Who needs to earn money the slow way? Why not just say, screw our rep, and scam players for all we can. We'll be fine.
That has to be the way BetUS thinks. They've been in business since 1994, which is a total shock, because they've not had a good reputation at all in the last 20 years. They steal their players' money, cuss them out on the phone and manage to do this while spending players' funds on themselves. Case in point – Joey Rizzo, one of the owners, recently got married. He spent millions on real estate for him and wife, yet players and affiliates continue to go without. [1]
These guys are real class acts…. and hopefully you manage to avoid them. This page should give you all you need to know.
BetUS.com doesn't have an online help desk for customer service, but you can call them on the phone. You can only get help from BetUS.com one way that we know of and that is by phone. And again, if you didn't realize it was an option and you'd rather have a dialog with somebody, you can actually phone them.
Joey and Tommy Rizzo Are The Owners
The company is owned and ran by the Rizzo brothers, Joey and Tommy. BetUS operates out of San Jose, Costa Rica and are a D+ rated book by SBR. Given their history, a D+ sounds generous.
Larry Hartman also played a role in BetUS, and the Angelciti Group. The Angelciti Group used to run Realtime Casinos back in the day and earned the reputation for not paying players when they won large jackpots. He was recently arrested and shipped to Florida to be charged. Experts say that this could eventually lead to the US government learning intel that could later be used against the Rizzo brothers. [2]
We can only hope.
What Scams Have They Done?
Where do we begin? They've had 20 years to pull their scams, and I have only a few minutes to pull the biggest ones and condense them for you to read. Cry me a river, I know. Anyway, here are some of the most publicized scandals.
Chase System Referral
- Live Chat: Yes Service Hours: Bets accepted 24/7 BetUS offers a reasonable range of sports to bet on and some interesting props. And there is a specific section for live betting.
- Chatting with BetUS.com Customer Service GetHuman always knows the way to live chat with a company like BetUS.com when it's available. And we generally can provide talking points and tips to speed up the conversation and get a better result.
With this scam, players that would visit the SportsBettingChamp.com website and purchase John Morrison's system would automatically get worse lines at BetUS. Morrison would release a play, the player would click on the link, and BetUS would deal a higher priced line for that specific game/player. Players were charged 4x the standard bookmaker commission. [3]
BetUS Confiscates Winnings
Something that BetUS is known for is not paying players their winnings. This has happened more times than we can count, and even goes back to their casino days. They confiscated funds using a number of excuses, such as suspecting that the player is a pro or apart of a betting syndicate, the player won too much or they didn't finish their wagering requirements, even though they (probably) did.
Here are a couple of examples of this thievery in action. [4]
1. A player made a bet back in August, 2010. He deposited about $5,000 to his account, increasing his balance to $27,000. Then BetUS took $5,274 from his account, saying that he made several illegal (correlated parlay) wagers, even though BetUS' software was programmed to accept them. In other words, it wasn't the player's fault. He later had his account closed.
2. A player deposited $1,000 to take advantage of a 100% freeplay. The promotion had a 12x rollover and 60 day hold (which becomes important later on). He risked the entire freeplay on a MLB bet with +140 odds. He won and increased his balance to nearly $3,000, which he placed all of on a -150 MLB moneyline. While that bet was pending, he found that he couldn't access his account anymore. He contacted support and was told that his account was closed due to non-recreational play. His bet cleared, won and brought his balance up to almost $5,000. However, when the player requested a withdrawal he only received $3,516, which didn't include his freeplay winnings. Because his account was closed he couldn't finish the 12x rollover, thus prohibiting him from collecting on the offer.
3. In September 2011 a player requested a $1,000 payout and still wasn't paid as of December 2011. According to SBR that was the 3rd complaint of that type within just a few weeks.
These are just a few of the many complaints to come from BetUS victims customers. There was another report of a player settling on a 6-figure balance (that was rightfully theirs) for $40,000.
Scam Techniques Used At BetUS?
There's nothing special about the scams pulled off at BetUS.
What BetUS is doing is leaning on their terms and conditions, using technicalities like their recreational clause. If you win a lot of money, even if it was a fluke, they'd assume you were a professional, point to their T&Cs and not pay you. And if it was clear as day the money was rightfully yours, they'll try to make a settlement with you. Most players accept the settlements, too, because in their minds some money is better than no money.
Can you blame them? I don't think so…
And in other cases BetUS just takes their sweet time in paying you. So, all-in-all, BetUS isn't doing anything tricky. They're blatantly stealing from you, pure and simple.
Knowing this, I would (obviously) recommend staying away from BetUS, or any website or company they might own. Don't just nod your head either – actually follow this advice. There's no reason for the Rizzo brothers to continue to get away with this, when there is proof that they're ripping off players. If you're not sure where to play, ask your friends. Where do they like to place bets? Who pays them on time? Can other punters vouch for those books, too? If so, that's where you sign up to, and nowhere else.
They Are Still At It!
Yes, surprisingly. In fact, be aware that BetUS may have additional sites used to acquire new customers. Be sure to read the about page, forums and look up the sportsbooks IP / server details before you sign up. Make sure they're not associated with BetUS or any of their parent/sister sites.
The BetUS site is still open and accepting unsuspecting players. Please avoid these guys.
Associated Websites & Operations
BetUS once owned BestSportsbookReview.com [5], which was laid out as a review site. Unsurprisingly, they used the site to heavily promote their own brand. The site isn't live anymore, but I wouldn't put it past them to have other sites online.
Additionally, BetUS is a sister site/company of the Angelcity Group. This company is comprised of many casinos which include, Angelciti Casino, Vacation Casino, Welcome to Our Casino, Netgaming Casino, eMazing Casino, Star-bright-Casino, Casino Paycheck affiliate program, Road Runner Casino, Lucky Dog Casino, Que Pasa Casino.
Betus Live Chat Online
I think it goes without saying that you should avoid these casinos, as well as BetUS, at all costs.
Sources
[1]Gambling Mogul Gets Married – CalvinAyre article about Joey Rizzo's recent marriage ceremony.
[2]Larry Hartman Arrested – CalvinAyre.com discusses the arrest of Larry Hartman, and the repercussions it may have on the Rizzo brothers.
[3]Covers.com discusses the Chase System sportsbetting scam.
[4]BetUS at SBR – covers all the reports, complaints and up/downgrades to BetUS' ratings over the years.
[5]SBO BetUS Scam – Details on how they created a shill/copycat site to promote their scam.
Update (September 2020) – We are pleased to report that BetUS has undergone a total relaunch since we reported the issues outlined on this page.
The old team has been kicked to the curb, with new management and new investors in place to breathe new life into the brand. BetUS may have been established in 1994, but it's most certainly a new beginning for the online sportsbook. Everyone involved is determined to build a new reputation. We aren't quite sold on the bold claim of BetUS being 'America's Favorite Sportsbook', but we are excited about the revised platform.
Read our BetUS review to discover why we now consider this sportsbook a premier destination for US bettors.
BetUS has a notorious history in the offshore industry and has taken players for hundreds of thousands of dollars at minimum since their inception in 1994. The book has a terrible reputation with US-based online sports bettors and has been one of the major offshore targets for their vitriol in the last decade plus.
In this article, we go over just some of the scams and tactics used by BetUS's management over the years. There have been so many problems and complaints regarding this sportsbook that we could write three separate articles on their poor business practices and deception.
From reneging on bonus offers, changing terms and conditions on the fly and confiscating winnings from players with little explanation – this book is truly shameless.
Enticing Bonus and Website
We almost feel like a broken record when writing about these scam sportsbook articles, because we keep warning players about the same things over and again.
Like we've said about other scam sportsbooks in the past, appearances can be deceiving. BetUS has one of the nicest looking websites which offers a sleek and professional look[1] Their betting engine is excellent, and they have a large array of betting options, including live betting and mobile wagering.
On top of all that, they offer a litany of different deposit bonuses based on the amount players wish to deposit. The bonuses could go as high as $5,000 depending on how much a player makes with his first deposit.
But, BetUS does not stop there. They offer frequent reloads and VIP membership rewards program, as well.
Wow, it sure sounds like we're shilling out BetUS to sports bettors, but that could not be further from the truth. BetUS touts to their players that they have the 'the biggest bonuses in the business' which may be true, at least on paper.
However, players that win will realize they will have a hard time collecting their money from BetUS. All these bonus amounts and promotions do not cost the book anything unless they actually have to pay. Something that BetUS seems to pride itself in not doing.
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Last updated: February 2020
Even A Scam In The Heyday
Many online betting sites that were once industry leaders in the early to mid 2000s are now closed, and some have run off with player funds. Don't get us wrong, there are still many active in the industry, but the UIGEA and the US DOJ's crackdown on online sports betting seriously hurt the business.
Before the UIGEA passage in 2006, the online gambling world was growing at an exponential rate and online sportsbooks had been taking in hundreds of millions of bets each year. Oddsmakers who played it safe and understood the industry has a much better chance of being successful back then compared to today. That's not to say that there were not still excellent options for US players now, but they were much better 10 years ago.
Even back then, circa 2004, BetUS was known as a scam sportsbook with a poor reputation. SBR first began reporting on BetUS in 2002 and had complaints of the book slow playing players. Even in this time of quick and simple payment processing for US players, (Neteller, other e-wallets) BetUS was regularly weeks or months late with withdrawal requests to players.
This news article on The RX details a situation where a player had $25,000 in funds in limbo with BetUS and had to settle for a deal for 2/3rds of his balance out of fear of losing the whole thing.[2] It also goes into the history behind BetUS and the two brothers that were once a part of NASA Sports but now both ran separate sportsbooks. One went on to run BetUS and the other BetOnSports.
The article did not have much nice to say in regards to the two Rizzo brothers, Joey and Tommy.
An anonymous sportsbook owner stated, ‘In this business, your word is your bond, if you say you are going to do something, you do it. THESE guys did not honor their word with me. After that, I wanted nothing more to do with them. The last thing I wanted was to have someone accidentally affiliate myself or my company with them.'
Players were forced to forfeit some of their winnings due to supposed non-recreational play and winning too much from bonuses or free plays – even though there were no restrictions on how much they could win via their bonus. Management also accused players of syndicate play or non-leisure play, another charge that came with almost no evidence.
Bettors were forced to negotiate for their fairly won balance with BetUS – because if they did not – they risked getting stiffed for the amount, even their original deposits. Players settled for substantially fewer amounts than they were entitled to receive. One player reportedly settled for $40,000 despite being owed a small six figure sum.
Scam Copycat Site
BetUS once owned and operated a domain at 'bestsportsbookreview.com' which was designed to be a Sportsbook Review knockoff site. The site, not so shockingly, heavily promoted BetUS and picked them as their top recommended bookmaker.
The site was run directly from the sportsbook themselves and had a fake affiliate or advertiser as a cover up to their true intentions. This is a disgusting way to do business and without a doubt misled thousands of players into depositing at BetUS.
More Problems and One Dastardly Scam
In the next several years, forums and watchdog sites were full of complaints from players who had funds suck at BetUS or felt the wrath of management. This included altering bets after the wagers had been settled, voiding bonuses and winnings from bonuses and much more.
However, there was one tactic pulled by BetUS that might be the worst display of behavior we've ever seen from a rogue online sportsbook.
This story broke via SBR, and there was a lengthy discussion at Covers Forum in regards to BetUS' scam[3][4]. A handicapper named John Morrison, the man behind the 'John Morrison Chase Betting System' was working with BetUS.com to scam players. We assume the two had a lucrative affiliate type deal where Morrison received a large percentage of the players' losses to BetUS.
Referring players to an online sportsbook for a percentage of the profits is perfectly respectable and how many webmasters make their living today. But, if that was all John Morrison and BetUS we would not be talking about them.
Things took a turn for the worse when players discovered that BetUS was offering alternate lines to John Morrison referred clients. For instance, if Morrison's service pick was New York +7, BetUS would offer a line of +5 or +5.5 to those were referred by Morrison.
SBR verified that the alternate lines were only on picks that were released by Morrison's service and always hurt the players that followed and paid for the picks. Because of BetUS's line movement in relation to this play, bettors were being charged an effective price of -140 for their wagers as they were at least 1.5 points off the market price.
This despicable scam is a massive breach of players' trust and highway robbery for a criminal tout in John Morrison and criminal sportsbook, BetUS.
The Future for BetUS?
BetUS is still receiving loads of complaints from players from lack of payment to bait n' switch bonus scams and everything in between. Thankfully, for players, complaints are becoming less and less common as BetUS has absolutely spoiled any shred of dignity they had in the offshore industry.
Avoid BetUS at all costs.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Betus Live Chat
Is BetUS safe?
No and there are much better sportsbooks to use in the US. There are many examples of BetUS scamming their customers and we recommend visiting one of our top US Sportsbooks.
What is an alternative to BetUS?
We strongly recommend using proven betting providers with good reputation. At SBO.net our team prepared a list of the best sportsbooks for US users based on factors like licensing, reputation and bonus
Betus Live Chat Sites
Are US sportsbooks legal?
US sportsbooks are legal, but they are only permitted to take bets in certain states e.g Nevada. Many states across the US are currently reviewing their gambling laws so it's becoming more common to bet legally.
What should I know before I start betting online?
Despite most sportsbooks being trustworthy, there are some that are an exception to the rule. We recommend you do a small background check before you start betting. The key things to look out for include licensing, reputation and customer service. These are all thing our team consider before recommending sites.
Refrences
[1] www.betus.com.pa – BetUS Homepage
[2] Angelciti / BetUS Saga More Insatiable Than… – The Rx Forum
[3] Sports Betting & Handicapper Scam: SBR investigates – SBR Newswire
[4] BetUS and John Morrison scam exposed – Covers Forum
