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Columnist Buzz Daly: Sports Book Scene

Let's play a little word association game: we'll mention a word, and you say the first thing that comes into your mind.

Secrecy …

Paranoia …

In both cases, what came into our mind was off shore sports books.

Granted, the actions of the U.S. government are enough to make these companies cautious. And, it's true, you're not paranoid if people really are after you, which gives the books some wiggle room on that issue.

But we're not talking about defensive strategy vis-à-vis the Justice Department, FBI, etc. We're referring to consolidation which is going on within the off shore industry, in which many books are covering up their acquisitions. These cover-ups, while not on a par with Watergate, reflect a mindset among the books that shows they would prefer to hide ownership of newly acquired shops.

We understand their intentions. They believe that maintaining the fiction of a company's independence is preferable to letting players think they are betting with the larger owner. Giving bettors lots of choices is a reasonable strategy, with which we do not quarrel.

But the BMs should give the public a little more credit. They think if we know a book is no longer independent, but a subsidiary of another operation, we might stop betting with it.

That false assumption fosters unnecessary secrecy. Furthermore, don't the books realize with all the posting forums, chat rooms, etc., news gets out pretty quick?

That's why we want to give a tip of the SBS cap to Sportingbet.com, which recently acquired Betmaker.com and didn't try to keep the lid on. Instead of pretending the acquisition never took place, both companies notified customers and others of the deal.

In a letter to its players, Betmaker called the acquisition, "exciting news". It also reassured them that, "100% of all funds, wagers not settled, future wagers have been accounted for and all will be honoured as the events are finished." The missive continued with explanatory and informative details.

Mark Blandford, president of Sportingbet.com, authored a note to his new customers that welcomed them to Sportingbet's family and gave them a free $25, three-team parlay.

Included in the letter was this statement. "Your account and all funds held on your behalf have been confirmed and transferred to our control as a result of this sale."

Both companies enjoy sterling reputations, and the way they handled the transition reflects their professionalism, and respect for bettors.

As consolidation becomes the norm in this industry, with more companies joining together for financial and strategic reasons, they would do themselves a favor by being more open about their actions with the betting public.

Erroneous Unconfirmed Report. The unconfirmed report in the holiday column regarding the sale of Bowman International proved to be erroneous. A reputable source from within Bowman's told us the company is still running under the auspices of its founder, Gary Bowman.

We ran the item as unconfirmed because it was too close to deadline to check it out. But we should have been suspicious of the reported sale price, which was way below what we would expect a top off shore gaming company like Bowman's to command.

Our apologies to Gary.

Silly Season Is Here. With magazine racks at newsstands rapidly filling up with football preview pubs, bettors are starting to look forward to the prime wagering activity in the U.S.

Like many of you, we are perusing various magazines hoping to glean a few tidbits that might come in handy when we call our bookmaker. It's a hit-and-miss proposition, as the information runs the gamut from incisive to poorly written tripe.

One egregious comment we saw, while not a handicapping item, shows to what lengths writers will go to dramatize their stories.

In an article about Tampa Bay's outstanding defensive tackle Warren Sapp, the writer invents a ludicrous rationale for Sapp's disappointing rookie season.

It seems that a few failed drug tests at his school, Miami, and at the NFL Combine created some rumors that impacted his draft position. Projected as a No. 1 overall pick, he slipped to 12th, the magazine noted.

It then came up with this sappy conclusion. "The draft day drama took its toll on Sapp, and he struggled through an unspectacular rookie season."

To suggest that disappointment on draft day could cloud a player's performance for an entire season is the kind of logical overreach writers make when they are on deadline, or just not thinking very clearly.

How do we know? We've been there, done that ourselves.

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