2 UK books fold??

[Blowfish]

Play121.com and netbetsports.com went under today? I have never really heard of them or played there, but this could be a blow to the UK books being more solid theory.

[LoboLoco]

this message appears on their site:

Play121 has now ceased trading.

Amounts outstanding on future plays will be credited to your account.

To request a withdrawal of your funds, please click here.
Your request will be dealt with as soon as possible.

[LoboLoco]

but netbetsports says:

NetBetSports.com

Due to technical difficulties, NetBetSports.com will be offline for a short period.

Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

[Jeff]

This is the operation I was referring to in my post about british books.....

*****************

THE SECOND dotcom crash in the space of a week hit punters on Friday when
the online betting exchange play121.com ceased trading.

A message on its website confirmed fears that began to circulate during
the week that the 19-month old business was in serious trouble.

Though the website was stripped of all content, punters were asked via a
message to log on with details of how much money they had held on account.

A statement read: "Amounts outstanding on future plays will be credited
to your account. Your request will be dealt with as soon as possible."

Simon Capreis, chairman of the Ipswich-based company, was unavailable for
comment and calls to the office returned only a recorded message for callers
to log on to the website.

As with the collapse of online bookmaker netbetsports last Sunday punters
had little or no warning that play121.com was about to fold.

The trail of debts left by Scarborough-based netbetsports is still
growing. One London-based punter with winnings of £45,000 on the World Cup
was among those worried that his account would never be settled.

It is understood that other online bookmakers are interested in buying
netbetsports before it slips into liquidation, but as yet no deal is thought
to have been struck.

Since the merger of the two biggest exchange sites, flutter and betfair,
both competitors and online bookmaking rivals have felt a squeeze that is
now becoming apparent.

Reacting to the collapse of netbetsports.com, which was only set up in
August 2000,Victor Chandler, a pioneer in the field of 'tax-free' internet
betting, said: "It is horrible for punters and for the industry. This
doesn't do us any good.

"We are trying to attract new punters and we mustn't destroy their
confidence. I hope someone buys netbetsports and settles the debts."

Chandler continued: "All you can do is advise people to bet with
substantial companies who have been around for several years. Do research on
the company you are betting with, and be very wary of offers that are too
good. If an offer is too good to be true, punters ought to steer clear of
it."

Chandler added: "I don't know if there should be a regulatory body, with
companies having to show that they have the financial means, or have to put
a bond up. How doyou regulate people operating offshore sites?"

[LoboLoco]

hopefully Victor chandler or one of the other big british books will step in. they will probably get soem very loyal customers out of it.

[Jeff]

They may want some of the british players but I doubt they'd be interested in the players betting american sports. Unless the british books can deal football and hoops at 6/5 and get away with it I don't see it happening.

The major british books have had their chance to go after the us market. VC and William Hill dabbled but backed off.

There's more of an interest amongst the american books to go after the European players, ie soccer bettors than there is European books going after the american players.

One need only look at the hold to figure out why.........

[ShiftySheik]

Play121 was a scam

If Play121 was a legit operation this would have never happened. They claimed to be a p2p site. They simply collected a 5% commission on winnings. IMO their operation was nothing but a ponzi scheme. They wouldn't get hurt with a true p2p site. The bet offer limits got much higher during the past few months. They were posting these offers themselves to attract new money. When the World Cup ended everyone must have tried to cashout. That's when they closed shop and stole everyone's money.