Bookies

The biggest customers still have an agent and work on credit. The agent establishes a line of credit (around $500,000 a week for the big players and $10,000 for regular players). The players can play about $5,000 a game and bet as they wish as long as they don`t go over their credit limit. Then at the end of the week the player settles with his agent and starts clear. The agent business is still illegal in the US but the company is legit in CR.

The lines basically follow the Vegas lines because if there is a big difference in lines then the companies can get 'middled' and it bacomes a risk free bet for the customers. The book can move the lines slightly based on where the weight is (smart players money). Some of the big players are very good and can win about 65% of the time (you must win 55% of the time to break even because of the 'juice' or extra money you pay when you lose). I`m guessing that most big players are working regular jobs, its amazing to think about the consequences of just one bad week.

The small players usually wire some money via western union and then play on that deposit. This is considered free money by the company because most players will play until the money runs out.

It was a pretty fun experience, I learned a lot about the sports gambling world. One thing is that the experts are really good at predicting the score and margin, and another is that there are many very strange occurances that keep the scores within the experts predictions (missed field goals or free throws at the end of a game, extra fouls called with the game virtually over, etc).

and...When I realized how much money is being played I couldn`t believe it. We were a relatively small company and millions of dollars came through on any given day. Can you imagine playing one bet for 5,000$, how about 10 a day, everyday? There are thousands of players doing just that, and probably not earning enough in a year from their regular job to pay for the losses of 2-3 days.