Who goes from a pony country.......to a non-pony country?

[Mr_Ed]

Well, by golly, if you've got Xpressbet, they want to know!

Understood.

However....................

I moved a few miles down the road March 1st.........same state. Between work, and tons of unpacking, tossing, etc., I finally got around to getting online to change my address with various online entities.

I get around to Xpressbet. I logon, then go about changing my address.

Wow!

My account was put on immediate lockdown because TransUnion and/or Equifax, could not verify I lived at my new address.

Now obviously, I understand why they need to know if you move to a non-pony country.

However, I moved a few miles down the road in the same state. I'm a long standing Xpressbet customer.

I call Xpressbet to explain what happened. Well, too bad..........I'm on lockdown until I supply utility bills (2 of 'em) from my new address to Xpressbet.

Geez, how long does it take to get a utility bill noting your new address...... about 1 month?

And, who knows how long it takes TransUnion and Equifax to verify my new address.......about the same month to 6 weeks?

I'm beside myself, I can't believe this. I explain the only literature I saw ONLINE was I MAY have to verify my new address upon moving. Well, I moved a few miles down the road.........I'll send in required paperwork when available. NO GO. I am now livid.

I am on the phone with these peeps for about 2 hours.

Luckily, I had gotten AT&T u-verse........and they had a March 1st thru March 3rd invoice with my new address online.

But, I need one more piece of documentation. Again, luckily, I had the USPS COA verification in my email box. A few click of links, and a code embedded inside, was notation showing my move.

I zipped these 2 pieces of documentation to Xpressbet in an email.

They relented and unlocked my account.

During our 2 hours I asked Xpressbet if this situation had come up before..........yes.

I asked why online terms and conditions/documentation did not warn users of pending doom..........dunno.

Good grief!

Anyway, BEWARE of Xpressbet address changes. Unless you have documention to support your move, you will be booted. I suggest you wait a couple months.

Also, by the way, kudo's to those 2 ladies for never hanging up on me.........despite threeats to do so.

And, hopefully, I did not inconvenence other Xpressbet customers.

[PhantomOnTour]

XpressBet bites...dropped 'em years ago.
They have some ridiculous policies that led me straight to TwinSpires.

Call and ask for Mrs Bearfoot...she will make you even more angry.

[iceknight]

Originally Posted by Mr_Ed

Well, by golly, if you've got Xpressbet, they want to know!

Understood.

However....................

I moved a few miles down the road March 1st.........same state. Between work, and tons of unpacking, tossing, etc., I finally got around to getting online to change my address with various online entities.

I get around to Xpressbet. I logon, then go about changing my address.

Wow!

My account was put on immediate lockdown because TransUnion and/or Equifax, could not verify I lived at my new address.

Now obviously, I understand why they need to know if you move to a non-pony country.

However, I moved a few miles down the road in the same state. I'm a long standing Xpressbet customer.

I call Xpressbet to explain what happened. Well, too bad..........I'm on lockdown until I supply utility bills (2 of 'em) from my new address to Xpressbet.

Geez, how long does it take to get a utility bill noting your new address...... about 1 month?

And, who knows how long it takes TransUnion and Equifax to verify my new address.......about the same month to 6 weeks?

I'm beside myself, I can't believe this. I explain the only literature I saw ONLINE was I MAY have to verify my new address upon moving. Well, I moved a few miles down the road.........I'll send in required paperwork when available. NO GO. I am now livid.

I am on the phone with these peeps for about 2 hours.

Luckily, I had gotten AT&T u-verse........and they had a March 1st thru March 3rd invoice with my new address online.

But, I need one more piece of documentation. Again, luckily, I had the USPS COA verification in my email box. A few click of links, and a code embedded inside, was notation showing my move.

I zipped these 2 pieces of documentation to Xpressbet in an email.

They relented and unlocked my account.

During our 2 hours I asked Xpressbet if this situation had come up before..........yes.

I asked why online terms and conditions/documentation did not warn users of pending doom..........dunno.

Good grief!

Anyway, BEWARE of Xpressbet address changes. Unless you have documention to support your move, you will be booted. I suggest you wait a couple months.

Also, by the way, kudo's to those 2 ladies for never hanging up on me.........despite threeats to do so.

And, hopefully, I did not inconvenence other Xpressbet customers.

I did this in June 2011, ie, moved less than 1 mile away. Xpressbet raised the ruckus about License/utility bills etc..

I just told them it was a temporary move and could I just move it back to the old address as I will be back there in 2 months. They just left it at the old address.

Now granted this may not be a wise thing if you are winning large amounts that may trigger specific address related issues or mailings to house, but as long as it remains all electronic, I don't mind retaining the old address on it.

[Mr_Ed]

Originally Posted by iceknight

I did this in June 2011, ie, moved less than 1 mile away. Xpressbet raised the ruckus about License/utility bills etc..

I just told them it was a temporary move and could I just move it back to the old address as I will be back there in 2 months. They just left it at the old address.

Now granted this may not be a wise thing if you are winning large amounts that may trigger specific address related issues or mailings to house, but as long as it remains all electronic, I don't mind retaining the old address on it.

Wow! The first thing I mentioned was forget about me changing my address........I'll do it later.

Xpressbet said "can't do that", you already initiated the process........something about audits.

They got my email address........that hadn't changed. Something could be tied into that if they feel there's a scam going on.

It was an absolute joke.

[iceknight]

Originally Posted by iceknight

I did this in June 2011, ie, moved less than 1 mile away. Xpressbet raised the ruckus about License/utility bills etc..

I just told them it was a temporary move and could I just move it back to the old address as I will be back there in 2 months. They just left it at the old address.

Now granted this may not be a wise thing if you are winning large amounts that may trigger specific address related issues or mailings to house, but as long as it remains all electronic, I don't mind retaining the old address on it.

Well my issue was that I don't have any "real" utility bills. I live in a sublet right now and cellphone bills dont count. All electricity/gas is covered by management so apart from the DL I have no other "proof of address"..

In any case, I am going to make the mega bucks by actually going to the track on Derby day.. so I am not worrying about the ADW audit stuff much for now

[Mr_Ed]

Originally Posted by iceknight

In any case, I am going to make the mega bucks by actually going to the track on Derby day.. so I am not worrying about the ADW audit stuff much for now

Good luck!

[titans1127]

Xpressbet locked my account down when i changed my phone number from my home number to my cell. That was about a year and a half ago. Good thing I only used them for video and had no money in there. I would have called but didn't even know what my account number was and couldn't find that little card. No big deal as Twinspires gets all my business now.

[Mr_Ed]

Exactly a dozen years after the initial post I get a call from Xpressbet concerning SHOW bets in small pools.......anywhere from $500 - $1,200 bets.

Last week at Mahoning Valley they took show betting on 2 races with 4 runners (scratches). The first one I didn't bet thinking they were not accepting SHOW betting. However, prices included SHOW payoffs.

The second one I didn't even bother. This is too easy.

Today, I make a $1,000 show bet on Dover's 2nd race (4 trotters). Well, if I thought they were asleep at the wheel, I was in for a surprise. Xpressbet called me saying don't do that into small pools.

Woohoo, I netted $50 on a $2.10 payoff. But, I also netted 20,000 points due to 10X Tuesday promo.

SHOW bets:

I like Santa Anita with their 5 horse fields. Their pools are sufficient.

However, it appears I cannot SHOW at:

Mahoning Valley
Crank Yankers (Yonkers)
Charles Town (10% payout)

I was told to migrate to Gulfstream, Oaklawn, Aqueduct, etc.......

Or, they will shut me off.

When I was bleeding money they said nothing.

For now I'll venture into horizontal wagers.

[PaceAdvantage]

It's on the entity that takes the bet to cover any minus pool...I think...which is why they don't want you doing that...lol

they all kinda suck, don't they?

[Tom]

Alright, I'll be the huckleberry......what the heck is a nom-pony country?

[BarchCapper]

Originally Posted by Tom

Alright, I'll be the huckleberry......what the heck is a nom-pony country?

"Non-pony country" - it's a line from a Seinfeld episode where he and Elaine are at some extended family dinner and they're jabbering about ponies and how they hated kids who had ponies, and the old long-suffering Eastern European born matriach says "I had a pony!!" and waxes poetic about it, thereby begging the question.

[horses4courses]

Originally Posted by BarchCapper

"Non-pony country" - it's a line from a Seinfeld episode where he and Elaine are at some extended family dinner and they're jabbering about ponies and how they hated kids who had ponies, and the old long-suffering Eastern European born matriach says "I had a pony!!" and waxes poetic about it, thereby begging the question.

One of the best Seinfeld episodes
Part of a long list, though.

[Parkview_Pirate]

Had a similar experience at Xpressbet on one of my moves. Used them for 17 years (2003 - 2020), and then tried to update my new address (in state move) online, and they locked my account. I had called in before for almost a dozen moves, and while a pain, I was always able to get it done by wasting 5 minutes of my life.

This time the gal I spoke with asked me to verify my address from 1999! Which not only was prior to having an Xpressbet account, it was over a dozen moves and 20 years earlier in time. Obviously their security drone wasn't on the ball.

But when I expressed a WTF? reaction - the gal LAUGHED at me.

I immediately closed my account. Bunch of effing pinheads.

[toddbowker]

Now that I am unaffiliated, I can shed some operational light on this issue.

Every ADW that I know of uses a third party vendor for automating the ID Verification process. Some use more than one. Commonly it's a credit reporting agency like Equifax, or a company that specializes in ID Verification like EVS. Any time you sign up for an account, or change your address, you are going to go through what's called a "top level screen" from whichever vendor they are using to verify your ID. This is not a credit pull, so it doesn't show up on your credit report.

If you fail the automated process, then the ADW is going to ask you for documentation to support the address you are claiming to be your residence. Normally, a government issued ID with the matching address will suffice. If you haven't updated your ID yet, then something else (normally a utility bill for services rendered to that address, or a lease or purchase agreement) could also be allowed. Our process was the same at Premier Turf Club, and at AmericaTab which I also ran previously.

If you are changing your address or are registering for a new account immediately following a move, you are likely going to get caught up in needing to manually provide data, as these changes take a while to get to the third party vendors. Yes, it's a hassle, but it's not the ADWs fault because KYC is a high priority item now. It was a bit lax before all the FinCEN / AML requirements and State licensing requirements tightened, but no longer.

And yes, at least in Oregon where all the major ADWs are licensed, there are annual audits which include spot checks of KYC identifications. KYC is serious business in online gaming and the fines can be substantial. The sports betting companies all have entire departments devoted to compliance, and I would say the ADWs are rapidly catching up if not there already.

As for the bridge jumping question, how each ADW puts up with known bridge jumpers will vary. At PTC, we always would factor how much was bet, the tracks bet on, what State the customer lives in, and most importantly, whether or not the customer was also betting other pools.

It is very easy to get significantly upside-down on these bets (meaning you are losing money on every bet). For every wager an ADW takes, in addition to covering whatever the negative breakage is, they also still have to pay the host fee, the State tax, and if required the Source Market fee. If the ADW is rebating, that's usually something the ADW will claw back, but not always. At PTC we had a multi-step process of notifications, clawing back rebates and blocking pools before completely cutting people off, but if you were in a high source market fee State and never did anything but bridge jump, you would eventually have had your account closed.

Back in the day, good Mutuel Managers would not allow show betting on races with heavy favorites (and sometimes even place) if State regs allowed. It's very rare now. With simulcasting, as long as a host track didn't have a large bridge jumper on track (or doesn't handle much), it actually benefits the track to allow it now since the bulk of handle comes from off-track. They get paid the host fees (and source market fee if applicable) on a larger than normal pool and the guest sites have to cover the negative breakage. It's a win for them, which is why you don't see the pools removed by the host track very often.