Sportsbook.com - now regulated by the LGA

[DiamondGeezer]

Sportsbook.com is a former US facing book that was recently sold to the WinUnited group and is now regulated by the LGA.

I was taking a look at the site wondering what they were about when I saw that the Live Dealing room was regulated by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission:

http://global.sportsbook.com/en/casino/live-casino

This seemed odd to me since the online casino is regulated by the LGA, so I wrote to Alderney for clarification. They have just replied:

Dear Mr XXXXXX,



Thank you for your email. This URL does not fall within our jurisdiction. It appears from their website that their relevant regularity body is the Malta Lottery and Gaming Authority. Please find detailed below the link you require for further information.



http://www.lga.org.mt/lga/content.aspx?id=85923



Apologises that we could not be of any further assistance.



Kind Regards,



Alderney Gambling Control Commission.



So according to Alderney the Sportsbook.com claim is totally false. One can only wonder why they have done this? I have written to Alderney asking them to contact Sportsbook.com to remove it so it will be interesting to see how quickly it happens.

[ksb11]

I would personally stay away from sportsbook.com. They have a d- rating at sportsbookreview.com

[maxd]

Sportsbook.com is a former US facing book that was recently sold to the WinUnited group ....

Sorry but sticking "WARNING" in the title makes this look like an official Casinomeister Warning, which it isn't.

I hope the title change causes no inconvenience.

[DiamondGeezer]

No ofcourse not Max.

I expect very few members play there anyway but it's the principle of the thing that is of concern. Go to the Live Dealer section of Ladbrokes or any of the big casinos and you will see some big money bets on the live tables, hands of £100 or more are not uncommon on the VIP tables. Their claim of being regulated in Alderney will give players a false confidence that the tables are fully audited when infact they have a much less rigourous LGA license. In the light of the 5Dimes and Legends episode this is another reason not to trust playing casino games at sportsbooks.

[ksb11]

No ofcourse not Max.

I expect very few members play there anyway but it's the principle of the thing that is of concern. Go to the Live Dealer section of Ladbrokes or any of the big casinos and you will see some big money bets on the live tables, hands of £100 or more are not uncommon on the VIP tables. Their claim of being regulated in Alderney will give players a false confidence that the tables are fully audited when infact they have a much less rigourous LGA license. In the light of the 5Dimes and Legends episode this is another reason not to trust playing casino games at sportsbooks.

Point well taken. However, in defense of 5Dimes, they did drop the speific software that was found to be cheating which is really all they could do assuming they were ignorant, which I don't think can be proven one way or the other. When it comes to the other casino software they use, I have no complaints as I have done very well at their roulette table. Anyway, sorry to get off topic. Thanks for the post!

[4 of a kind]

No ofcourse not Max.

Their claim of being regulated in Alderney will give players a false confidence that the tables are fully audited when infact they have a much less rigourous LGA license.

Where could I read about the Alderney gaming regulations that are in place for online casinos? Also, where could I read about enforcement protocol for the same gaming regulations?

[DiamondGeezer]

The Alderney site is:

http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/index.php

There is quite a bit of information on there about the application process but not a lot of public information about auditing - surprise surprise!

I have found they do reply to emails so you could maybe get more information by emailing direct.

While the website looks impressive the Full Tilt case has damaged my faith a fair bit. I heard there was talk of a case against Alderney from FTP players over Alderney being 'fit for purpose'. It will be interesting to see if anything comes of that.

I have to admit I am starting to lose faith in the regulators. Is any of this auditing actually taking place?

If Live Dealing is not being regularly checked and audited it is inevitible there will be a major cheating scandal sometime in the next couple of years in my opinion.