I am not a house player and never have been one, so I am not an expert on the workings of one.
I was . Those facts are stated in other threads here and the whole story is at BPU. PM me if you would like a link and I will send it to you.. you can read the whole thing AND the replies to it. I don't consider myself an expert, I can only tell you how it happened with me.
I played at one site for 3 years.. lost a lot and won some. I enjoyed being with friends there so I emailed the owner and told him I had to quit because I had a gambling problem and couldn't afford to fund anymore. I am used to "holier than thou" vocal judgements, so knock yourself out, if you must. My account was comped on a regular basis. I did not ask for these.. they were just there.
AT THAT TIME I didn't even think about the fact that I was making it unfair to my friends and fellow paying players that I was stealing from them by gambling on games they could have or should have won because they paid to do it. My mind was too clouded by addiction. No excuse.. just the truth. Cheating in one form or another is still cheating.
I then decided that the best thing I could do for my friends and fellow players was to stay long enough to have "proof" that houseplayers do exist. Even today I still pay for this. But maybe that is my punishment for doing it in the first place. The one thing I can be proud of is that I do not have to speculate whether house players exist or not. I proved they do.. documentation and all!
I am not sure about any site and if they do or do not use house players. I certainly do not see anyone willing to pay the price I paid to find out either. I can be proud of the fact that I didn't have to ever open my mouth, but I did. I only know of one other person who had the guts to say something very similar happened to her. That was IBEENTHERE.
So as far as "house players" are concerned, people can speculate, talk "possibilites", decide maybe there are and maybe there are not. After paying the price for the proof, I KNOW for sure.
I am one person, not BPU. I stand behind all I do. I work to the best of my ability to be a good watchdog in the bingo industry. I make mistakes. I don't cover them up or ignore them, I admit them, try to make amends and go on to the next project. Some call it "back peddaling", I call it learning from experience.
I work hard to find facts. I do what I do for the players. I am not an affiliate. I do not stand behind, or recommend ANY site. This is my public apology to anyone who feels I have some sort of personal vendetta against you. I do not. This is all about online bingo for me.
It is all about doing what I can do to make the online bingo world more understandable to those who choose to play. I agree that refusing to deposit because of a high playthrough is one of the best places to start. I also agree that players should let the site being considered know that in writing.
Is everyone else ready to make this about watchdogging instead of who did what and where in the forums? There are players out there who need our attention concerning the online bingo sites and have questions that need answered.
In real life I am a very loving and warm person and compassionate to a fault. In this world I am a "hard assed, spend the time, get the facts and don't back up person". BingoT I am sorry you feel I dislike you. Not true. I don't know "you". Mary I am sorry we have such a personality conflict. Hopefully we can get past that enough to work together for a common cause we both seem to believe in.
Sassy1, I am sorry you do not like some of my techniques and/or decisions. It may be hard to understand for you, but there is no right or wrong way to get to the bottom of issues. There are things I do alone, such as being a member here. There are things I do as a member of BPU staff that are my decision alone. There are things I agree to that I have been outvoted on. I do not own that forum.. I am only a member. Final decisions are NOT MINE. The only thing that are mine are words and opinions and I take full responsibility for those wherever you may see them.
Thanks NAVYMANSMOM for explaining your version of online bingo as a business. I appreciate your time and efforts to help the watchdog movement.
I never have claimed to be perfect. But I do claim my right to be a watchdog and do the best I can do!
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