WagerWeb
QUICK FACTS
Established in 1999
Located in Costa Rica
support@wagerweb.com
WagerWeb mainly caters the US market.
For those of you who have been in the sports betting industry for a while, you might have known them as BetCBS. They were forced to change names in 2004 because they were violating CBS Inc.’s trademark, so they made the switch to WagerWeb.com. They eventually switched to WagerWeb.ag in 2013 in order to avoid getting in trouble with US gaming regulations.
The parent company is called Casablanca Gaming.
pros
Inviting bonuses: WagerWeb’s bonus program is interesting and offers three different options to choose from (note: the maximum bonus amount is not specified on their Promotions page, or General Rules, or Terms & Conditions):
- “High Bonus Special”: You either get a 50% cash bonus or a 75% free play that comes along a 15 times (15x) rollover requirement (which is pretty harsh). One more limitation: you cannot bet more than 20% of your deposit amount on a single wager throughout the rollover period.
- “High Roller Bonus”: You either get a 20% cash bonus or a 30% free play that comes along a 10 times (10x) rollover requirement. No limitations with respect to the size of your largest bet.
- “Elite Bonus”: You either get a 10% cash bonus or a 15% free play that comes along an 8 times (8x) rollover requirement. By selecting this option, you are automatically eligible for the sportsbook cashback, which consists of giving you 1% cash back every Monday (i.e. WagerWeb will give you a free play equivalent to 1% of your total volume from the past week, where “volume” is defined as the lesser of the “risk” and “to win” amounts from each bet). I do recommend that you pick this option.
Honest payout rules: Their rules pertaining to withdrawals are fair. More specifically, you are entitled a free payout every 30 days and the limits per method are reasonable. As a matter of fact, you can withdraw up to $3000 by check or bitcoin, while bank wires and sportsbook transfers are limited to $10,000. Those limits are suitable for the vast majority of players. Finally, person to person money transfers like Western Union and MoneyGram have low limits (must be between $100 and $300), but that’s the case with almost all bookies. IMPORTANT: WagerWeb requires that you submit your free payout request only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays before noon PST (Pacific Time).
cons
Forced bonuses: I listed bonuses in the “pros” section, but one aspect is pretty uncommon with WagerWeb: they are forcing you to accept a bonus. Unexperienced gamblers may wonder “why would anyone decline a bonus?” but some bettors hate being tied to a rollover requirement and prefer to have the option of cashing out early at their own convenience.
Bizarre rule: Very few people investigate sportsbooks’ terms and conditions. In order to write informative reviews that protect you against weird rules, I do read them carefully. Here is an abnormal bonus rule I found on WagerWeb’s website: if 50% or more of your action is on baseball, they will double the rollover requirement. Ouch. Be aware of that because it can be very costly.
Bright gamblers not welcome: It’s quickly obvious that they don’t treat winners very well. Their bonus rules, as well as their terms and conditions, describe at length how they can confiscate bonuses and winnings from people who are deemed to be anything but recreational players (professional bettors, syndicates, gamblers betting steam plays/moves). Sometimes the distinction between a recreational and a professional player is not clear-cut; you might not even know what type of sports bettor you are. Such rules might make you feel uneasy.
Limited hours for client care: Customer service and wagering over the phone are not available around the clock. They open at 10 am Eastern Time and close after halftime of the last game. That’s not convenient if you need to speak to them before you go to work.
Lower-than-average betting limits: High-volume bettors won’t be served well with WagerWeb, whose wagering limits are lower than average. The absolute maximum you will find there is $5000 on NFL point spreads, which is small compared to other bookmakers accepting several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most other major sports have a $3000 limit, while smaller markets are capped at $1000.
Unsatisfying in-play wagering: If you happen to be a live betting junkie, WagerWeb is not an ideal choice for you. They offer in-play wagering on selected games only, and you won’t find many betting options (only spreads, money lines and totals).
Website glitch: Their website looks fairly good, but I found some minor problems like this one:
There is a big gap between “TERMS AND CONDITIONS APPLY” and the actual text, which is hidden by “BUST OUT BONUS”. You just can’t read the rules.
No electronic transfers: Their withdrawal methods don’t include any e-wallet options like Skrill or Neteller.
- Bitcoin
- Cashier's check
- Person to Person (MoneyGram)
- Bank wire (not available at the time of this review)
- Bitcoin
- Credit card
- Cashier's check
- Person to Person (MoneyGram)
- Bank Wire (not available at the time of this review)
STORY 1
In 2014, a player filed a bonus complaint against WagerWeb. Upon checking whether he was getting close to completing his rollover requirement, he was told by customer representatives that his live betting wagers only count 50% towards the rollover. He pointed out the lack of specification about that rule on WagerWeb’s website. The ruling was changed and the player was awarded his bonus.
ANALYSIS: Not only do I like the outcome of the dispute (since the rule was not stated on WagerWeb’s website, I do believe the player had a valid case), but I also appreciate the quick resolution. Only four days elapsed from the time the complaint was filed until the final conclusion. Good job, WagerWeb.
STORY 2
A couple of players waited more than 100 days for their withdrawal via a cashier’s check. A customer clerk had told one of them the delay would be 60 business days, which was already a lengthy time-frame. One of the players finally obtained three person to person money transfers, while the check was cancelled. However, the other player had to pay $80 in fees for every $750 money transfer, which amounts to a whopping 10.7%.
ANALYSIS: I don’t agree with the way the situation was handled by WagerWeb. Waiting more than two months for a payout is totally unacceptable. Heck, waiting more than a month is unacceptable. This is not “industry standard”, unlike what a staff member said. If WagerWeb cannot fulfill its obligations in a timely manner via a cashier’s check, they should provide alternative methods free of charge. I did not find any slow-pay complaints since 2014, so maybe things have changed and the issue has been properly addressed by management.
STORY 3
The following story is pretty unusual, as the case was settled four (4) years after the dispute began! A well-known forum poster called TrixTrix made several correlated parlays, but ran into a bad streak that led him to be down by $11,000. He reloaded his account several times and was awarded bonuses after WagerWeb had reviewed his plays. When the player finally started to win, the bookmaker confiscated his winnings. They eventually offered a settlement (a partial refund) which was declined by the player who still believed he was entitled the full amount. The sportsbook finally settled the dispute by paying the player in full.
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/40/sports-betting/wagerweb-scam-email-hilarity-1297336/
ANALYSIS: I tip my hat off to the player; he was very patient and had enough guts to decline the partial refund. WagerWeb was fully aware of the correlated parlays since they had many occasions to review the player’s activities. They were fine with his action when he was a loser, but selectively enforced their rules when he started beating them. This is very unethical; I hate it when sportsbooks act like this. That’s definitely a black mark on WagerWeb’s resume, but I’m less worried considering it happened many years ago.
STORY 4
I only found one comment about WagerWeb at the website linked below: “Another good USA bookmaker, also around for many years now. Betting has always been America’s hobby nr1. NBA, ice hockey these are the sports which Wagerweb offers a lot. Not many bets, but as we know the win lines and the live betting lines. Wagerweb is a reliable bookmaker with fast and secure payouts. Must have bookmaker for the USA player."
SOURCE: http://www.top100bookmakers.com/comments/wagerweb.php
ANALYSIS: I couldn’t find complaints or bad comments about WagerWeb on Covers.com, nor on this website either. That’s a good sign.
It’s no secret that WagerWeb has a fairly murky past. They were the subject of many complaints regarding bonuses, slow-pays and no-pays, not to mention the fact that many scam sportsbooks operated from their office (it’s not clear whether they were related to them or not). However, I do believe they are on the right path considering its pretty clean track record over the past 2-3 years. If you read the stories I reported to you above, you will notice they all happened earlier than 2015.
If you like betting large sums of money or if your main focus is on live betting action, then WagerWeb may not be a great destination for you. However, they do have attractive bonuses and a sportsbook cashback program that rewards you with 1% of your volume (applies only if you opted for the “Elite Bonus” option). This sportsbook is more focused on the North American market, so you might enjoy it more if you are American or Canadian.
