorse.com already written for the upcoming June issue of the newsletter. Mentioning that a place exists is much different from recommending it.

[Dick Schmidt]

Barry,

I know. That is why I was asking about it.

Dick

[Rick Ransom]

Barry,

What's your opinion of AcesGold? They don't offer rebates but do claim to take unlimited action with no maximum payoffs. That seems impossible to me, at least according to my experience with Nevada non-parimutuel race books.

[Dick Schmidt]

Rick

I believe Aces Gold's secret is simple, they are in the parimutual pools, along with several other island books. I was interested in eHorse specifically because they are a true book and not in the pools. They are a new outfit and I was seeking feedback on their reliability and service. Of course they have betting limits, all bookies do. Guess I'll try them out and let you know how it works out.

Dick

[Druther]

Dick

For what it's worth, I used Aces Gold for 6 months or so (switched to Winticket because they'll take my account) but I never had any problems with them.

I thought their wagering pad was rather klugy but it worked.

Of course I'm not a big bettor and I'm sure the bets I placed made them flinch not in the least.

But they paid me every time I made a withdrawal.

[Rick Ransom]

Dick,

Thanks for the explanation. Now I get it! I didn't consider that possibility. You probably remember the story about the Sport of Kings race book in Vegas. They didn't believe there was any such thing as a winning player and found out the hard way.

[BMeadow]

Every book is a little bit different, which is why you need to check the rules on such items as:

* maximum bets taken on each type of wager (this usually varies from track to track and from bet to bet)
* whether bets go into track pools (very important)
* how close to post time you can bet (usually varies from 0 minutes to 5 minutes)
* fees associated with deposits and withdrawals (generally higher with faster delivery)
* whether your account draws interest (generally not)
* whether you can bet each pool with no other requirements (some places won't let you bet to show unless you also bet to win)
* what bonuses or rebates are offered (including any requirements you must fulfill before collecting these)

There's much more to know as well; I had a long article on the subject in the February 2001 issue of my newsletter.

Best to call the book directly and speak to someone who knows, which may not necessarily be the person who answers the phone.

[Rick Ransom]

Dave,

Do they still have non-parimutuel race books in Reno? I lived up there in 91-92 and 95-96 and played house quinellas a lot. Also, I loved the area. You have my envy. I'm stuck in Arizona now for family reasons but hope to go back some day

[Dave Schwartz]

Rick,

Yes. In fact, only the two Hilton's are parimutuel now, I believe.

Didn't you say in an earlier thread that you worked in gaming? If so, what did you do?

[Rick Ransom]

Dave,

Awesome, I've got to go back! I worked for Bally Systems for a while on slot accounting/tracking systems in Reno.

Race books are so much fun in Nevada. There used to be a guy who yelled at the TV monitor everytime his horse was in the running in the stretch. "Get it up, keep it up, get it up, keep it up!". Another guy would get up and yell "Hot steam, hot steam on the 2 horse" if it was bet down even a little bit. You guys at home don't know what you're missing.

[Dave Schwartz]

Rick,

That was me! That was me!

Actually, with a $20+ horse on a clear lead down the stretch, I have a tendancy to yell "Bring Money!"

That comes from my days in the crap pits of Las Vegas. We had a player that used to holler for fills when he had a good roll going.

[Rick Ransom]

Dave,

I also lived in Vegas for a while and there was a not-too-famous comedian that played hundreds of dollars on horses that had two word names when the first initial was the same on both words. He liked to have an audience in the race book too. It was convenient, though, you could just open up the racing form and check names to know whether you should stick around for the performance.

I was also in a race book on July 7, 1977 (7/7/77). When every 7th race at every track went off, there was a huge line of people waiting to bet the 7 horse. If that's our competition, I think we can win.

I don't usually tell people that I worked on slot machines because somebody always wants me to tell them how to beat them (yeah, right), or wants to tell me about the guy they know who always wins playing slots (OK, if you say so). I felt safe admitting it to horse players though. Come to think of it, if one of those 5% guys owned some slots they might be better off than by playing the horses!

I might add that I once bet on a mule race, and another time bet the races in Seoul, Korea when I couldn't read the past performances. They had numbers, though, and I thought I'd see if early speed worked. It didn't. Don't bet any shippers from Seoul. I think Zippy Chippy could win there!

Another bit of nonsense since I'm completely off the subject here. Yesterday at Belmont there was a horse named Vic's Time in the 3rd race whose best race ever was in a non-wagering race with amateur riders. He recorded his best lifetime speed rating (BRIS) when carrying 133 pounds! What does this mean?

[Rick Ransom]

Oops, that Belmont race was Wednesday, not yesterday.