Are Sportsbooks Putting Together a Player Blacklist?

• Bet365 among seven sportsbooks joining forces to share customer info.

• Pro claims Bet365 has history of "using problem gambling as an excuse to exclude sharp gamblers".

• DraftKings, BetMGM and FanDuel among the other sportsbooks that will begin sharing customer information.

• Newly formed group fails to offer any additional details how the process will work.

Under the guise of gambling addiction perhaps, a group of seven sportsbooks have gotten together to exchange information about "problem gamblers".

"The obvious problem is they will also create the definition of what a 'problem' is to them," commented pro sports bettor Captain Jack via his Twitter feed.

Does "problem gambler" mean an individual who routinely beats the books, for example.

And Jack specifically warns of Bet365 being among the seven.

"Bet365 has a track record of using problem gambling as an excuse to exclude sharp bettors," he claims.

While it is true that third party organizations often share player data, this particular arrangement sets a scary precedent.

IDPair is a 3rd party which would share data with regulators and researchers.  

"NCPG is a non-profit that focuses on the problem from the consumer point-of-view, not the problem from the operator POV," Captain Jack points out.

"At best, this is operators flying a false flag of consumer protection - and at worst, is collusion among sportsbooks to eliminate skilled bettors."

In addition to Bet365, the seven operators include FanDuel, Fanatics, Hard Rock Bet, DraftKings, Penn and BetMGM.

Thus far, US regulated sportsbooks known for accommodating sharper gamblers such as Circa Sportsbook and Prime Sports have yet to announce plans to join this effort.

The group will call itself the Responsible Online Gaming Association, or ROGA.

“I’m incredibly excited to move this forward and to really do some impactful things and to really expand the knowledge through the research and to create these evidence-based best practices and to really empower players with information,” said Jennifer Shatley, executive director of ROGA.

The new group says it aims to create an independent clearinghouse, or database, that shares key information related to protection of consumers.  They failed to elaborate any further on how this would be done and other details are murky at best.

The announcement comes at a time when MLB superstar Shohei Ohtani finds himself at the center of a $4 million betting scandal involving his interpreter and an illegal bookie while the NCAA has applied pressure on state regulators to start prohibiting bets on individual player performance in college sports.

In response to Captain Jack's tweet, WeThePeople suggested something else even more nefarious could be at play.

"Isn't that price fixing  by removing ppl (sharps) so all of them can guarantee profit?? Seems like there was a law somewhere around here that talked about it and it not being legal."

Steve In Vegas agreed with Jack's position.

"So a coalition to share profiled players. Don’t they all have their own PAM & KYC for this? USI covers integrity issues very well. This is just another poorly disguised way to eliminate winning players."

And Colin added this:

"I’m not shocked. It’s always been lose or don’t play for most of these books. They reserve unilateral rights to limit and ban whoever for whatever. Completely unregulated industry. My only hope is as it continues to expand there’s some form of oversight."

- Alejandro Botticelli, Gambling911.com