25% sign up bonus? Homemade lines?

[Alex]

Guys,

I ran across this book (http://www.players-sb.com/) the other day. I want to know if anyone has dealt with them. I'd also be interested in reading some opinions.

What caught my eye were a couple of things.
One, they offer a 25% initial deposit bonus. It is paybable after the person plays 5X the deposit amount.

Two, "home made lines." They claim that they'll make a line on any game. Just call and ask, they say.

The book is in Costa Rica, according to their website. Their approach seems novel.

[reno]

Their approach is not novel, and it is doomed to fail.

When Gary Austin had his sportsbook in Vegas in the 80s, he made his own lines, and the players hammered him. When Caliente first opened in Tijuana, probably around 1989, they tried making their own lines, and the players murdered them.

Home-made lines can theoretically work, but no one I know of has been successful doing it. It is one thing to slightly opinionate the opening line; it is something else to disregard it and create your own. Even Polar is not so bold as to do this.

When you create your own lines that are significantly different than the "norm," players will simply bet your numbers back to the norm. Hence, you will get extreme one-way action, and you will end up gambling instead of booking. For this strategy to work, your lines must be stronger than the "norm," and your brain power greater than the collective wisdom that establishes the "norm."

I wish these guys well. But if they really want to do something home-made, my suggestion to them is to open a good burger joint and specialize in home-made fries. I'm sick of the garbage you get from the clone burger joints like Mcdonalds, Jack-in-the-Box, and Wendy's.

[sportbettor]

Are those clone burger joints like the clone bookmakers I hear so much about here?

[Leo Walters2]

If it sounds too good to be true, It usually is. 25% sign up bonus payable after 5 plays? The only money I would send to a Sports Book offering that was some I printed in my basement.

[Alex]

I should clarify a couple of things that I didn't do a good job of explaining.

Reno, according to their website they'll make homemade lines *only* for events that do not already have a line.
So, if there's no total on a college basketball game, the customer can call and they'll make a line for it. Max bet is $500.

Leo, the 25% bonus is yours to keep only after you bet five times your initial deposit. I suppose that could be five plays, but likely it'd be many more.

Does this change your thoughts?