Hypothetical Question(s)

[a_bit_confused]

A few questions come to mind when I read the posts regarding taxations in gaming countries. Some posters are worried that taxes may be passed down to the bettor if taxations were suddenly imposed in a gaming jurisdiction where before operators did not have to overcome such expenses.

In a hypothetical situation where this were to happen in Antigua which has developed an outstanding name in the industry (I had never heard of Antigua till OddsWiz/BW), how would this affect the operators?

After projections including the new taxes, lets assume that some operators would entertain the thought of a relocation,
whether its because of the new taxes (and the fact that taxes only get bigger, not smaller), license fees, communications costs/quality, or just a more friendly business environment, would my money be just as safe with the same books after a move?

What is it exactly that the Antiguan licensing department does to make deposits safe? I always thought that a licensing country who demands an expensive annual fee would end up detering thieves, and since Antigua was one of the first to offer a license, thats why the operators there are so strong now. Running down the list to the left, I believe Antigua homes WSEX, Post Time, WWTS, Premiere League, SOS, Intertops, Carib, etc. Say one or more of these established books relocated, would they carry the same solid image to another jurisdiction, and would it matter if they were in a licensed area or not? Because I know most of these folks have been around, my trust is in the operators, and the only downside I can think of would be the pains of a change (downtime) and the inability or difficulty in transferring funds between the books.

Im just confused about whether its a good jurisdiction that creates good operators, or is it a good set of operators that creates a good jurisdiction? I can see that strict regulations which impose quality/fairness checks on casino games could make a difference, but in the case of sports, does it really matter when the score of a game is common knowledge?

Furthermore, lets say one or more of these operators were to relocate in a country like Dominica, which does not have such a great reputation. Would the image of the books be negatively altered, or might the image of Dominica rise because some big operators decided to call it their new home.

To rehash my real question, is the confidence that most bettors require gained through the operators or the jurisdictions in which they reside?

[chestrockwells]

Boy this is a tough question in many ways. I would say that good operators over time create a good rep for a location. The opposite is also true of course. I would suspect that the main reasons that most books gravitate towards places like Antigua and Costa Rica are a combination of many factors including taxes, infrastructure etc. etc....essentially the same qualities you'd look for in locating business. There's also an understandable herd mentality. If you were going to open a book why go to a location with a bad rep? or for that matter a location with no rep? There are too many unknowns. As for licenses, who knows what they are really all about. The only book I can recall moving their whole operation was ABC from Curacao to CR. Nothing much seemed to change immediately following it. The problem with believing that its all about the operation and owners etc. is that I doubt that many people know the actual operators of each book. The easy answer is to say that the combination of honest owners good help and friendly location make a great book. But it's tough to break it down. An example, to illustrate....About a year and a bit ago 2 GREAT books closed, International and Heritage. They told all their customers way in advance and paid everyone. Months after this, individuals who worked for these companies and who provided excellent customer service etc. etc. opened up or bought into other books. Then they contacted their former customers. Do you open accounts with them? Oh and they're in CR now as well and not in Venezuela as they were previously.
So its tough....

[Jeff]

Interesting stuff......a few points.....

I think for an established shop, they could pretty much move anywhere they wanted, without it having much effect on their business. These shops have worked hard to build a solid reputation. If moving to a location enabled them to increase their bottom line, then it's better for all involved,the players, the book, etc.etc.

If the offshore industry as we know it today ceased to exist tomorrow, many of you would still seek out these shops, regardless of whether they were in the Caribbean or in Boston, and continue to play. You would do this based on the track record they have established, just like when you dealt with a bookmaker in the states.

However, where I believe location really comes into play, is with brand new operations.

A new shop could open up on many of the islands without having solid finacial backing. Who would know? That's not to say that every new book that opens up in a location other than Antigua or the Isle of Man is not solid, but only time will tell.

Whereas when you see a new book open up on one of the Islands/Countries with fairly high licensing fees, it gives the operation some credibility right off the bat.