Online sportsbooks SBG Global and Bet Royal accused of player theft

Yet another proof that regulations are much needed, if not mandatory, for the online gambling business and its customers.

Earlier today OGPaper received the following email from a former SBG Global/Bet Royal customer. We have decided to publish the email in its original form, the last name of the bettor omitted by request. Meanwhile the sportsbook review website SBR has indeed confirmed the facts surrounding this issue, which is soon to explode to a full scandal. Visit the link above to keep current with this new development in the industry. And here is the letter:

"Dear Sirs:
I am writing you in the hopes that you will give this story some press coverage. I will try to keep this short and give just the details.

Thrty sports bettors have had their account balances confiscated by SBG Global and Bet Royal (SBG Global owns Bet Royal) in a case that several online sportsbook watchdog groups have called one of the most blatant acts of thefts they have seen. I am one of the thirty which is why I am writing to you.

A handicapper in Connecticut who is also a well known radio personality here runs a paid pick service for sports betting. The service is very expensive, but the handicapper has an amazing track record. The handicapper has had a relationship with Darlene who works in the online gambling industry for many years. The arranagement is that the handicapper sends his clients to Darlene (at whatever sportsbook she is working at) and Darlene ensures that the handicapper's clients get VIP treatment and fast payouts. Darlene used to work for Heritage, she moved to Bet Royal and took all of the handicapper's customers with her. When I signed up with the handicapper's service I knew nothing about sports betting and I was sent to Darlene. Darlene told me she was head of marketing at Bet Royal and she would see to it that I was well taken care of. A week or so after she opened my account at Bet Royal, SBG Global bought Bet Royal. At first I was upset about this because SBG Global has a negative rating at several sports book review type sites. But Darlene assured me that she still worked for Bet Royal and she would see to it that my account was safe. I also heard from several other customers of SBG (who have nothing to do with the handicapper or Darlene) that SBG pays out same day and my money was safe.

Darlene told me that she explained to SBG Global management who the handicapper is, who his clients are, and the fact that we all follow the same picks. SBG Global mangement said they were okay with that because we would lose eventually.

Since I am new to sportsbetting and I did not always understand the instructions the handicapper gave I would often times ask the person at SBG taking my bets to help me understand the instructions from the handicapper. There is no way that SBG did not know that they had clients following this handicapper.

Five weeks ago (the last weekend in Sept) all of our accounts were frozen with no warning and no explanation why. I called and emailed repeatedly to find out what was going on and was only told "your account is being investigated for fraud". Darlene tried to intervene on our behalf and was told that she had no say in the matter. Darlene has since resigned from her job doing marketing for Bet Royal in protest over how her clients were treated.

We were told repeatedly that their would be an investigation and not to worry. None of us were spoken to directly and we all called repeatedly and SBG management refuses to talk to us. On Friday Oct 19 all of our balances were set to zero and SBG management announced that they had confiscated our balances because we are a syndicate.

This especially upset me because I have a letter from "Randall" who claims to be in SBG management where "Randall" says he does not believe I did anything wrong.

A handicapper making picks and customers of SBG placing bets according to these picks is not a syndicate. We do not know each other. The handicapper does not give out any "special" instructions, he tells you what bet to make and for how many units. Each subscriber to his service then determines where to make the bet, for what amount per unit based on their bankroll, and at what time to make the bet. There is absolutely no collusion.

SBG management has made several ridiculous statements such as the one that all of the handicapper's clients were really "fronts" for him and we allowed him to put telephones in our houses. Totally preposterous stuff.

We have filed complaints with all the major offshore sportsbetting watchdog groups such as SBR, EOG, etc. Eduardo pretty much told all of them to f*** off.

I can supply any information you need. The name and contact information of the handicapper, Darlene's contact info, the name and contact info of each person at each watchdog group that has gone to bat for us.

This is a clear case of theft. If Eduardo seriously means what he said, " "It's not pleasant to be thought of as a criminal," then perhaps he shouldn't commit criminal acts such as stealing players account balances just because they won.

Darlene told me that the reason Eduardo stole our money is that he got mad because his boast that his linesmakers could beat us turned out to be false and we won money consistently."

Published on 10/22/2007