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Watch-dog sites - a dirty little secret

The hot topic of the week on the sportsbook watchdog posting forums actually stemmed from a news article.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal uncovered one of the off-shore gambling world's dirty little secrets with an expose entitled: Online casino 'Watchdogs' sometimes have conflicts'.

The author, David Kesmodel, delved into the seedy connection some of the supposed independent, arms-length watch-dog sites have with off-shore sportsbooks. He skates very close to suggesting some of the self-proclaimed watchdogs are little more than shills for the sportsbooks that advertise on their sites.

If you were to believe some of the comments left on the major sportsbook forums (Rx, majorwager, and gambling911), you'd think the WSJ article was about as useful as a ticket on the Colts last weekend.

"Sorta weak article I think … I could have written that in about 10 min myself," wrote one poster. "For even the very casual reader of these forums, that had to be a very boring article to read," wrote another.

Judge for yourself, but I think it was a story that needed to be told. And for the reactions to be so laze faire speaks volumes about how acceptable this practice is. I have always maintained it is next to impossible to remain objective and critical on one hand, if in the other hand you're getting a fat check from the people you're supposed to be critical of.

You could argue newspapers are no different. On one hand they accept advertising, but on the other they tell the news. But I can assure you, as someone who spent a great deal of my career in the business, there are clear lines drawn as to who sells the ads, and who tells the stories.

In many newspaper buildings, the advertising department is physically as far away from the editorial department as possible. That's for a couple of reasons. One, the two groups mix like water and vinegar. But more importantly, there's the optics. If one is seen to be working closely with the other, than questions will undoubtedly be raised. And that's what Kesmodel exposed in his article on the watchdog business. One of his most interesting revelations was that majorwager.com actually owns a sportsbook and has it on its recommended list.

And what is owner Russ Hawkins' defense? "There are 'conflicts of interest everywhere' among the watchdog sites," he said. "We try to show it. We don't hide it."

Huh? So, as long as he admits he's in a conflict, that's alright? Come on! I think one poster to the major's posting forum summed it up best by saying: "Regarding MajorBetting (the sportsbook) and the potential/alleged conflict of interest an old saying goes something like, 'It's not sufficient for one to be virtuous. One has to APPEAR to be virtuous."

A true watchdog site would never take advertising from a sportsbook. And it would distance itself as far from financial ties to the industry as possible. But let's face it, that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

Why? Quite frankly these companies need to make money too. The owners aren't retired millionaires doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. So, how can they make money off the industry without appearing to be in a conflict of interest?

That's the million-dollar question, so to speak. And I don't have a clear answer. One solution would be full disclosure, which I guess Hawkins was getting at when he said he doesn't try to hide from his direct link to majorbetting.com.

I would suggest the watchdog sites let everyone know who they accept advertising from and maybe say that in any reviews they do on the sportsbook.

Another option to go along with that is to collect the same monthly advertising rate from everyone. That way no book can have an advantage over another. And NEVER take a commission from a sportsbook if the watchdog site was in any way responsible for directing a reader to their betting site.

I performed a little experiment to see how long it would take to find a disclaimer that connected majorwager.com to majorbetting.com. It took just 25 seconds. Not bad. When you click on the hyperlink for majorbetting.com on the sportsbook review list, it clearly explains the site is owned by majorwager.com.

Now, if all the watchdogs were as forthcoming about their financial links to the offshore sportsbook business as the major is with this example, then we wouldn't need watchdogs to keep an eye on the watchdogs

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