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SBG Global Does Little to Boost Royal Sports Reputation
Players claim some $200,000 in winnings being withheld by Royal Sports
Long stigmatized in the world of online gambling, Royal Sports was sold to SBG Global a few months back and many sports bettors believed we would finally stop reading the complaints. Unfortunately, the complaints have only gotten worse.
"Thirty 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," an affected customer tells Gambling911.com. Names of customers are never referenced on the Gambling911.com website unless specifically authorized to do so.
The individual goes on to explain what the fuss is all about.
"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 arrangement 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 management 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."
Gambling911.com can confirm that "Randall" is in SBG Global marketing. Part of the problem here could stem from the fact that their marketing department is about five years behind the rest of the industry.
The customer continues. "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.
"I don't know what the total amount is that was stolen. I am guessing at least $200,000."
For the past few years, Royal Sports has come under fire for deliberately slow paying winning customers (even though they were all eventually paid), then luring them back with outrageous cash bonuses (which were paid out as well). One of the issues Gambling911.com had with the complainants in the Royal Sports situation was that they continued playing there even after getting the runaround. The problem we had with Royal was that they kept allowing these individuals to play there and continued engaging in the same cat and mouse horseplay. Royal was eventually banished from the Gambling911.com website.
In reading this most recent complaint there appear to be a few holes in the story. Sebastian (the identified sports handicapper), for example, seems like your typical opportunist who - perhaps unbeknownst to this customer - was most certainly getting a nice cut from his and everybody else's losses. The reason Darlene left is probably because these players are not supposed to win. Sebastian has gone on quite the run of late, according to reports. But we can go on and on about the incestuous relationship between sportsbook and sports handicapper and Darlene's disappearance act doesn't help matters. The fact that she was working at Bet Royal in conjunction with a sports handicapping service prior to the purchase by SBG doesn't exactly rank her atop those with an outstanding moral compass either.
The player in question is also assuming that BetRoyal told SBG Global about this "arrangement". That assumption may have been clarified by Sports Book Review, which monitors customer complaints.
On Friday, a representative from that website advised he had spoken to the radio personality/handicapper out of Connecticut.
"I just spoke with Sebastian, the radio personality from CT. He referred these players to Royal. SBG could clearly see how the source and how the accounts were connected. After winning during baseball and winning through the first part of football they froze the accounts. This morning they announced that players will not receive their winnings."
John Walker, who runs the Sports Book Review forum also corroborated the complaints.
"New victims daily. It never stops with these guys. Its gut wrenching painful to read all of these first hand accounts of blatant theft. Its so hard to win sports betting and then to have it stolen by two-bit thugs is just too much."
Whether Sebastian, Darlene, these 30 some odd players, or the blind monkey are deemed "undesirables" by BetRoyal and SBG Global management is a moot point. Top online gambling firms would pay and show them the door, especially - if what this individual is saying is true - these guys had been losing over a period of time.
Neither BetRoyal nor SBG Global is permitted to advertise on the Gambling911.com website.
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