Amidst The Crackdown, New Sports Betting Site Launches In The US

from the quite-a-risk dept

Tue, Jun 19th 2007 8:28am — Joseph Weisenthal

In light of the numerous arrests of online gambling executives in the US, you'd think that entrepreneurs would be staying as far away from this industry as possible. You'd be thinking wrong though. A new peer-to-peer sports betting site called Betcha.com is launching in the US, claiming to exploit a very narrow loophole in the law. The idea is that the site actually lets bettors renege on their bets, which, as they see it, means that there's actually no gambling taking place. How, you might ask, are the bets actually enforced? Each user has an eBay-style rating that indicates whether they're actually good for the money they owe. Thus, presumably, bettors with a history of not paying up will not find anyone to take the other side of the bet. It remains to be seen whether the government will take the same view of things as the company. While launching a startup is always risky for those involved, as the founder of this one say themselves, they're literally betting their own freedom.

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17 Comments

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Ajax 4Hire, 19 Jun 2007 @ 9:32am

If the bomb does NOT explode and
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Ajax 4Hire, 19 Jun 2007 @ 9:38am

Re: If the bomb does NOT explode and
and no one is hurt is it a crime?

Yes.

Betting on sports in the US is illegal except in specific offically sanctioned places (Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Indian Reservations). Whether money exchanges hands will be im-material to the Federal Government. They will arrest.

Don't get me wrong, I fully believe it is a private citizens right to spend their money any way they want. Freedom to the tip of my nose.

But I also know that the US Federal Government is a "do as I say not as I do", "You know what I mean", fist in the velvet glove group. The US Government will find a way to arrest these web-site owners.

Good luck.
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Ben, 19 Jun 2007 @ 9:50am

I'm pretty early on in my law school career - but why wouldn't this company try and get a declaratory judgment that what they're doing is legal before they do it, rather than, as the post says, "betting their freedom" on it?
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TheDock22, 19 Jun 2007 @ 9:59am

Re:
You can't get a declaratory judgment on illegal activity. They are making use of a VERY tiny loophole and chances are they do not want the lawmakers to know they found it.
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Wolfger, 19 Jun 2007 @ 10:18am

Re:
I think, if they lose, they're going to try to renege on their bet...
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discojohnson, 19 Jun 2007 @ 10:27am

Re: Re:
"...they do not want the lawmakers to know they found it."

too late
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Deirdre, 19 Jun 2007 @ 10:35am

Takers?
Ten bucks says it flops!
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Anonymous Coward, 19 Jun 2007 @ 11:55am

I will take that bet, as long as I can back out later.
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Sanguine Dream, 19 Jun 2007 @ 12:53pm

Re: Re:
Probably as we speak someone is attaching a measure that would cover this loophole to some anti-terror or "protect the children" bill. Because if Americans renege on bets then the terrorists win.
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Charles Griswold, 19 Jun 2007 @ 3:41pm

Re: Re: Re:
Probably as we speak someone is attaching a measure that would cover this loophole to some anti-terror or "protect the children" bill. Because if Americans renege on bets then the terrorists win.
Every time you renege on a bet, a child pornographer kills a puppy.
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Sports Betting Guru, 9 Oct 2007 @ 3:25pm

Done
Well there goes that plan. The site is shutdown. It was just a matter of time..
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Sports betting, 10 Jul 2008 @ 3:58am

Source for Sports Betting
BETUK.com offers sports bet, online sports betting, football betting and more.
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Sports Betting Picks, 29 Jul 2008 @ 2:36pm

O well just came across this and was hoping to have stumbled on some good news and a new idea. Guess not
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Sports Betting Online, 13 Apr 2009 @ 8:05pm

It was doomed from the start
What I don't understand is how "reneging" a bet constitutes a loophole in gambling prohibition act? It is absolutely unrelated as once the cash transaction for betting purpose takes place, cancel or revoke it, it still took place and broke the law.
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football betting, 12 Nov 2009 @ 4:30am

Betcha wins
Betcha got shut down, but I read the other day they won their court battle just need funding to start up again.
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Betting again, 2 Aug 2010 @ 6:20pm

Betting again
Betting is such a tenuous subject. Follow the local laws and you will not have to worry about the national ones too much. "pay per head sportsbook"
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brian, 10 Mar 2013 @ 7:33am

Sports betting never end because nowadays it becoming a disease which has no cure. United States never clean from bettors. Must visit this link.

http://www.footballpredictionshq.com/betting/good-sports-betting-advice-can-be-a-winning-st rategy/
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