Betonline Purchase of Sportsbetting.ag Confirmed

Sportsbetting.com was a former skin of the Sportsbook.com group. The company is perhaps best remembered for paying back some of what their host stole in the October 2007 correlated parlay muggings. In case you’re not aware Sportsbook.com is in no way a reputable gambling website. They’ve been involved in numerous thefts such as parlay muggings, voided futures, and outright confiscated funds. They even attempted to steal money by accusing a live dealer blackjack player of card counting and for violating a rule that didn’t exist.

Back on topic: originally a skin of Sportsbook.com, Sportsbetting was left holding the bag when their host decided to re-grade settled bets unfairly, going many months back and removing as much as a $1 million cumulative from player accounts. It was reported on industry forums those victimized while using the Sportsbetting.com website were repaid what Sportsbook.com stole, with the funds coming out of the owner’s own pocket.

In 2008, Sportsbetting.com obtained a Curacao gambling license, obtained their own player management software and broke away entirely from the Sportsbook.com family of websites. Over the years that followed they were mostly an average C+ rated sportsbook with good bonuses and decent risk tolerance. However in February 2012 payouts started to slow. Just a few weeks ago, SBS gave them their second downgrade in as many weeks moving them to D+ on our ratings guide over payout complaints.

90% of Staff Fired / BetOnline Rumors

In the final days of May 2012, approximately 90% of Sportsbetting.ag employees were let go. This led many to speculate this book was going under, but in the days that followed rumors began surfacing that they had been bought out by BetOnline. A few weeks after these rumors started, yesterday they were confirmed as truth. BetOnline has acquired a majority interest in Sportsbetting.ag, has already taken over support, and will be changing the bonuses and promotions in the coming weeks.

What does this mean for players?

This is good news for players who are being slow paid as there’s no reason to believe BetOnline won’t be paying these debts. I suspect after faxing the same documents they already have an additional six times and requesting the same exact payout three or four times more, each player will be paid. From here you’re likely to see the same “it’s so poor it’s humorous unless you’re the one needing support”® that BetOnline has trademarked make guest appearances at Sportsbetting.ag. And, so long as you stay clear of their casino, avoid their poker room, don’t deposit with credit card, never require customer support, only withdrawal via Western Union, and keep a rabbits foot nearby, you probably won’t have to worry about much when using the new sportsbetting.ag.