Online Betting

[burk]

Of the online betting companies available, which do you consider the better?


Wes

[Glen]

Hello Burk, I like youbet the best because it allows you to watch the races. Winticket is good but you can't watch...just bet.

[hurrikane]

I've had a lot of problems with Winticket of late. I would wait until the smoke clears from there move before useing them.

[jbshoulda]

I have used Winticket almost everyday since September and have not had one error or problem except for not being able to use the site during the 2 days they moved. Guess I have been lucky. In Calif. we have to take what they give us and like it...........JB

[MikeDee]

I use You bet and it's OK. You can watch the race, but it is really more like listening to the race while some very small images hop accross your screen. You can't make out the numbers very well without the audio call but better then nothing.

If you have a cable modem (I don't) I understnd the video is pretty good but they only have one or 2 tracks a day the are high speed, the rest are slow and hoppy.

The betting is very solid. On line betting right up to post with a call-a-bet account. You can also call'em in to Call-a-bet if you want but I like on line wagering. They have an agreement with TVG to add the TVG tracks. ie CD inc and NYRA. When this happens (not on line yet) They will have the best coverage of any US based on-line wagering outfit. As I understand it one will need both a call-a-bet account for non-tvg tracks and a tvg account for tvg tracks.

I assume the on line wager pad will direct the wager and winnings to the right account....sounds scary will have to wait and see how this all plays out.

[hurrikane]

Gee jb...guess they like you left coast sorts. :D

[JimG]

How's this for the minority opinion. I've been a member of YouBet almost since its inception and for the most part have been a very satisfied customer. If only my Dad were alive to see how technology has come so far in this area. To be able to watch and wager on the computer is fantastic.

On another note, I have noticed this week that almost all the feeds are now at high speed for those of us with a cable modem. My guess is they are gearing up for DelMar, Saratoga, etc. and have finally begun putting in enough high speed lines. It has been really nice this week. Just wish I was winning <g>

Jim

[MikeDee]

Once they get the tvg tracks and they get most of the tracks on high speed, I may have to break down and get an dsl or cable modem.

Just saw this over at Blood Horse sounds like Y Bet players may be wagering online at DMR and SAR and AP before their meets are over

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=5139:)

[Bruce]

Has anyone tried Brisbet yet? I sent in some money to bet just to get the $100 worth of BRIS downloads in August...
(No, I'm not an HTR user, but have seen the software and have tremendous respect for it.)

Bruce.

[MikeH]

I've used Winticket since its inception last year and have been very pleased with it. I highly recommend it.

Prior to that, I used Youbet. The software is very cumbersome for a program that is essentially nothing more than a light-weight browser with a Real Player window in it. It caused my machine to freeze frequently, and I missed making bets because I would have to reboot. Two of the Youbet customer service people were very good, but there was little they could do. The other customer service people that I dealt with were very arrogant and demeaning: they thought that they knew more about computers than I did, so I was "talked down to."

Youbet has a great idea, but it is clear from the many complaints that I see that they can't execute the business properly.

Bruce - I'm like you. I'm a BRIS user with a lot of respect for HTR. I started using BRISBET, and, so far, so good...
I would assume that BRIS has a joint agreement with Winticket (now AmericaTab); and I would assume that they are essentially the same operation with different labels. I know that there were some transitional problems with the move of the servers from Ohio to Oregon, but I haven't had problems with either Winticket or BrisBet.

[MikeDee]

IMO U-Bet has improved since they moved to their new location which was at the end of last year I believe. The video is better and the system does not freeze up any more then other software does. I think we have all experienced windows freezes from time to time. I have that with Access one of microsoft's own products.

I guess weather you like the software or not is a matter of opinion. I like the CD version of the software and I think it is the best of all the online beting offerings. I have looked at win ticket and others but have not used them so this opinion is just based on look and feel, not actual use. Since I have the racing channel I know that you can bet very close to post time I frequently make wagers while they are loading them in the gate and don't get shut out. I feel this is the best feature of the UBet software.

I have never had a problem with call-a-bet on getting my winnings sent to me or any errors in my account.

I do not like the Ubet internet version of the software it is slow hard to read and a poor second to their CD version.

In 3 years I have only called customer service 3 times. Each time the discussion was unsatisfactory. When the system is down, they don't know when it will be back up. When your system freezes they don't know why. So I don't bother to call them.

In their defense I would say that are about the norm for the kind of response you get whenever call customer service for any product or service. It is my experience that it is rare that you talk to anyone that can really help you with a problem at any company.

[burk]

Thanks to all for your imput. It was helpful.

[Glen]

Just received the following email from Winticket:

"Dear America TAB Customer:

Early Saturday evening (7/28) we began experiencing technical difficulties with
the America TAB servers in our Portland location.

We are diligently trying to correct the problem, and pledge to have it fixed as
soon as possible.

Telephone wagering is not affected, and you may phone in your wagers while we
work on repairs. There are no fees for telephone wagering, and we are calling in
extra tellers for this afternoon.

We apologize for this service outage, and for any inconvenience it may cause.

Sincerely,

Todd Bowker
General Manager, America TAB"

[MtKen]

Since nobody mentioned E-horse I thought I would put in my 2 cents for them.

They actually give you a rebate from 2-5% based on the amount you bet each week & their site also has links to each tracks homepage. All of these have either/or audio & video links.
Your $ doesn't go into the mutuel pool (good for your odds, bad for the horseracing industry) & there are limits on bet sizes---too large for myself to worry about---& exotic payouts.

I've been with them for 1 1/2 months & I've been with Winticket for a few months. I get coverage of almost every track I want to bet. Lots of them are covered only by 1 service (Mnr, Wo, Emd) or are phone bets at Winticket but not at E-horse (NYRA, Ap, Crc etc).

I'd still like tracks like Yav, Fp everyday. Does Call-a-bet have them on the weekends?

[Bernie]

Mt Ken,

What is e-horse's URL? When I try e-horse.com or www.e-horse.com I get a message saying the site is under construction. Thanks.

BTW, if you don't mind going offshore, caribsports.com gives a 3% weekly rebate on all horse play. They also have dollar betting limits and are not part of the parimutual pools. They've been around since 1993.

[BMeadow]

For Bet-E-Horse, go to www.betehorse.com

Barry Meadow

[Butch]

Or, you can get a Philadelphia Park phonebet account, if you have a second phone line or cable/dsl, and use their touchtone system to make your bets. I believe Philadelphia Park also rebates a percentage of the money bet, based on how much you bet in a month, and they take/commingle bets on every track that they can legally offer.

Butch

[AlanLN]

Just got a mailing from my old Penn National account advertising www.ebetusa.com. I haven't used the phone account for awhile, I'm pretty close to an off-track facility. Is anyone familiar with this on-line servce? Being from Colorado there aren't many phone and on-line services availible. Youbet and Winticket won't accept Colorado. Seems like Autotote recently took us back after cancelling my account.
Just checked out their (ebetusa.com) demo. seemed to be ok.

[fred4now]

Have been using ebetusa since they started with no problems. They don't offer a rebate like ESB but really like the online betting versus talking to someone.