SportingBet CEO arrested-

[ampi]

How dumb are these people? He came to the US on a non-bussiness trip?

http://today.reuters.com/news/articl...c=66&type=qcna


ampi

[Justin]

Is Paradise affected by this? I would assume they are since they're under the same platform.

[Nick0r]

I was just talking to Jeremy about this. It makes no sense, these CEO of sports betting companies know full well that sportsbetting via phone lines is illegal in the USA and yet they still have the stupidity to step foot in the country.

[PPP]

It was a Louisiana warrant, not a Federal one, which doesn't answer the question.

[GregK]

Lousiana should be focusing on getting New Orleans & their casinos back on their feet!

[JacksNQueens]

Living and working down here in this industry, I often feel very much as if I am on the front lines. The latest on Sportingbet and Sportsbook.com which I believe is associated with Sportingbet is they have both announced they are closing their Costa Rica operations laying off 3000 people. The industry down here is to say the least buzzing with the news as Costa Rica is the sports betting capital of the world.

I have to agree that executives of online gaming, in particualar sportsbooks, are unwise to travel to the U.S. until further notice. Let me also say though that as affiliates you also need to be careful of your association with sportsbooks in particular. Most of you live in the U.S. and are easy targets for Federal prosecutors and now State prosecutors. As an example the promotion on the front page of www.Pokeraffiliateworld.com promoting Mansion Poker and their sportsbook makes pokeraffiliateworld a potential conspirator if Mansion Poker were to be targeted. They might not be able to get to the guys at Mansion Poker but the guys at pokeraffiliateworld are a different story. All it takes is for your local district attorney to decide they want to make news and start rounding people up. Just keep that in mind if you decide to promote a sportsbook. I will keep you informed as much as I can. You can also check our company blog at www.blog.jacksnqueens.com as we try and blog about some of these issues from our perspective down here. All the best and remember the Japanese saying, "The nail that stands up, gets hammered down."

Blake
Affiliate Manager
JacksNQueens.com

[Jeremy]

PokerAffiliateWorld is owned by PokerNews Global located in Melbourne Australia.

I agree American based sportsbook affiliates may want to think about a new niche for a while. Also I wouldn't expect an "official statement" from Stephen or any other Paradise employee on any public message board.

This would be such a bone headed move for so many reasons.

[Jeremy]

This news below comes directly from egaming review. Also whatever kind of rumours are stirring down in Costa Rica are more than likely bullshit. I am fairly certain that one arrest of a a director in the company are not going to shut down one of the biggest players in the industry.

Also I am 100% positive that SportingBet has no where near 3000 employees.

Even more interesting now that some things are starting to surface is that this case really has nothing to do with the DOJ. This is strictly through the state of Louisanna and involves a state warrant.

Personally I would not read too much into this or worry too much about it. The Carruthers case was much more significant in my opinion. Just my 2 cents, but I am not going to stop promoting any of the products in that portfolio.

Peter Dicks Chairman of Sportingbet Plc has spent another night in custody in New York where he will face a hearing later today that could lead to his extradition to Louisiana. He was arrested at JFK under a sealed warrant on Wednesday evening. It is known that others are listed on the warrant which remains sealed, a source within the Louisiana State Police indicated that other directors of Sportingbet Plc are on the warrant.

Louisiana is one of a handful of states that have strict legislation regarding internet gambling. Since the arrest of David Carruthers in July it had been generally accepted wisdom that senior executives of online gaming operators had ceased travelling to the US. At first glance the arrest of seems to be strikingly similar to that of Carruthers however when studied stark differences appear, the Dicks arrest has been as a result of a joint investigation between St Landry Parish District Attorney’s office and the Louisiana State Police as opposed to a federal body, the charges are not thought to relate to racketeering or the wire act, it is thought unlikely that the district attorney’s office will apply for a restraining order on Sportingbet’s operations.

Also it appears that the arrest was not a pre orchestrated affair, it was a result of a random check at by US Customs at New York’s Kennedy Airport, as opposed to the arrest of Carruthers where the FBI and representatives of the IRS were waiting for him. The url of the St Landry Country District Attorney’s office is the colourfully named www. the-good-guys.org. Executives at Sportingbet have been tight lipped about the affair and only released the briefest of statements yesterday, their operations however are ongoing. It is thought that Sportingbet will fight this case vigorously.

In this industry things happen all the time that scare people. Keep in mind, we are affiliates not operators. To put it in perspective, I remember back when Cohen got arrested and people thought the entire industry was going down.

[adioking]

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[Rice]

In the online gambling affiliate industry, as many of you know from experience, there will be gray areas because of the esoteric nature of the environment. Some affiliates, especially new ones, will get apprehensive from the news reports and all of the speculation about what will happen next.

In reality, no one knows exactly what will happen to the U.S. market for poker affiliates. In regards to sportsbetting and rakeback, I think it is all about how you walk on the ice. If you are promoting a sportsbetting site through your website and via offline advertising, you are walking on thinner ice than if you used sportsbetting programs in a sub forum dedicated to sports as bolt-on revenue.

I've stayed away from sportsbetting not because of the arcane legal status of promoting it through affiliate programs, but simply because it has never fit into my business models. However, I think affiliates who are not promoting sportsbetting are more proactive than those who are, more or less because of past legal cases.

Even though proper regulation or the official banning of online gambling is all speculation at this point, I think the smartest thing "producing affiliates" can do (those who rely on their affiliate income as a primary source of income and actually generate enough revenue where they don't have to stay at a budget hotel when attending the CAC) is to make sure your money is allocated for other business ventures, investments, savings, etc. It really takes the scare out of the rollercoaster rides and all of the freak speculation that goes on. And on a final note, even if there weren't legal issues in this industry, you should always be preparing for the possibility that a market could go belly up tomorrow.