VietBet
KEY INFO
VietBet was acquired by 5Dimes in 2008 (leaving YouWager), along with other sister sites called ChineseBookie and BetAnySports. Basically, they use the same customer representatives and their lines are identical.
If you haven’t done it yet, I invite you to read my 5Dimes review since most of the content also applies to VietBet. I won’t be duplicating the content here, I’ll stick to elements that seem to differ from 5Dimes.
QUICK FACTS
Established in 2002
Located in Costa Rica
customerservice@vietbet.eu
Part of the 5Dimes ownership family, which also includes BetAnySports, ChineseBookie, Sportbet, Island Casino, Nicabet and Bombaybets.
pros
Tempting promotions: The bonus offer is fairly interesting. You receive a 20% free play up to $200 from VietBet, no matter if it is your first deposit (signup bonus) or not (reload bonus). The promotion comes with a 5 times rollover requirement on the deposit+bonus amount, which is a fair demand considering it is a lower barrier than what most sportsbooks compel (some have a 10x requirement and sometimes even much higher). The bonus is not awarded automatically; you MUST contact them within 24 hours of the deposit or else you won’t be getting it. If you are from outside North America, the maximum bonus is reduced to $50. Another important thing to know is you cannot have an account at another of their sister sites: 5Dimes, Sportbet, Island Casino, ChineseBookie, Bombaybets, Nicabet or BetAnySports.
cons
Ambiguous withdrawal rules: The free payout eligibility rules are not clear. VietBet's website stipulates free payouts are only available for certain methods. Which ones? I asked Andy from the live chat who transferred me to an account manager called Peter. He insisted on getting my email address and phone number prior to answering my question. It was just a simple query, no need to get my personal information for that… So the question was left unanswered since I left. There are a couple of other requirements if you wish to withdraw free of charge like having placed bets in the past four weeks and not having requested a payout in the last 30 days.
Steep withdrawal fees: I strongly advise that you check your eligibility before asking for a payout because the fees are fairly exaggerated: $80 for a cashier’s check, $80 for a bank wire (on top of what your bank might charge you) and between $30 and $70 for person to person money transfers. Most sportsbooks charge $50 for checks, which is already expensive, so $80 looks like a steal to me.
- Bitcoin
- Person to Person (Western Union, MoneyGram)
- Bank Wire
- Cashier's Check (must be between $1000 and $3000)
- Bitcoin
- Person to Person (Western Union, MoneyGram)
- Credit or debit card
- Money Order
STORY 1
A forum poster called “theprotege03” says he has been a VietBet/5Dimes customer for five years. He has made several deposits via the person to person money transfer MoneyGram over the years. One day, the sportsbook gave him a receiver’s name that is on MoneyGram’s black list. Now, the transaction won’t go through. MoneyGram insists on getting the receiver to verify his identity, but he wouldn’t comply. The bookmaker told him to “take it as a loss”...
SOURCE: http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=9&sub=102127934
ANALYSIS: A couple of posters have raised a good point: when the receiver doesn’t pick up the money, the sender should have no problem getting refunded (minus the fees). It’s his money. The original poster just replies “MoneyGram wouldn’t refund me” without further explanations. Weird. Anyway, the goal here is to evaluate sportsbooks and in this case it doesn’t look like they have been very helpful with a player that admits having lost quite a bit of money with them in the past. They were responsible for the transaction not going through by using a name that was banned by MoneyGram.
STORY 2
A player claims he made a deposit, only to be kicked out right away by VietBet/5Dimes.
SOURCE: http://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=9&sub=101900661
ANALYSIS: Considering the limited details about the situation, I’m going to be taking this complaint with a grain of salt.
The acquisition by the 5Dimes group helped VietBet tremendously. Its reputation took a boost, not to mention the added resources. As mentioned in my 5Dimes review, I especially like their reduced lines. Most beginners underestimate the importance of this factor in a big way. Getting a good price on all of your bets provides much more value than the sexy bonus offers. Most of the time, sportsbooks either offer nice bonuses or competitive lines. In this case, we are getting both! The number of markets is also impressive, as well as the prop bets selection.
That being said, I did not rate 5Dimes nearly as high as almost all sportsbook review websites, who seem to be in love with them despite a phletora of stories about credit card fraud suspicions. Moreover, 5Dimes’ GM and head linesman Tony Williams is very well-known for the wrong reasons by sports bettors on discussion forums. He has a reputation of not treating its customers very well, to say the least (read an unbelievable story where he physically threatened a customer). I have had to deal with him personally on several occasions in the early 2000s and I still remember the very unpleasant phone calls. Is he involved with 5Dimes only, or also VietBet? I couldn’t tell. But I felt like it was important to let you know about this situation.
