Upon first glance, Oddsmaker looks like a highly professional online casino with tons of bonus offers and promotions. Sadly, looks can sometimes be deceiving. I’ve always equated the site to a sexy woman with herpes. Sure, things are great when you first set eyes on her at the bar, but the subsequent trips to the doctor simply aren’t worth the aggravation.
They can’t use inexperience as an excuse, either, as Oddsmaker is one of the oldest Internet casinos in operation. The site got started way back in 1998 thanks to Zahav Keseph Inc. Casinos, and they’ve been screwing over players ever since.
Swindlers and Con Artists
When it comes to infamy within the online gambling industry, few sites can rival Oddsmaker. Their biggest claim to fame is denying payment to winning customers, but they also excel at tricking naïve gamblers into opening accounts and depositing their hard-earned money. After all, it’s easy to offer too-good-to-be-true bonuses when you have no intention of ever paying.
To make matters worse, Oddsmaker is powered by proprietary software from Futurebet. While their casino games are fair, this company is notorious for leaving players twisting in the wind, especially when their chosen casino goes belly up. Despite the inherent responsibility of software providers to monitor the behavior of client casinos, Futurebet only seems concerned with making money. When you consider that proprietary software is ultimately developed by the casinos who offer it, this should not come as a surprise.
The reputation of the software provider is so poor that they constantly change their name in order to stay one step ahead of potential victims. In addition to Futurebet, they’ve also been known as GameTech Solutions and IGaming Software. I don’t know about you, but when I think of someone using an alias, there’s one word that comes to mind: “criminal.”
Problems with Oddsmaker
If you put all the complaints against Oddsmaker end to end, they would probably stretch around the planet a time or two. While we don’t have the space to list them all, the following examples should provide a good look at what kind of people work for the company.
November 2007 – A player decided to participate in a blackjack freeroll held by Oddsmaker. He managed to finish in third place, which should have been good enough for $2,900. The casino was determined not to pay, however, telling the customer that he failed to play the required minimum of 75 hands.
It doesn’t matter that the player far exceeded the 75-hand minimum. The casino said he didn’t, and they refused to budge from their claim. Not surprisingly, the player never received their cash.
September 2008– For over two months, a player had been trying in vain to collect a $700 withdrawal. Oddsmaker stayed in contact during his period, always assuring the customer that payment was right around the corner.
Finally frustrated to the point of a nervous breakdown, the poor customer contacted Oddsmaker over the telephone. They were directed to a supervisor, but the phone call was disconnected while waiting for the individual to answer.
Eventually, the supervisor responded. He cited a problem with the automated clearing house, which is a virtual system allowing players to transfer currency from their savings account to an online gaming establishment. Even worse, the casino employee mentioned that it could take years to resolve the situation.
With nowhere else to turn, the player brought his case to Casinomeister. After trying to resolve the situation themselves, the notable watchdog site was left with no choice but to place Oddsmaker on their list of rogue casinos. It’s been there ever since.
February 2012 – One of the most notorious cases of Oddsmaker fraud came when a player was cheated out of $45,000 in winnings. He had been betting on sporting events at their site for several years, but he was unaware of their shady reputation during this period.
Once he learned what kind of people he was dealing with, he decided to make a series of bets intended to lose, thereby slowly whittling down his account. At the same time, he bet the opposite way with Las Vegas bookmakers in order to turn an overall profit.
As luck would have it, his “losing” wagers kept winning, and it wasn’t long before his casino account had more than doubled. He requested an $8,000 withdrawal and was told that it would be split up into two payments. After dealing with numerous hassles regarding payout inquiries, the customer finally received a check for $4,000 (half of what he requested) a few weeks later.
He then placed additional wagers, once again trying to deplete his Oddsmaker account. The gods of gambling once again smiled upon him, however, and the player’s account swelled to an all-time high of $45,000.
Since he couldn’t seem to lose, he decided to withdraw as much money as he could. When his requests fell on deaf ears, the player grew increasingly desperate. Finally, he sent an email to the site detailing his frustration and talking about potential legal action.
This got someone’s attention, but not in the way the player might have hoped for. He received a call from the casino’s fraud department, informing him that his last email constituted a threat. As a result, his account was being permanently closed. He would receive a refund of $2,000 for previous deposits, but that was all he was going to get.
The cheated customer refused to give up, however. Working alongside an online casino review site, he was eventually able to obtain a five-figure settlement from the casino (although still less than what he was owed).
On an interesting side note, the website that broke the story estimated that Oddsmaker had confiscated almost $250,000 in player winnings by 2012. Just imagine how much they’ve stolen since then.
Closing Arguments
If you take anything away from this article, I hope it’s the following: Don’t play at Oddsmaker. Between their unrealistic promotions and duplicitous customer service representatives, they have an entire legion of infuriating schemes designed to separate you from your money.
For those who remain undaunted by these warnings, why not just stuff your cash into an envelope and mail it to me? The return on your investment will be the same, but at least I’m honest about my intentions.
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