A Wiseguy’s Odyssey
Part 8 – House Of Cards
We were now moving baskets and football for both Domino and Jim & Ross. Happy to finally be on the right side of the balance sheet with Domino having won back his losses, we were looking to rally the winnings into an interesting commission for Ourselves.
Unfortunately, we never had much of a chance to get off the ground with Jim & Ross who were basically playing steam other than what Domino was following. What threw Our operation for a loop was the inevitable – beating a weak book badly. That book was Dial-A-Bet out of Puerto Plata. Starting with an initial deposit of $10,000, within a month or so we ran it up to around $25,000.
Being cautious since we hadn’t yet withdrawn from them I requested $10,000. We continued to play into them while awaiting the bank wire. The plays, being really hot, rocketed the balance up to $45,000 over the next couple of days.
At that point I called back and asked them to raise the payout to $25,000. It was taking too long so I inquired and was assured that I would receive it the next day. Sure enough I did receive the payout, but only for $15,000. I was told there had been a screw up and the $10,000 balance would follow shortly.
Having received $15,000 I felt reassured. We continued to play and win like crazy. The balance was hovering around $50,000 even after the $15,000 payout. Now I was getting nervous but I was told that $10,000 had been sent out in the form of a cashiers check. The heat of the moment and fantastic penetration at this particular out got the better of due diligence and Our balance peaked at $78,000.
For the second time in my recent history the shit again hit the fan. Dial tried to keep me betting by telling me the last payout had been sent by regular mail as opposed to FedEx to explain the delay. But I was extremely persistent as you might imagine with that amount in the balance. It was finally admitted to me that they were having money problems and would put me on a payment plan.
Meanwhile, I had been running up a smaller but sizable balance at Universal and low and behold they were now starting to stall me. I immediately ceased all bets except a dribble to Our local outs. I now faced the task of explaining how I got into such a situation to the guys we were moving for, it being their cash and all. I was crushed mentally as the realization of what a slim chance I had of collecting all this money for which I was responsible.
This was the demise of my business. To their credit and also due to my dogged pursuit I managed to recover all but $4,000 from Dial-A-Bet over an excruciatingly long (for me) 1 year period. Universal stiffed me for a couple of thousand through the guise of reversing the 10% credit on my initial deposit and Western Union fees.
I sent Domino and Jim & Ross back all their loot. I never made a cent on the 1 year of labor including hundreds of phone calls, faxes, relayed requests through contacts of mine etc. But I did earn the satisfaction of knowing that all business passed through me was paid for in full. In the face of great adversity, I had managed to maintain and even build my name into the definition of integrity and honorability.
My connections all acted with class and were very patient waiting for their money. They also offered me a deal in which I would no longer be responsible for funds moved through me. I have their implicit trust to this day. I did make a brief stab at recreating the magic that we had experienced.
Finally I decided that it was just too dog eat dog out there. Even if I wasn’t responsible, it would still be on my conscience if something went wrong and I would still pursue the money with the same vigor and frustration. I would still have to make frequent large bank transactions drawing attention to myself and risking being charged with money laundering.
Worst of all, I would still have to deal with outs much less honorable than myself. With all the baggage I was carrying by then and realizing that we had to first win consistently, and then collect consistently. It became clear that for me anyway this “easy money” was too evasive.
I have just finished a computer network specialist curriculum and am interviewing for a bread and butter job. That’s the story of this wiseguy.
That’s It That’s All
EDITORS NOTE : This story first appeared on Bettorsworld many years back (late 1990’s). Our friend “the wiseguy has remained out of sportsbetting and is pursuing other interests.