Bitcoin Sportsbook. Why are they useful?

[bitcoinsrock]

I can't post in any other forum but here is my amateur review for someone unfamiliar with bitcoins. Please tell me where I'm wrong.

Books that I've tried and one that I'm afraid to try.

Bet365 : Limit is .75 Bitcoins. Bitcoins worth close to $29 right now. You don't have an account with Bet365. There is a long address next to each wager. If GB is +2, then it says GB +2 w7eks7JKseh7las7suK?k example address. You copy that address and send .75 bitcoins to it to place a bet on GB. The problem is that there is no record of the bet. What if the line changes from +2 to +1 between the time you copy/paste the address and send the bitcoin. After the game they grade it and send winnings plus wager to your address. You have no idea if bets are accepted, cancelled or if there has been a line change until after the game.

Blockbet : Same as Bet365 but their limit is 20 bitcoins.

BTCSportsmatch : This is an exchange that has been up for 2 years and has potential. You get an actual account that you put bitcoins into so you know what has been accepted and what is not accepted. Winners pay a 1% fee and the lines are Pinny no-vig. The problem is that if there are line changes, your offer moves to the line change price and it's good unless you cancel prior to an acceptance.

BTCSportsBet is the sportsbook associated with their exchange. The hold is outrageous and unplayable.

Anonibet : The site is down at times, bets may not get graded for days and they don't return emails.

The books make generic offerings. Some don't even take NCAA hoops.

mod- Is there any way to get this to the gambling forum? They may be more likely to reply.

[Stephen Gornick]

BTCSportsBet is the sportsbook associated with their exchange. The hold is outrageous and unplayable.

I had to read up to see what "hold" is:

*For those interested, the hold percentage is configured by adding all of the implied probabilities for each team together. Implied probability is the percentage needed to break even over a long period of time at any given odds. For example, someone betting at +200 odds would need to hit exactly 33.33 percent of the time to break even. Therefore, the implied probability at +200 is 33.33 percent.

Once you’ve added all those up, it will result in a number like 120.62%. We’ll call that “x.” The hold percentage is then determined by using the formula 1 – (1/x).

Have you done (or could you do) a comparison to some of the others from this report?
 - http://www.beyondthebets.com/hold-percentages-which-books-in-vegas-offshore-are-keeping-the-most-for-themselves/

Incidentally, you can fund a 5Dimes account with bitcoins using someone who will do an account-to-account transfer:

Fund your 5dimes.com acct (a leading casino/sportsbook/poker site) using bitcoin
 - http://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=134599.0

[socrates_]

Thanks for this summary. Very helpful. Seems like blockbet.net has disappeared now and bet365 still has a low limit. Which books are you using now?