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Columnist Buzz Daly: Sports Book Scene

With the football season drawing closer with each passing day, recent developments have given bettors a jolt of good news, while the bookmakers are left to ponder what it means to them.

Beginning this weekend, bettors will have access to two enhanced line service products: one from Don Best Sports, the other from G&J Update, both headquartered in Las Vegas. For an industry that heretofore has been dominated by a single computerized odds service, that was head and shoulders ahead of its competition, this would appear to be a positive development.

Effective July 15, DBS will offer two versions of its Island Express service:

--- a free version with a 15-minute delay of odds, which are updated from the sportsbooks on the screen, and

--- IE Platinum, offering additional service, including urgent messages, which are alerts displayed via a popup screen on a five-minute-delayed basis.

Both versions will include highlighted line changes, a customizable casino setup feature, injury reports and picks from DBS handicappers.

In addition to the urgent messages, IE Platinum – which costs $99 per month – offers live odds updated every two minutes, highlighted line changes, wiseguy or "steam" plays, free selections and upgraded Premium Service reports.

However, until August 1, DBS is offering IE Platinum at $429 for the upcoming football season through the Super Bowl.

Within the next few months, DBS says it will introduce a new feature called Click and Bet. This feature allows customers to click on any line displayed on the screen and be linked to that sportsbook in order to make a bet.

Bettors can still sign up for the free version at Don Best online, www.donbest.com .

G&J says it has created the ultimate computerized line service designed to provide bettors with up-to-the-second instant odds on all pro and college sports.

The service offers a dozen leading offshore sportsbooks on its screen, and a package that includes True Smart Money Moves, injury and weather reports, early overnight lines, half-time lines, money lines, matchups, scores, Sunday night football openers, free schedules, tech support and more.

Additional features designed to give serious bettors the edge they need in seeking the most advantageous lines are also available, said Gil and Joe, the principals of G&J Update, which has been operating since 1996.

A "recent change" feature lets customers receive a display screen showing instant changes of a line movement within a specified time. The "customize" feature allows clients to adjust the settings and appearances of all the books on the screen according to their own needs and interests. "Wiseguy moves" lets customers access plays of professional betting syndicates and includes a brief description of who they played, and at what line or price.

G&J is especially proud of the True Smart Money Moves feature which, they say, displays this info within seconds.

G&J's real time computerized line service costs $250 per month, and can be tested at no charge on a two-day trial. Go to www.gjupdate.come . for more information.

Gil and Joe acknowledged that Don Best has been the industry leader since the offshore industry emerged as a viable alternative to illegal bookies. "We realize that every industry has its Coke and Pepsi, Hertz and Avis, and now the sports betting industry has Don Best and G&J," said Gil and Joe.

"Don Best has done a terrific job for bettors, but we're here to challenge them on the basis of value, timeliness and meeting the needs of serious players," they added, noting they each have been in the business since 1985.

What all this means for the players is more info, lower cost and some nice edges in taking on their bookmakers.

While Don Best and G&J slug it out to see who can provide bettors with the mostest and the fastest, ideally the payoff will be manifested in the positive growth of players' bankrolls.

Some offshore bookmakers feel the emergence of the Don Best screen eroded the historical advantages that BMs enjoyed over the players. Some of them choose not to be displayed because it attracts the kind of action they wish to avoid. Other books are eager to be listed at Don Best because they relish the customers it delivers.

The addition of G&J's computerized service gives players additional ammunition in the ongoing war with bookmakers.

Credit Card Angst. The advantages of using credit cards to fund offshore gaming accounts make them popular among many bettors, but less so with the books and for good reason, it would appear.

Convenience of credit cards lets players make deposits so easily and often that the books consider such usage to be costly abuse.

A recent conversation with a leading bookmaker, Charlie from Aces Gold (www.acesgoldcasino.com), put the issue in context. His preferred method of funds transfer is wire transfer, for which Aces Gold offers an incentive. Credit cards are much lower on his checklist.

"Credit cards are expensive, due to the bank fees and the never-ending paperwork. The cost of processing in and processing out – either as a set fee or a percentage – just never ends," explained Charlie.

"When you pay customers back, and it has to be put back on their credit cards, it's both time consuming and expensive."

Charlie cited a nightmarish example. Say a player comes in and puts $20,000 on his credit card over a period of time at, say, $200 a pop. That might sound unusual, but lots of bettors fund a few bets with a credit card, rather than post up a large amount.

If he hits a $40,000 parlay and wants his $20,000 back, "We have to credit that back on his card exactly the way it was withdrawn. The clerk taking the request has to go through his account history and see how many and when his deposits were made. Logging and processing is a full time job.

"What it boils down to for Aces Gold is that virtually five days a week it has a clerk running credit card paperwork." The players don't realize what is involved and they get all bent out of shape over a scenario that they created, Charlie noted.

Aces Gold doesn't kick out players for winning, but, "We will kick out someone for abuse," affirmed Charlie.

On a more cheerful note, he reminded us that, "The racebook of Aces Gold is without a doubt the most competitive and most comprehensive such site on the Internet.

"If you don't believe that, just check it out," at www.acesgoldcasino.com, Charlie challenges.

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