BetUS, a predominantly US-facing online gaming company, was for years referred to in the business as ‘BodogLite’ due to its insistence on hiring anyone that used to work for Bodog, as well as the way it mimicked Bodog website graphics, marketing and eCom programs. BetUS was also widely known for playing fast and loose with the rules of convention, but it now appears the rules of karma have come back to bite the site’s owners on the ass.
BetUS’ owners are American brothers who used to be partners with BetOnSports founder Gary Kaplan in an organization called NASA, before splitting in a manner that (in the eyes of many in the industry) left a dark cloud hanging over the new organization. Now rumors are circulating that the perpetrators have become the victims of similar shenanigans at the hands of their own disgruntled ex-staffers.
It’s being reported that these ex-staffers absconded with the BetUS American sports betting database and have founded a new site (also predominantly US-facing) at www.northbet.com in order to leverage this stolen property. Northbet’s ‘About Us’ section boldly states that they operate in “fully licensed jurisdictions” but neglects to identify any of them, which suggests there’s really only one — the unlicensed jurisdiction of Costa Rica. As much as we think this is BetUS’ aptly earned karma kicking it in the ass, we also think that anyone who chooses to do business with this ‘SouthParkBet’ should have their fucking heads examined.
Unfortunately, this sorry scenario also reflects negatively on Costa Rica. Though there are good organizations that choose to operate from CR, this type of behavior could not happen in London, Kahnawake, Antigua, Malta, Isle of Man, Gibraltar or the Channel Islands where there are proper regulatory bodies overseeing the industry. Could this be what was behind the recent shooting at the Hotel Del Rey, Costa Rica’s famous bookie hang out? Like they say, sow the wind, reap the whirlwind…
