Matchbook is done with US Customers....

Yea I gotcha. Just need to find out if the idea of opening a new account, getting a bank wire, withdrawing the full balance, and closing the account is a smart idea. The thought was definitely one of the first things I thought of when I heard I needed to withdraw my full balance but I'll obviously need to look into it further. Thanks for the help.

I would ask them for an intrabook transfer. See if they go for it.

Do you have 5 digits minimum in your account rangerz?

baseball is going to be very hard to beat without matchbook in my opinion, this is beyond a nightmare...

My sentiments exactly.

I am pissed beyond words right now and don't know what my plans will be for bases going forward.

Just got my Baseball Prospectus in the mail too...

had a feeling this day would come. They banned bank cards then goldpay and now this.. Baseball will be so hard to beat now.  This will seriously cut down the number of plays I make as I now have to worr about the almighty juice.    I believe 5dimes is the only option left for at least reduced juice. Anyone jave any others that offer reduced juice? So sad this da has come.. Hasn't even sunk in yet really.

email I got from them this morning:

Matchbook, the betting exchange of which you are a registered participant, is being sold effective February 28th 2011.  The new owners of Matchbook have been informed by its legal advisors that accepting wagers from anyone located within the United States might constitute a violation of United States law. Accordingly, Matchbook will no longer accept a participant located in the United States, where wagering on a sporting event or any other event in which chance predominates might be a violation of law. As a result, if you are a registered participant located in the United States, you will not be able to access your account for the purposes of placing a wager effective immediately upon the transfer of ownership of Matchbook on February 28th 2011.

The accounts of all registered participants located in the United States will be closed effective February 28th 2011.  The new owners of Matchbook will work with the affected participants to ensure that all funds remaining in the registered participants’ accounts as of February 28th 2011 will be returned to the registered participants located in the United States within 31 days from the aforesaid date. 

Registered participants whose accounts will be closed effective February 28th 2011, will be sent, via email, detailed instructions as to the procedure required to receive the funds remaining in their respective accounts as of February 28th 2011. The new ownership will provide contact information for questions from registered participants whose accounts have been closed. Participant’s funds not claimed within the 31 days will be turned over to the Antigua Financial Services Resource Commission.

The new owners of Matchbook are in no way associated or affiliated with WSEX or the previous ownership of Matchbook prior to February 28th 2011.

The new owners and management look forward to heralding a new dawn in financial prudence and stability, while continuing to offer a world class betting exchange with improved global sports offerings. Matchbook intends to expand its operations into the European and Asian markets through encouraging a steady increase in event liquidity as well as expanding payment channels into these markets. Please stay tuned for further updates in the coming weeks".
 
The Financial Services Regulatory Commission, (FSRC) the agency responsible for overseeing the online gaming industry in Antigua and Barbuda has been advised of the transfer of ownership of Matchbook and has approved the transfer to the new ownership.  The FSRC could be reached at www.antiguagaming.gov.ag .

defintley.... matchbook was the best thing going for offshore gamblers.... fortunatley for me I started requesting checks the 1st of January, i still have one left that I haven't got yet... there is just .20 cents in my account so hopefully you guys all get your money... still can't believe it literally the best thing going, probably added hundreds to my bankroll each year

Been with MB several years...definitely a big change this happened.  I have < 10K in my account, got an e-mail saying i had to get my account paid to a credit card instead of bank wire. Forgive the naivete, but  I currently don't owe anything on my credit card, does this mean I will just get a  credit for future purchases on my credit card?

Also and more importantly when I try to go to the website now I just get a blank white screen.  Is this happening to anyone else?  I have a rough idea how much $$ I have in my acocunt, but if I can't access my account, I don't know exactly how much is in there to withdraw

I remember a bit of a clash of opinion on this forum a few months back where I was talking about how MB was not paying any attention to the US customer base by not providing funding methods.  There was another poster that chimed in and talked about how MB would be sold soon, and exiting the US space.  Vanzack was on the attack on both of us blindly defending MB talking about how we were stupid, and small players and he theorized that MB was simply trying to move towards fat cats.

The handwriting was on the wall a long time ago.  Some choose to take all factors into account when looking for trends in an industry, some get a bit too emotionally involved.

MB is making a bad business move in my opinion, but none of us know if there is some gun pointed at a head behind the scenes here (as there was with Pinny).  It's a shame because it seems to me the US federal government has shifted and is moving now towards a more gambling friendly position, with less regualtion and oversight.  I see this trend continuing as well, with the continued influence of th TP on the right, and the libs on the left.  Gone are the days of the bible waving hacks from TN.

An exchange will come about to take it's place.  I'm hoping sooner than later.

 

Same problem, and I live in Germany and I didnt get the mail...I guess they have shut it down so they wont have thousands of customers being angry on them...at least they wont hear (read) about it...hope the page will be back soon...

"It's a shame because it seems to me the US federal government has shifted and is moving now towards a more gambling friendly position, with less regualtion and oversight.  I see this trend continuing as well, with the continued influence of th TP on the right, and the libs on the left.  Gone are the days of the bible waving hacks from TN."

Agree with you wholeheartedly.  New Jersey, California, Iowa, and Florida - to name a few - are looking into legalizing online gaming as a means of generating revenue.  Other state will likely follow.  Whether it happens is a whole other story, but the fact that it is being considered is a huge step in the right direction.  The federal government has piled up an enormous amount of debt.  State and local governments are either bankrupt or flat-out broke.  Add to that the fact that two lobbying groups have already formed this year alone, and the future looks a lot brighter than it did a few years ago.  The interest is there, but change won't occur overnight.

I agree with what you say, but those efforts are not FED efforts.  It was the work of the FED that caused problems with pinny, and now MB.  There is not an offshore book that cares a bit about what STATE legislature is up to.  To take that thought a bit further, I would be willing to bet that the STATE legislature that you are seeing now to expand into online gambling, is doing so with the thought of allowing books to operate online withing the repsective states.  If they in fact move to do so, they will also likely try to make it more restrictive for their state to allow the use of offshore books.

My point is that I don't think our FED is going after these offshore books, at least not like it was a few years back.  I really don't know, but I have not heard such news lately.

This is absolutely devastating to me. Those ingames especially in football were fun and profitable as well. I refused to even go anywhere just because of the ingame action. Very very sad day ! Matchbook was the best thing going in the offshore biz since i started betting online in '99 ! The excitement that the exchange offered was wonderful. Got so many memories of making thousands and losing thousands on the ingames. Sometimes i would make 5K or 10K and than other times like that NC/Tennessee college bowl game i would lose thousands. I was pretty aggressive when teams had the lead with my positions.  Don't know what i'm gonna do now.

I ANTICIPATED THIS PROBLEM.

WHEN THE USA LOST THERE WORLD COURT BATTLE WITH ANTIGUA AND DID NOT PAY THE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN THE SUIT,   IT WAS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE THEY WOULD GET TO THE AMERICAN PLAYER

 

TOTAL AGREEMENT AND EMPATHY TO EVERYONE OF US.

MB JUICE WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GO.

AND WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN FUNDS COME BACK THROUGH TO THE BANKS.

FREEDOM?  THERE BUILDING MORE CASINOS AND PRISONS. NO JOBS,  NO HEALTHCARE.

I have received the same e-mail. I have less than 10 grand in my account, so the credit card is the only option..however..i opened my acct with e-check.  Is this going to be in the form of like a "payment" to my cc?  Anybody know?

Usually, they could only put back the amount that they had charged to the credit card. It will be interesting to see if they can refund huge amounts to a credit card. I doubt it. But that's what they are saying. No checks.

How odd-

Does anyone else find it odd?

1)Pinny closes to US players

2) MB closes to US players.

3) All other books still are open to US players.

WTF? The only books with reduced juice are closed to US players but all the other options remain open. Conspiracy theories should abound here to me. This just seems like so much more than a mere coincidence.

There maybe poweful forces behind this as MB was literally saving me thousands every year, there is no way to get away now from the almighty bank roll killing juice. I sad fucking day and to me, an obvious move by the Books to kill an outlet for the degenerate gambler to have a fighting chance.

Comments fellas?

This seems to be so much more than random chance.

I agree...what kinda fucking business practice is this? Charge me 35 bucks to withdraw my own money..just bc you got bought out? this is complete bullshit. Why can't they just send everyone in the US market  a check for their funds?

Bettor apathy is partly to blame as well. The fact that people are content to play at the betuses of the world really brings down the industrys chance at respectibility. Plus, the gov't hears the stories of closed shops and confiscated funds and feels a sense of accomplishment busting the indusrty.