TheSportsbook.com Finished? or What's the Status?

[pokerprop]

Today I was reading a PAL members betting blog, seen their ad for TheSportsbook.com and decided to check out how that site was going.

First thing I noticed: TheSportsbook.com has a big advertisement for NFL Week 17 betting on its home page. I'm guessing this means there was no Super Bowl marketing, or nothing being prepared for March Madness etc.

I searched a few forums looking for player feedback be it positive or complaints and didn't find much, but in business only one football season this doesn't mean much as they might not ever of had that many players to begin with.

Surprisingly, I didn't find this easily on SBR (didn't show up in their own search) but finally found this:

TheSportsbook.com's downgrade to C
On February 4th, SBR downgraded TheSportsbook from C+ to C in the sportsbook ratings guide. TheSportsbook.com confirmed that it would not continue to invest in the brand from a marketing standpoint, but stated that its current stable of players were being paid as normal. TheSportsbook.com cited difficulties with payment processors as reason for its focus shifting onto new gaming ventures.

I noticed they're still listed on the ChipSplit.com site as a client. However there is no contact info other than an email address on thesportsbook.com,contact page, and the fact the home page has a huge ad for NFL Week 17 betting (more than 2 months stale) the site hardly appears operational.

So is this brand done? or What is the status?

[Knup]

I have been advised not to promote this brand anymore. So I'm guessing that it's done. I also have a couple players that I referred there tell me that they were contacted about their remaining balance. At least they seem dedicated to paying that out.

[pokerprop]

Thanks, Knup. The part about paying the players is good to hear.

Edit: hope my sick run this past NFL season, where I posted every play on PAL didn't have anything to do with their demise , or maybe your hot run just the same haa.

[Prenut]

Any official word on this? I actually went there before reading this post and didn't see any lines listed. Came here after that to see if there was a thread about them.

[AceHigh Pino]

I got an email from Tom a while back (rep from TheSportsbook.com) and he mentioned they were focusing their sportsbook efforts on a new brand called Belmont or something? Can anyone confirm this, I can only vaguely remember it. Kinda sucks they just up and stopped putting any effort into this from a branding standpoint after just a few months after launch.

[CarbonAtil]

Hi Guys,

Great timing Prop, as TheSportsbook.com is being removed from ChipSplit by the end of this week. You're always one step ahead. I will get Tom to post on this first thing tomorrow morning.

Thanks.

[CarbonAtil]

Hi Guys,

Tom is out of the office, but I wanted to let you know that we have decided to remove TheSportsbook.com from ChipSplit due to the book not accepting new players.

I can assure you that all affiliates and players that have requested a withdrawal have been paid out. Any existing players that are currently playing on TheSportsbook.com will continue to do so and affiliates will continue earning commissions. Players will not face any withdrawal issues at the time of withdrawal.

I want to thank everyone who promoted TheSportsbook.com. We are going to be focusing on a book that has been around since the early days (1996), Belmont.con in the near future.

Once again, thank you to all the affiliates that helped promote TheSportsbook.com.

[ak]

A jezzete sportsbook aeh ?

[pokerprop]

belmontsportsbook.com wasn't registered until December 12, 1998 and the earliest version of it archived is in November 2000 where their own website says "in business since 1998".

Prior to sportingbet purchasing the brands, and during the years sportingbet owned them, almost all (even those that came after) claimed they were founded in 1998. Apparently whoever purchased sportsbook.com and the skins after UIGEA for $1.00 decided the Margarita Island days should count because they all changed to the "in business since 1996". If it was the original owners who bought them then tying the dates back to 1996 (for an unrelated operation) I guess maybe makes sense. Otherwise it silly, and unless owned by the original company the date used for each should probably be the earlier of 1) when the current ownership was in business by, or 2) when that particular brand was actually founded.

No big deal really, but as is generally the case, tack a few years on to w/e year a sportsbook claims they were founded in order to calculate the actual year.