Let me preface this with a warning: this post is going to be extremely long and contains a great deal of detail and honesty. I recognize I was extraordinarily stupid in trusting Coinbet.cc, a bitcoin sports gambling site, with over a hundred thousand dollars. At the expense of my humility, I am writing this both as a warning to others as well as hoping the community will be able to provide information that allows me to seek justice. I have a digital trail a mile long that accurately and truthfully documents all dealings with Coinbet. I will share anything and everything.
"A brief history"
Everyone dreams. For some, it's shoveling six feet of snow off the driveway, throwing gloves and a santa hat on, and pretending your Kobe Bryant making the game winning turnaround over your big brother. For others, it's playing your dad's old guitar in the basement with an orgy of 100,000 screaming fans sweating and jumping hysterically in front of you. For me, it started fifteen years ago with myself grinning in front of the ESPN cameras as I flashed the World Series of Poker main event bracelet to the cameras.
You see, I started playing online poker during its infancy. I wasn't great, but everyone else was worse. Dennis Rodman didn't score much for the Bulls during their championship runs, but put him with a bunch of high schoolers and he's going to make like Kevin Durant. That's what online poker was in the early 2000's. There was money to be made hand over fist, and so I did. I was everywhere: Pokerstars, Full Tilt, UltimateBet, Planet Poker, Paradise Poker. You name it, I was there.
The problem with myself, as I came to realize years later, is that while I am exceptional at managing my money in the real world, I am equally awful at managing it online in any sort of gambling environment. So while my online bankroll ballooned to the hundreds of thousands from poker, I recklessly played higher and higher and it would inevitably come crashing down. This cycle lasted the entire span of my poker career until Black Friday, which is the day the USA put an end to online poker for Americans. I have $40000 tied up on Full Tilt, $10000 with UltimateBet, and $3500 with Pokerstars, of which only Pokerstars has paid back. I'm still waiting on my Full Tilt check. Any money I did manage to cashout, I invested in a house, my daughter's future tuition, and two of my own start-up businesses. It turned out, however, that Black Friday was a blessing in disguise, as my life transformed from obsessing over poker to concentrating full time on the business aspect of my life. I never won my bracelet, but I did manage to play in the main event when it was held at Binion's and that is one of the most memorable experiences of my life. The thrill and buzz before the tournament starts is unparalleled for a poker player and I'm extremely fortunate to have been a part of it. As it stood, the Jekyll and Hive aspect of my life was finally put to rest...well, almost.
The technology aspect associated with my business ventures made me aware of bitcoin. The more I read about it, the more I became sure that this was the future and a boatload of money to boot. I wanted as much bitcoin as possible before it took off 'to the moon' as they said, and I started accepting payment for my services in bitcoin as well as investing in them at $80 per coin. The future seemed incredibly bright, and bitcoin continued to rise slowly. However, it turned out very few people were actually paying in bitcoin, and as many of you know the price shot up to over one thousand a coin before I had managed to find the money to really invest heavily. The resulting feeling was that I had missed the boat by a few short months. I was mad that I had known about this ahead of time and hadn't been able to capitalize. The desire to increase my bitcoin holdings was so strong, and at one thousand per coin so unattainable, that I did something I've never done before. I recklessly took the coins I had to sports betting. I didn't dream of hitting the game winning three, I dreamed of becoming rich off bitcoin and had somehow convinced myself (go ahead and laugh) that the only avenue to accomplish this was sports betting.
I started off using Bitbook and incredibly proceeded to have the run only a handful of people will ever experience. My knowledge of sports was narrowly limited to NBA as I participate in a yearly fantasy league, so naturally I felt most comfortable there. I also joined a few internet forums and started following college football picks from a select few others. Obviously stupid, but not adverse to gambling from my poker years, I somehow felt entitled to these bitcoins and jumped headlong into sports. I unbelievably ran the coins I started with straight to five hundred. Three team parlays to win forty bitcoins hit at an absurdly high amount. I was running so far above expectation and the money was coming so fast I never slowed down. In fact, my bets became bigger. I started betting twenty coins on monday night football, fifty on the Super Bowl. Most importantly bitbook was actually paying lightning fast. Fifty thousand dollar cashouts between Coinbase and Bitbook took place in minutes. It was exhilarating. But as I've said before, in an online medium, I am a true degenerate, and variance caught up with me very quickly. Instead of quitting when I dropped fifty bitcoins, I doggedly dove forward and I found myself coming back to earth.
I ackowledge I have a gambling problem when it comes to sports. With poker I was a winner and even undergoing extreme fluctuations, I made enough money to support my family, buy a house, and start a few businesses. I was decent at math, odds, and had a plan of attack. But with sports, I had no idea what I was doing. I was firing off ten thousand dollar bets with no model, formula, and only a modicum amount of research..mostly by others. Much like every other problem gambler, I had achieved the heights of five hundred bitcoin and wouldn't stop until I got back. This is about the time Bitbook closed up shop, and as a way of stretching my remaining bitcoins I decided to take advantage of Coinbets 200% deposit bonus. I had read some negative stories about them, but they were still around and paying minimal amounts to people who had withdrawn. I needed a change of betting scenery so I took the plunge.
"The Coinbet saga"
I bought in to Coinbet about two months ago. While I lost at Bitbook, the fact that they had paid out hassle free furing my incredible winning streak made me turn a blind eye to the fact that other online sportsbooks are most likely full of unsavory characters with much less integrity. February 6 was when I made my first x bitcoin deposit and received my 200% bonus. It didn't take long to lose and I found myself depositing again with another bonus. This series of events repeated as detailed below:
As you can see, I was completely freefalling. I was losing just about every bet and immediately re-depositing. The bitcoins I had tried to stretch were being swallowed up. Somewhere over the next couple days bitcoin deposits became miserable. They were slow at best. Most times they took hours, even after sending in blockchain records with address and confirmations. This, coupled with the fact that their software was annoyingly buggy, increased my level of frustration. Half the time I couldn't place a wager because the bet would just jiggle in place and the other half of the time I would click the wager and it would simply disppear from my ticket like it was no longer available. The mobile version of their site was awful and forced you to tilt it to see certain screens, and also had incomplete selections for certain sports so not everything was listed. Most of this was tolerable, but the bitcoin delays were painful. I was getting crushed and 'needed' to be in action. In the midst of all this I became aware that my rollover requirement was growing. Surely each deposit had its own rollover and these couldn't be cumulative right? Not that I was in any position to cashout, but important to know going forward for when I 'hit my hot streak', right?
On February 23rd I decided to email them:
Good news, but in my mind I still had a mountain to climb before cashing out. They clarified that bonuses are not cumulative, yet I couldn't help but notice the rollover counter continuing to climb. I had now desposited ten times, only to go broke each time. Over the next two weeks (up until March 8th) I astonishingly deposited another 18 times. Most of these deposits occurred when I lost everything, although a few were just 'add-ons' when my balance got low . So even though I had gone broke at least 25 times and deposited close to 30 times, my rollover counter read:
Over two million rollover. Clearly a cumulative number, but since system was so buggy and unstable, and I was losing at breakneck speed, I hadn't put much thought into it. I had assumed that my e-mail and their response had clarified this and if I ever got out of the hole this would be taken care of. Unbelievably, that wasn't the case as you will find out.
The once lofty amount of five hundred bitcoins was crumbling, yet I pressed on. My last two deposits to Coinbet were late Saturday night (March 8th) and early Sunday morning (March 9th). The world had turned upside down in the last month and the sinking pit in my stomach made any sleep a near impossibility. As a poker player playing in the poker boom circa 1998, the movie Rounders was an instant cult classic, and the words of Mike McDermott echoed in my head:
"I've often seen these people, these squares at the table, short stack and long odds against them. All their outs gone. One last card in the deck that can help them. I used to wonder how they could let themselves get into such bad shape, and how the hell they thought they could turn it around."
This is how you let yourself get into such bad shape. I was chasing losses on a shady, lawless bitcoin site, with no one to blame but myself. Yet amazingly enough, I once again managed to go on an insane rush. I was betting everything now, not just NBA. I wanted action at all times and early morning soccer had filled the gaps in recent weeks. Today I was hitting every bet: soccer parlays, college basketball, NBA... hell just about everything. I turn what was roughly thirteen thousand in deposits plus my 150% bonus into almost two hundred thousand! I exhale and the walls closing in start to recede. During the course of the day I wagered roughly one hundred and sixty and sent Coinbet my cashout request. I'd finally become tired of the ride and wanted off this train.
I e-mail them this:
I am somewhat deflated as I realize I hadn't met my rollover requirements. This was acceptable and understandable since I had just deposited roughly thirty thousand and my rollover requirements at 10x (even though Paul's e-mail says only 3x) would be close to four hundred thousand. But of course life doesn't always give you lemonade, it gives lemons too.
I e-mail inquiring what my remaining rollover is to process my cashout. Since bonuses aren't cumulative and I've gone broke each and every time, I want to know how much more I need to wager before I can cashout.
And am finally given this 'explanation':
I check to make sure it's not April 1st. Nope. This is a real e-mail. Coinbet has decided to change the game on the fly and completely contradict what they had told me previously. Apparently bonuses have become cumulative, in a matter of speaking. This is utterly outrageous and doesn't make a bit of sense. Everytime I had lost previously, the main page showed my balance as $0. Zero. Look at the screenshot of the lobby.
There was absolutely no way of knowing that I was leaving just a few cents in my account, unless you go to a secondary section under the transactions page and ONLY what you have deposited. Here's what it looks like:
You can see there that my last 2 deposits from March 8th (date isn't listed) shows that my balance was just a few cents. But without scouring the site's transaction page, this is impossible to know. And they are claiming that since I never 'zeroed out the account' the recent deposit are now mixed in with the old. A flurry of e-mails is exchanged in which they acknowledge you can't see cents on the main page:
As far as the balance showing in the top right. Yes, it does not show cents, even though logic would imply that there's some sort of cents remaining on bets/winnings that are not whole dollars, but as I said, this isn't about cents. You've left whole dollar amounts leftover from bonuses in your account several times. Not just a couple dollars, but often hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars, then collected additional bonuses on top of it.
Certainly you saw THOSE funds, in whole dollar amounts, in the top right corner before and after making your following deposit.
This is incredulous. Logic would imply that I should have somehow known I had a balance containing cents? This is beyond shady totally unreasonable. In the prior e-mail he also offers to zero out the balance and reset the rollover requirement, while also cutting the wagering requirement to 1/4th what it is, but of course none of that happens. I've won entirely too much at this point and there will be no bending. Now I have to go through the entire 2.2 million.
I am incensed by this and argue for days but they don't budge. I consider my options..but really what are they? I decide to make everyone aware of how shady this site is by posting in every possible forum what is happening. People need to be aware of what the hell they are getting into. Prior to doing this, however, I become aware of their Terms and Conditions which state:
* By joining CoinBet.cc, you agree to keep all experience, winnings, losses, payouts, disputes, and gameplay confidential and are forbidden from releasing any information publicly, including but not limited to, message boards, news agencies, forums, blogs, or other websites, without the express written consent of CoinBet.cc. Any information publicized without the express written consent of CoinBet.cc will result in immediate termination of the account in question and forfeiture of any winnings or account balances.
Upon researching other online sportsbooks, it becomes clear that this is the only one that contains such wording. If I post anything anywhere, they can terminate my account and seize my funds. Another strong arm tactic to prevent anyone from discrediting this more than probable fraudulent site. I am becoming increasingly frightened at this point that I will likely never see my money. I'm at a crossroads and I decide my best chance to see the money is to just clear this new, absurdly high requirement. If I risk posting now, the chance of seeing my money becomes roughly nil. I start to bet like a complete mad man. I have to put in roughly two hundred thirty $10,000 bets to clear this which is simply insane, but it's now become bet it or lose it.
Just making up crap about cents now saying they wouldn't even fit...
A couple days later version 2.0 is rolled out and several new issues spring up. I go to bed on March 12th having approximately $159,000 in my account, but quite a few winning bets pending from college basketball.
When I wake up the next morning, the new version was out but my money isn't there from the winning wagers. I e-mail asking where the money is and they respond by asking me for the wagers I'm missing. This is absolutely incredible since all wagers and history were completely wiped after the version 2.0 rollout. Forunately, because things are becoming dicey, I have started taking screen shots of everything.
So I send this to Coinbet:
Current Account Value: $159,014
From top to bottom:
Utah State Spread (won) +19,708.70
Utah State half (loss)
Old Dominion Spread (won) +19,174.30
Old Dominion half (loss)
Barcelona -2 (loss)
Barcelona -1 (push) +10,000
Georgia Tech -1.5 (won) +18.849.60
Auburn Spread (loss)
Auburn Half (loss)
PSG -1 (push) +10,000
total winnings: 77,732.60 (+159,014) = $236,746.60
That's just the bottom of the email I sent. The top is the actual wagers with the wager ID from the screenshots so there can be no confusion. Even though the exact amount I'm due is spelled out clearly, they still give me less ($77,000 even to be exact) with this email:
For those of you who were around the day of the new rollout, it happened shortly before the NBA games started. All the bets listed above started LONG before that which means me I placed those wagers well in advance of their 2.0 rollout e-mails. The insinuation that these were placed AFTER is absolutely ludicrous. Yet this isn't the only issue.
The rollover requirement counter is now missing from their software! I'm frantically betting now knowing that I need to clear roughly 2.2million, and I need to do it fast. I need to either win and possibly get paid or lose and let everyone know what is happening. But with the 'improved version 2.0', my bets are no longer tracked on the new platform as far as rollover is concerned so I am forced to manually calculate it. I have hundreds of screenshots documenting all my bets made between the time they gave me my 2.2 million requirement and the new 2.0 version was rolled out. By my estimate I was down to roughly 1.5 million using the requirements from the previous counter:
For the next week the only 2 things i do are wager like a madman and continually ask for my remaining rollover:
Fast forward to March 19th. I had gone a week betting insane amounts. I must have walked four hundred miles in my own house sweating each bet. So far, so good. I had avoided going broke. I have abided by every single change they have made to me on the fly, and by my calculations and documented bets I have cleared the remaining 1.5 million rollover. I am completely strungout at this point and my nerves are frazzled. I feel like I'm on the tail end of a week long coke bender. I send my cashout request and pray it is completed, allowing me to put to rest the worst few weeks of my life. Hope is all I have at this point, but again it doesn't pan out. My cashout is rejected, as I've somehow managed to not meet the requirement again.
I send them:
Below is the email between us when my rollover requirement was 2.2milion from the 10th when we started this. since then I've bet various daily amounts below (rough estimates based on screen shots and such) Saying my rollover requirement is still above $500,000 seems insane to me. My figures can't possibly be off by over $400,000
There is currently $1,665,000 in my transaction history since the new system update going back to march 13th
i bet $320,000 on march 12th.
i bet $230,000 on march 11th
below is the email from you on the 10th when my requirement was 2.2mil
And their unbelievable response:
“Always been that way”... since about 1 minute ago apparently. I have very specific e-mails from Coinbet telling me otherwise, as well as the documented rollover counter from version 1.0. They have just retroactively moved the sports bet odds requirement from 1.8 to 1.9. Are you kidding me? My head is pumping and my eyes hurt. I cleared my rollover (again) and have wagered somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million+ and now they come back with new odds, like a circus clown magician snapping his fingers. Color me surprised. This puts the previous issues to shame. They have moved from the realm of being extraordinarily shady to blatantly lying and outright changing the rules on me. But I've managed to come this far and Michael Bolton is singing I Can Go the Distance, so come hell or high water I might as well let it play out to the conclusion. Can't be much longer right?
I manage to 'casually' put in another five hundred thirty two thousand worth of bets. I'm winning too, but it almost doesn't matter at this point. In fact, I'm scared that the more money I win the less chance I have of getting paid. The thought crosses my mind to lose down to a manageable amount, but I dismiss it. I haven't put over 5 million in bets to just throw it away now.
I have almost four hundred thousand in my account with a laughable 'accurate rollover number' from the 19th. I compile a list of every bet that meets the criteria of 1.9 odds since the 19th: sixty-four $10,000 bets.
I'll list them below for everyone to see along with my e-mail to them:
I've just cashed out again. Before you reject it or your system rejects it here is proof I've met your goal.
64 $10,000 bets which meet your 1.9 criteria since you said "Also, btw, your remaining rollover is below:
532860 "
This should MORE than cover the remaining rollover.
1-9268
2-9267
3-9264
4-9263
5-9228
6-9227
7-9225
8-9224
9-9217
10-9216
11-9199
12-9181
13-9175
14-9159
15-9120
16-9119
17-9118
18-9116
19-9081
20-9080
21-9079
22-9070
23-9067
24-9065
25-9064
26-9063
27-9062
28-9060
29-9053
30-9045
31-9043
32-9039
33-9038
34-9037
35-9036
36-9016
37-9015
38-9014
39-8963
40-8945
41-8944
42-8939
43-8936
44-8935
45-8934
46-8933
47-8932
48-8884
49-8881
50-8868
51-8866
52-8863
53-8840
54-8839
55-8838
56-8836
57-8835
58-8834
59-8832
60-8751
61-8750
62-9276
63-9289
64-9290
These bets dont even take into account what I wagered on March 23rd. Regardless, I'm well over the rollover amount at this point. For those of you with accounts, all you have to do is check your transaction history and substitute my game numbers for yours and you can verify that I placed those bets. So once again I send my cashout. I am morbidly curious as to what will happen.
I am met with this e-mail:
A vague, confusing e-mail admitting mistakes by their own support. What it doesn't do is process my cashout. Nor does it tell me I have met the rollover requirement. And as of today, April 18, the rollover requirement has never been added to the transaction page. A quick google search for "Michael Carter Coinbet" returns with a link containing one Michael Carter, CTO of DCE24 rolling out a new Bitcoin exchange called BitSource. Also conveniently on the web page was a 'sponsored ad' by Coinbet. The timing of this new e-mail from Michael Carter with Bitsource's new exchange platform seems too coincidental to me. Obviously circumstantial, but enough for me to believe there is a link here to be found. I e-mail and ask if he was one and the same, knowing the response would be in the negative, but sublety letting him know there might be a storm coming soon. Not suprisingly he confirmed that it was not him, but the 'sponsored ad' was gone hours later. Not just the ad, but the entire page was re-worked to remove that particular section.
And so it starts again...me asking for what's remaining:
and we're back to square one again. he's admitting that only some of my desposits were on top of cents, but all that is irrelevant at this point. I HAVE NOW PLAYED THROUGH 2.2 MILLION AT 1.8 ODDS, THEN 2.2 MILLION AT 1.9 ODDS, yet we're back to the BS cents issue because we have to come back around to that to cover their asses for the next raping, er, increase in my rollover. However, now we enter the negotiation stage of my relationship with coinbet. from here on out its all about them stalling with evasive deals that never pan out.
So based on the last email desperation is setting in and I e-mail an attempt to get me something before it's too late:
Time seems to drag on for an eternity when the weight of over three hundred thousand dollars is hanging in the balance. I'm antsy and frustration is kicking in hard now. I want to lash out and I hope that connecting him to Bitsource, true or not, will have some kind of effect. The days are dragging on and i'm trying to get information as much as possible:
the stalling continues:
I want to lash out and I hope that connecting him to Bitsource, true or not, will have some kind of effect.
it seems to have had some effect because they've escalated to legal counsel and hopefully a resolution is coming soon right...? I mean it works for me right? now i can just cash it all our and sever my relationship with these people. to me the above email and below quote is the ideal solution. no settlement, no more negotiations, just what i rightfully deserve and earned! But nothing with coinbet is ever easy.
"You've asked that we consider a couple different options regarding settling out your account. It seems to be in all parties best interest to settle you out and terminate the account completely, as opposed to going with the option to receive a bonus on any remaining funds. Given the nature of our discussions and the deteriorating tone of your communications, it's probably best to just go separate ways at that point.
We will also require that you sign a settlement agreement that spells out the terms of this settlement, and includes non-disclosure terms, as well as an acknowledgement that the settlement is complete and whole and no further compensation is due to you.
If you can agree to that, I can have our legal counsel draft the agreement and we can move forward with it.
-Michael"
Well, perhaps I touched a nerve here. Good. I quickly agree to a settlement and am willing to sign a non-disclosure agreement, even though the money is mine fairly and I should have to do no such thing. This is truly my last gasp and I know I'm just being tricked again, but what choice do I have?
I e-mail the following:
This was March 31st. I am once again delayed and at their mercy. I am forced to sit and wait this out as their lawyers 'prepare the documents'. He remains in communication over the next week telling me they are working on it and that I should have it soon, but I've heard the song before and the dance is getting old. Two weeks pass and I'm assured on Wed they will have the settlement agreement all prepared.
Once again I am forced to chew on my nails and wait. This is pure agony, but I can't just throw any chance I have down the well. April 17 seemingly takes one year to arrive, but arrive it does. A new e-mail flashes into my inbox and I hope with nervous anticipation:
So I've been waiting three weeks to find myself right back in the negotiations phase. Surprise! Option two is clearly a joke. I want no part of this business and I'm sure as hell they have no interest in me being some kind of 'tremendous asset' and 'advisor' after all we've been though. Option three is also absurd as I've 'played through' my rollover many times over already. I simply can't meet requirements that are upped every time I complete the last one. So that leaves option one which I thought we had agreed to three weeks ago. Cash me out and I'll sign the agreement, yet here we are again somehow.
This is the feedback I'm getting right now:
So they admittedly don't have cold storage bitcoins to payout on a bitcoin gambling sportsbook. That in itself speaks volumes about how this company operates. They have to actually buy bitcoins to pay people out, because they "can't drain our coins for one player, for obvious reasons". Wow. Alternatively, they are generously offering to refund my last deposit for six thousand, while closing my three hundred thousand dollar account...but I'd still have to negotiate that of course. Or, or, just simply play through the new requirements again!
And with that, I made up my mind to go public. Coinbet has lied and absued me for 2 months and there is no more use in waiting for a cashout that will never come.
"The end of the road"
oh wait, we have one more shot at a negotiation late last night. i wonder how this will play out.
And so here we are. $340,000 that will never be paid, a non-disclosure settlement agreement that has never been prepared, and an incredible amount of anxiety, frustration, and fear that cannot be restored. Hope is a powerful emotion. It lets your mind believe in the impossible and gives you a reason to put faith in things that likely don't exist. I followed this path for the past month on the hope that somehow, some way a resolution existed. But when the lights go down and the bar closes, it's time to go home. I am exposing Coinbet for what they are. This doesn't mean I am finished of course. A lifetime to spend bringing these people to justice would not be enough, but I will do everything in my power to make it happen. Anyone with information to help/share would be greatly appreciated. I will gladly donate bitcoin if the information provided leads to any kind of conviction. Lastly, I wold appreciate if everyone who reads this could repost on every forum possible (reddit, twoplustwo, bitcointalk, etc). Thank you.
At this point the reader has to understand that I feel my odds of ever getting money out of this scumbag site are almost 0. By posting this review and informing for the bitcoin, poker, casino, and sportsbetting communities I’ve violated coinbets most sacred of T&C’s which is posting any information about their site (or in this case revealing the extent and depth of their fraud). Since by posting this there’s 0% chance I get paid now you have to know what I felt like my true odds are getting paid were before posting this.
I do have an offer for anyone who reads this. I will give a 5 bitcoin bounty to anyone who finds me any accurate information (that I don’t already have) on the scammy scumbag losers who work for or run this site as long as it leads to me my payout, prosecution, conviction, jailtime, or whatever, that either I or my attorney can use to hunt these f*ckers down. Also I would greatly appreciate it if anyone who is a member of another sportsbook forum or review site, twitter, reddit, anywhere and everywhere just repost this for all to see. My misery aside I don’t think one more person should be scammed by these people.
I have infinite other screenshot supporting my 4-5million in betting, i still have another 100-200 emails i didn't list, and yet the one thing i dont have is my $340,000 in bitcoins. its been a painful long road, but i'm left knowing that there is a sale in the works of this company and everything done to me was to keep all my winnings and keep their good name so a huge sale goes through. maybe the next owners will be more legitimate. one last screenshot of their original (and perhaps current) T&C which clearly states that once i get "something stipulated in writing by an approved representative" which takes precedence. not sure how all the emails from customer service rep paul and CTO mike dont qualify, much less the 300 emails and 300 screenshots i have supporting my case, but its their scammy world, i'm just donating to the crooks...
