When sportsbooks, casinos and poker rooms start having troubles paying players, the red flags start flying. Many times payout delays are just a bump-in-the-road for online sportsbooks who have the wherewithal to withstand the constant fluctuations in today’s Internet gambling climate. However, there are places whose red flags start to fly higher and brighter once problems arise, until they eventually just flame out. Then the sportsbook or poker room runs, with players funds, shuts down and stiffs players – ending up as just another sportsbook scam.

The red flags for Bet Revolution are starting to flap in the breeze quite a bit and are on the verge of catching fire. Over two weeks ago we posted an update as a slow payout complaint became two, then three and now number a dozen. Bet Revolution answered our initial inquiries and got back to us quickly with candid responses as to the alleged problems they were experiencing. They claimed that two processors in Costa Rica stole their deposit funds and disappeared . Bet Revolution insisted that they would do the right thing and get back up and running and eventually pay their players.

Instead what has transpired is more of the same from Bet Revolution. In an about face, they have not responded to our last batch of emails, they do not answer us on their chat and as most players know, their phone lines, at this point, should just be turned off, as no one answers them. In addition, the website has not been updated since Monday and their betting lines, when posted, are late. All futures have been taken down and current players get no response or updates from the company. We asked a number of sources in Costa Rica if they had heard of not one, but two money processors who had gone out-of-business and stole sportsbook or casino funds. We did not get confirmation of rouge processors stealing from Bet Revolution, or any other books, from any of our sources.

Finally, we can’t figure out how Bet Revolution can recover if they do not accept new players while working to pay old ones. Right now, it is possible to sign-up with Bet Revolution, but they do not respond to inquiries for deposit requests. On one hand, this is good news if they are planning to run, at least they are not going after new players in a ‘deposit only’ fashion.  But, if they do have legitimate intentions to stay afloat, new money does need to come in.

We removed their rating at the outset of this mess and with these recent developments, we urge players not to deposit at Bet Revolution. If they do plan on continuing to operate, an updated website, current live odds, the ability for players to deposit and get paid along with the basic functions of answering emails, chats AND phone calls, would indicate they are making an effort to return. Right now, all this feels like is a stall tactic, perhaps until everything can be packed up as they fade to black. We hope not.

OSGA has made some initial inquiries around the industry to see if any other sportsbooks would be interested in a ‘bailout‘ of Bet Revolution should the worst occur here. But without an accurate accounting of how many players are affected and their corresponding balances, conversations have not gotten very far. In fact, as we have seen recently, many of the larger houses are just not interested in ‘bailing out’ small operations that get into trouble. Still, we remain optimistic that either Bet Revolution will recover or a larger, more established sportsbook will come to the aid of the players.