Reputation Plays in Sports Betting, Especially Offshore

PANAMA CITY, Panama, September 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The offshore sports betting industry shows no signs of slowing down in meeting Americans' insatiable appetite for betting on their favorite sports, and especially NFL and NCAAFB. With old sites bowing out and some new sites popping up, the old question of "who has the best bonuses" is being replaced with "who can you trust?"

"And where can I use my credit card," adds Jim Quinn from the Off Shore Gaming Association (OSGA.com). "That's getting harder to find than ever. But above and beyond the easily compared deposit methods, bonuses and payout options, the one thing the players we talk to ask about is a book's reputation. Do they take care of their players? Are they solid, committed and, ultimately, play fair?"

Over the past year, BetOnline has been a standout in building a solid reputation and is currently experiencing massive growth, making it the fastest growing sportsbook in the US. "I've know the owners there for years and they are solid; they fall into the 'Elite' classification at OSGA," Jim said. "And in the past year or so they have made some impressive changes-and have seen some impressive growth on the back of it."

One of the most visible changes has been in BetOnline's payout policies. They now offer a check or bank wire in seven days or less and person-to-person cash transfers in under 36 hours, for payouts as large as any top-rated book.  "Getting paid is always a player's top priority," said BetOnline's new Player Services Director, former 32Red CS Director Sarah Francis. "So I made it job number one as soon as I got here."

BetOnline already has a very strong reputation as a book who pays-online forums are full of players who have been stiffed-- but not by BetOnline. "We have never NOT paid a player," Francis said. "I looked into that hard before joining BetOnline, because that's impossible to overcome. We have to deal with third-party payment processors, but now we have a full roster of payout options that are as reliable as they are fast."

Of course, massive growth brings its own set of problems, from scaling the services side to making sure your systems can handle the increase load. Also joining BetOnline this summer was someone intimately experienced with high traffic sites:  the former Director of Productions and Operations of sports betting behemoth Sportsbook.com.

"BetOnline has a stunning array of front end servers to support the site when I arrived," the CTO said. "But in order to support 1000% growth-literally-we needed to do more. So just prior to NCAAFB kickoff we had a few hours of early-morning downtime to swap over to new hardware, and it's been smooth sailing since with record traffic. Touch wood."

It's been commented on how BetOnline has been positioned for the "perfect storm" this season. When the big poker sites dropped out of the US, BetOnline added poker for their players. When other sportsbooks stopped taking US players, BetOnline ramped up their affiliate program (led by another ex-Sportsbook.com manager) to bring more in. And when even established sites stopped taking credit cards, BetOnline expanded its offering to include not only Visa but MasterCard and American Express as well.

About BetOnline.com

One of the few online sportsbooks to be legally licensed and regulated in one of the banking capitals of the world, Panama City, Panama, BetOnline's management have been servicing players from around the world for over 14 years.

With a reputation for excellent customer service, 100% payment history to players, the industry's best bonuses, a multitude of deposit methods including all popular credit cards, sports lines that appeal around the world (including live betting on English Premiership Football, PGA Championship Golf as well as MLB, NFL and NCAA football), BetOnline is now the fastest growing sportsbook featuring US sports.

In addition to sports betting, BetOnline offers a full featured online casino with 3D slots and live Texas Hold'em and Omaha Poker room. BetOnline: because you can.

For more information, see http://www.BetOnline.com.