As the title says, which are the countries where betting with online offshore bookmakers is legal? I know that every country has its own jurisdiction but I was wondering if there are countries that accept every type of bookmakers (offshore and onshore). Is there a country where I would be free to bet with Pinnacle, Sbobet, 5Dimes, Bookmaker.ue, Betonline, etc etc?
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Just about any country without an active regulatory system.
In those places you can do what you want usually.
Like it was in the USA up until last year.
Once a country issue licenses the restrictions start, to force people into the over priced, over taxed system.
(it's quaint to see some US players carrying on like they actually want Offshore to die. In 10 years those same nongs will be claiming they miss "the good old days when we could bet fairly").Comment -
Never was for end users in most states.
Just illegal for licensed financial institutions to move money for it.
But point was, it was the wild west and they could play pretty much where they want. (well apart from euro/UK licensed books of course)
Many will wish for it again in USA eventually..Comment -
I don't want offshore wagering to die but I do miss the good old days already. They are gone. The days of books giving out $500 cash to come and play at their shop are gone. Yes, that happened to me from an A+ rated book here, a long time ago, no deposit needed. The promos are nonexistent and the contests are fading away. Books are nickle and diming you when you deposit and when you withdraw and it's only going to get worse. The part that is so infuriating is these books can do whatever they want and we have almost no recourse. I expect the US regulated books will follow a similar path of showering new players with "free" cash and promotions and it will eventually dry up and they will start nickle and diming players just like offshore. But since they are regulated, at least we have options. You can sue for anything in the US and the threat of a lawsuit is real, and expensive. Offshore, not so much. They just stop responding to emails and block you and unless SBR can do something you are F'ed.Comment -
You're not far off PD77.
What you describe is the natural evolution of every major retail bookmaker.
They get to a critical level of users where profits do not increase with player numbers, and then start working their client base to increase that profit number.
But honestly, as hard as it is to believe for someone who has only had offshore an locals for years in USA, the offshores are more fair minded than big licensed bookmakers. I would even go as far as saying they are worlds best as far as genuine player fairness.
Once regulations are set, books learn how to use them to their advantage and threats of legal action have zero effect on them. KYC, SoF, SoW, AML & Respsonsible Gambling regulations will trump just about any legal case you think you can come up with..Comment -
I'm from Italy.. Every bookmaker here is regulated by the government and they can only opererate thanks to a license issued by the government itself.. That being said, I can only play on regulated bookmakers.. As an italian citizen I don't even pay taxes on winnings because the bookmakers act as withholding agent.. You can easily understand that all these costs borne by the bookmakers reflects on the players (account restrictions, accounts closed, etc).. Now, the point is.. I prefer to pay taxes but play with sharp bookmakers rather than play with these horrible bookmakers regulated by my country.Comment -
Couple questions:
1. Opti, why would profits not continue to increase with player numbers? The more bets they are taking the more money they are making right? Not saying you are wrong. I just don't understand.
2. Is it possible for the US to stop unregulated books based in places like Curacao from offering their bookmaker services to US citizens?
I already miss the good old days. Regulation, taxes, permits etc...not going to be good for the end user.Comment -
I've never been in senior management at a big book, so I am just guessing too. But it's the pattern we see repeated at most big books I think.
Cost of infrastructure and staff is likely a big part of it.
Maybe once they have the majority of rec players that are attracted to them, the % of sharps among new players gets higher.
Sportsbook.ag is a good example. They have closed to new signups for long periods multiple times over the years.
The biggest books in the world as far as estimated turnover like SBO and Maxbet both appear to be in a state of "over use" right now and are scrambling to cut their client base.
2) In Australia the govt does two things. It simply asks (threatens?) books to not service Aussies or they will be on our radar for personal investigation. And it also has implemented a internet backbone they control and have forced all ISPs to use, which alows them to block sits easily (although they have not been game to do this much as yet).
The completely dodgy books with Curacao only turn key setups will mostly ignore what any foreign govt says for the forseeable future though.Last edited by Optional; 02-27-20, 04:52 PM..Comment
