Best online betting service?

[bertyruss]

Any opinions? Why?

Thanks,
Berty

[oexplayer68]

Originally Posted by bertyruss

Any opinions? Why?

Thanks,
Berty

PTC hands down in my book. The reasons, great, and I mean great service, fantastic rebates, the best interface out there. No one is even close in my book.

[Charli125]

Originally Posted by bertyruss

Any opinions? Why?

Thanks,
Berty

I'm a big fan of Amwest. I like their interface better than PTC and the rebates are better. Both things that matter to me.

[Ted Craven]

I would second Charlie's assessment of AmWest. I have used them for about a year, and PTC for several years. PTC is good, but they don't cover all the major tracks (NYRA and Woodbine come to mind), and my rebate schedule in general for AmWest is a bit better than PTC. FWIW, I also find AmWest's wager platform superior, along with access to past videos and live racing video. Like PTC, AmWest's player support team is top notch.

Both allow file uploads into their conditional wagering queue, but I believe AmWest's support for conditions is more finessed than is PTC's.

To get the best rebate schedule, you need to go through their related Player's Organization. I can help you (or anyone) get that set up, as can Jeff Platt or Dave Schwartz. Just write.

Ted

[JimG]

I looked at your site and note VA is excluded from participating. Wonder why? We certainly have legalized horse racing here and account betting with TVG, Xpressbet, TwinSpires, etc. Otherwise I would sign up.

Jim

[Jeff P]

Originally Posted by JimG

I looked at your site and note VA is excluded from participating. Wonder why? We certainly have legalized horse racing here and account betting with TVG, Xpressbet, TwinSpires, etc. Otherwise I would sign up.

Jim

Jim,

You can thank the VA Legislature for writing "source market fee" into VA state law. Of course this isn't something a legislature would ever decide to do on their own. The VA horsemen lobbied for it (quietly and behind the scenes so players wouldn't be aware of it until it was too late I might add.)

What is VA source market fee?

It is anti-player language written into state law that basically defines the entire state of Virginia as the source market area and imposes a 10% fee (on top of the takeout) on handle generated by anyone unfortunate enough to be living inside the source market area.

In the case of VA, the source market fee is a flat 10% of handle generated.

Adding a 10% fee (or additional tax) on top of an already too high 20 plus percent blended takeout makes it impossible margin-wise for an ADW to rebate anything back to the Virginia resident.

The 10% fee on your handle is earmarked for purses (if that's any consolation to you.)

That said, looking at the big picture, we at HANA have seen plenty of evidence that writing source market fee into state law backfires and results in the opposite of its intended effect:

The primary beneficiary of source market fee law appears to be offshore sports books because such laws drive significant handle offshore where ZERO percent goes to support purses.

(At least that's what we've seen in other states with source market fee laws such as CA, AZ, etc.)


-jp

.

[SpotPlays]

Hard to knock betptc. Excellent rates and top notch service.

[Track Collector]

Originally Posted by Jeff P

(At least that's what we've seen in other states with source market fee laws such as CA, AZ, etc.)


-jp

.

It is also known that entities such as Churchill Downs Inc. and Monarch (both who own a number of racetracks and have their own ADW platforms in Twinspires and Xpressbet respectively), can also be the reason for source market fees.

A number of ADWs who wish to receive the CDI and Monarch content can not do so without agreeing to either ban players in certain states (i.e. those states with CDI/Monarch tracks) or pay a huge source market fee, making player rebates almost impossible.

As you stated Jeff, it actually does the opposite effect, and given that any questions regarding the legality of off-shore activity is almost always focused on the wagering operator, more and more players are willing to go that way.

In a free-market system, if you offer the best deals, you will get the majority of the business, and customers have little reason to look elsewhere.

[Midnight Cruiser]

Hi Guys. Merry Christmas. Im being lazy so please excuse, but what service should I subscribe to to bet online. I have used TVG in the past and apparently Express bet/DRF so I no longer qualify for sign up bonus. What outfit will give me the best sign up bonus and let me get occasional action. I dont bet alot so rebates are probably not that big of a deal. I live in California. Thanks in advance.

[MartyZee]

Try IdaBet.com-great all-around site

[camourous]

I've been using Idabet for the last year and absolutely love it, they have great sign up bonuses going on now(wish they had them when i signed up) and a great rewards program with 3 bonus levels depending on how much you wager a month. Customer service is top notch too, when you send a email you get a response generally within the hour.

[lamboguy]

through my years of dealing with ADW's, the most important thing is the person you deal with inside the operation. the good ones really go out of their way to keep you as a customer. if i ran an ADW my first rule would be the customer is alway's right. unfortunately today we have very large company's that run this game, they have a certain model that they will not bend from.

if you treat a smaller player right, they might send you a bigger one down the road. the best type of any business is when a customer is happy and they refer someone else.

[IdaBet.com]

To begin with, I am biased as I am with Idabet.com, but because of I am, I can tell you there are major differences with ADW sites and we do feel we are among the best.

Personalized service: You always have an open contact to one of the owners of the company. We are horsemen owned and operated including a live track, but smaller than the big guys which allows us the personal attention time.

Daily Cash Rewards: We pay you every morning cash rewards based on the previous days wagers. Some adw's pay none or little while others claim big time rewards you never see. Ours is simple, cash, no points based on amount wagered. For many tracks you receive higher rewards and the type of bets yield you more. For higher level players, you can earn additional CASH back.

Promotions: We love to run racetrack like promotions and contests. We just gave away 130 prizes for our holiday giveaway including an iPad.

Easy Platform: We have a very popular and easy to use betting format.

$300 Cash to new players...No playing or sign up fees or fees on every bet.

Any questions, please let me know at Steve@Idabet.com or visit our site.

Thanks and happy holidays.

[traveler]

Does anyone know if any of the ADW's offer conditional type wagers such as -
"No scratches in the race"?

If you early-bird bet, and are comfortable with the line you make for the race, the one thing that can really screw up an early-bird bet is a couple of scratches in an 8 horse field for example. Thanks,

[precocity]

Originally Posted by IdaBet.com

To begin with, I am biased as I am with Idabet.com, but because of I am, I can tell you there are major differences with ADW sites and we do feel we are among the best.

Personalized service: You always have an open contact to one of the owners of the company. We are horsemen owned and operated including a live track, but smaller than the big guys which allows us the personal attention time.

Daily Cash Rewards: We pay you every morning cash rewards based on the previous days wagers. Some adw's pay none or little while others claim big time rewards you never see. Ours is simple, cash, no points based on amount wagered. For many tracks you receive higher rewards and the type of bets yield you more. For higher level players, you can earn additional CASH back.

Promotions: We love to run racetrack like promotions and contests. We just gave away 130 prizes for our holiday giveaway including an iPad.

Easy Platform: We have a very popular and easy to use betting format.

$300 Cash to new players...No playing or sign up fees or fees on every bet.

Any questions, please let me know at Steve@Idabet.com or visit our site.

Thanks and happy holidays.

just tried to join and NO ACCOUNTS FROM TEXAS