Having a healthy stable of bookmakers is an essential part of any betting strategy. It enables you to shop around for the best prices and give you a good feel for how the different books operate.
But have you ever thought that the bookmaker you're entrusting your money to could be a shysty son of a bitch, a blowhard fraud, a snake-oil salesmen looking chump with bad hair, bad teeth and bad debt?
"It acts as an early-warning system against those bookmakers who have a Pickfords van with the engine running permanently outside their offices."
Of course you have. Such thinking sets you apart from small children and fools. Yet which of us hasn't at some point joined a bookmaker we didn't know from Adam Ant just because that price was too good to miss?
That's where Sportsbook Review comes in. Featuring reviews and ratings for over 400 sportsbooks it acts as an early-warning system against those bookmakers who have a Pickfords van with the engine running permanently outside their offices.
The roll-call of defunct bookmakers has been read before: Bananabet, Luvbet, NetBetSports, Sporting Options...
What a shower of turds they all were. Started, one suspects, by people who believed the old lie "you never see a broke bookmaker" - the type of people who thought "you just price up a book and as long as there's a decent sized over-round just sit back and wait for the mug money to roll in".
"Having contempt for your customer manifests itself in an almighty value vacuum which quickly spirals out of your control."
The art of bookmaking is getting action both sides of the line, managing your liabilities and only taking a hit when it's absolutely unavoidable. Playing fast and loose with professional price hitters is not the way to go. Sooner or later having contempt for your customer manifests itself in an almighty value vacuum which quickly spirals out of your control.
Sporting Options customers learnt this the hard way just before Big Blue rode up on his stallion to save the day. Betting philosophers argued furiously over what "ring-fenced client account" meant.
Several days of semantic swordplay later, the verdict was delivered: it didn't mean a damn thing.
With Internet betting continuing to grow it's a more competitive sector than ever. Punters are becoming more demanding - less likely to accept bad customer service. You can forget brand loyalty - punters are savvier than that. Get a bum decision in the past and you would moan about it down Corals before placing your 19th Trixie Goliath spectacular of the week.
Get a bum decision now and you have a truckload of
informational resources at your fingertips. Numerous betting forums allow you to seek advice about which path of attack to take.
"Games have rules and when a punk persistently violates those rules it's a must we deliver the smackdown."
And while you're there you can trash the bookmaker publicly, garner support, even mount a campaign to get your cash back. That's the power of the Internet.
So bookmakers have it tougher than ever. You've got to feel sorry for them. No really, you do. Godspeed them all - if it weren't for them we wouldn't be in this game. There wouldn't even be a game to be in. Question their integrity, question their parentage if you like - just don't kid yourself that they've got it easy.
Sportsbook Review get involved in punter-bookie disputes and apparently have a good relationship with the top bookmakers. It makes sense for the bookmaker to have the integrity of the industry upheld - one less crook with a licence means punters feel safer betting.
It's a smartly designed site and the navigation is sane and user friendly. One quibble is that the written reviews do not go beyond their 14 strong recommended list. I'd like to know more on why I shouldn't bet with RussianCasinoSizzletowers - apart from the ridiculous name, of course. Still, with 400+ books rated you can't accuse it of not offering comprehensive coverage.
The bottom line of a punter's relationship with bookmaker is that we're all in this game to make money. But games have rules and when a punk persistently violates those rules it's a must we deliver the smackdown. It's not about bookies v punters - there are class bookies and chump bookies just as there are shrewd punters and mug punters. Betting is all about taking responsibility for your actions be they choosing a safe bookie or raising your game against a shrewdie compiler.
In short: to be the man you gots to beat the man.
BBC
