Hello again.

Joseph Carducci here from http://www.thegamblingcoach.com

So, how do you choose an online sportsbook or casino? These businesses (and make no mistake about it, they ARE businesses) continue to spring up at an astounding rate. And not all of them are trustworthy, to be sure. There is nothinhg worse, to be sure, than beating the brains out of a book or casino and then not get paid. Or not even get your original stake back.

Even the legitimate companies, those which are properly licensed and run, may be overcharging you on their fees and commissions. Or perhaps giving less service than most of the other books or casinos.

One of the first places people go when they want to find a “good” sportsbook or casino is to the internet forums or message boards. Please do not believe most of what you read here. There are several reasons for this. First, many of these forums are supported by advertising. This advertising is paid for by the sportsbooks themselves. Then, in return, they are allowed free reign to post. If you engage in any discussions you may in fact be communicating with the owner or manager of some of these very places you are trying to investigate! Also, the forum owner may have an affiliate arrangement with these sportsbooks. This means that anyone who joins that particular book as a result of the forum will lead to a commission for the forum owner. Now, there is nothing wrong with this in and of itself, and actually a commission being paid for a sign-up is ok. However, many of these deals will only pay a commission based on how much the player LOSES! In this case it is in the best interest of the forum owner for you to lose! Nice guy, right!? In this case, the forum owner will probably do everything he can to help you actually lose! He may even post on the forum himself, under a wide variety of id’s. There is no way to actually know.

Actually, the only way to avoid such a situation is to avoid those forums which are supported by advertising. If there are ANY ads on the forum for sportsbooks or online casinos, it is probably corrupted, and you should not trust it.

Try to find an online book that is legally licensed in it’s own country. The best are those issued by respected governments, such as England, Australia, or any European country. Many of the newer books are located in the Caribbean. Some of these nations have good regulations and oversight and some do not. At the moment, I would be a bit wary of Costa Rica. Antiqua seems to be pretty good.

Also, check out the company a bit. Are they publicly owned? Is a toll-free phone number prominently displayed on the site? Call them. Is the phone answered promptly? Do they have an English-speaking staff? Ask a few questions and see how knowledgable and helpful they are. This will give you an idea as to the level of customer service they provide. Believe me, if they are difficult to reach and/or to deal with now, imagine what the situation will be like after you are owed thousands of dollars and trying to get help with taking your money out!

Also, look at the deposit and withdrawal options. It will be difficult to fund your account these days with a credit card, that is just the legal environment we are living with right now. However, there should be some other options. Do they offer a third-party funding option? If so, is this a company that you are even able
to use, given where you live and other considerations? They should, at the very minimum, offer Western Union and MoneyGram as options to BOTH fund and withdraw your money. If not, look elsewhere. Personally, I like funding my account with MoneyGram whenever I am able. It is also pretty convenient for a withdrawal.

You should always read the fine print when investigating. Maybe some of the deposit methods will REQUIRE certain methods for withdrawal. Sometimes, certain bonus offers are only available with certain deposit methods. Just make sure that you thoroughly understand all your options, rules, responsibilities and limitations.

There are other additional factors to consider. Once you know which sport(s) you will be focusing on, look at how each place does that particular sport(s). Some may only offer baseball using a 20 cent line. Personally, I feel there is no reason to bet into a 20 cent line. Especially when there are many books that use a Vegas-like 10 cent line. Compare the lines between several books for the sports which are currently in-season. Do this over the course of a week or so (at least for several days) and you should get a general sense of who offers the best value for your money. You always want to get VALUE in this game.

Having said all that, I urge you to grab a copy of my FREE Report on “How To Choose An Online SportsBook And Casino.” I will also share some of the books that I like and am personally using (or have used in the past). Just fill out the form on the sidebar to grad your copy NOW!
Talk to you soon.

Hello Again!

One of the biggest questions I am asked about my profession (gambling) is this: “Is internet gambling legal?”

The answer is a bit unclear, to be perfectly honest. The US has passed a law awhile back that many CLAIM makes internet gambling illegal. This is untrue. What the law actually does is place a number of restrictions on internet gambling sites and even on the financial institutions which supposedly handle the transfer of money between player and site.

One of the main problems with this law is that there is no teeth to it. Since almost all of these gambling sites are located outside of the USA, they have no reason to comply with any of this. However, in an effort to avoid bullying and other tactics, many sites have decided to simply not accept any more players from the United States.

So, basically, all this Internet Gambling Prohibition Act has done is to ensure that the books and casinos will be located offshore. The language of the bill has made it clear that no US-based internet casino can accept money from a bank or financial institution. Big deal, considering there were no US-based online casinos to begin with!

Incidentally, this Act does not place any restrictions at all on online poker playing. So, if you are a poker player (and if you are reading this you SHOULD be!), keep on keeping on!

Even if the law did have some teeth, the online gambling industry is so large and lucrative that a way around the laws will be found. The government has rightly understood that it would simply be impossible to go after the millions of citizens who enjoy playing online poker or placing a bet with an off-shore sportsbook.
Therefore, they had decided years ago to start attacking the sources of financing. The hope was that this would shut down the casinos themselves. Then we would have no place to play.

Credit card companies and online payment services were the first target. Sites such as PayPal were threatened with Patriot Act charges if they continued to accept this “dirty” gambling money. The result of this was the emrgence of other third-party vendors which had no problems doing business with gaming sites. Most of these have now restricted access to US players. Currently, the best way to fund and withdraw
money from an online gambling account is through wire services such as Western Union and MoneyGram.

I also want to point out that even the Federal Government has formed the opinion that NONE of the laws on the books (including the infamous 1961 Wire Act) make it illegal for an individual to gamble online. All of the laws are aimed at the gambling business (the sites, the financing companies and third party vendors).

Therefore, if you HAD been worried about the current state of affairs, don’t be. There are plenty of companies out there that will gladly accept your money to use their online casino or sports book. Just stick with an off-shore book or casino and you will be on solid legal ground.

Maybe someday we will get all the laws to be much less restrictive. Maybe the US government will wake up and realize what a tremendous source of revenue they could tap into by fully legalizing this $12 Billion a year industry?