Although I feel strongly that they are in the wrong here, it is not cut and dry, so I welcome any input. Here is what happened.

I had a stagnant account on B e t D S I that was set up 8-10 years ago. Before the last NFL season they emailed me 2 separate bonus offers within days of one another.

One was a $25 freeplay with something like 10x rollover.

The second involved picking either AFC or NFC to win the superbowl, and if correct you get a $50 bonus. The fine print on this bonus said you needed to "validate" the bonus by wagering $50 in cash prior to Jan 1.

I spun up the first bonus, rolled it over, and then went through the process on the site of converting the bonus into cash. I then placed another $110 in wagers with the cash. Those wagers show in the cashier as Cash wagers. The had a limit of $250 that you were allowed to make off the $25 bonus, so I successfully cashed out my meager balance.

After the superbowl I was awarded the $50 bonus (I obv picked AFC). I then spun it up a bit, completed the rollover, again converted the funds to cash, made about $100 in cash wagers, and then Covid ended all sports. So I requested a payout. I didn't receive and confirmation and after a couple days I checked the cashier and see that my entire balance had been taken, and it showed as a "Wager Loss Adjustment." I then went on to email them every 4 or 5 days for a month, asking for clarification. Never got a response.

I decided to file a complaint with SBR. They were also ignored for about 3 weeks until finally getting a response. B e t D S I's excuse was that I had a "10 year old account and hadn't deposited", and they claimed the 2nd bonus required that a deposit be made.

It is true I had a 10 year old account and had not deposited, but they solicited me with the bonus offers. It wasn't like I was searching the internet for B e t D S I promos. More importantly, the second offer, which I forwarded the email to SBR did not say anything about having to deposit. It only stated that you had to wager $50 cash in order to "validate the bonus."

To my surprise, SBR sided with B e t D S I, saying when I converted the bonus funds from the first promotion into Cash, and then made $110 in wagers, that those didn't constitute cash wagers, since I did not deposit funds. My argument was, after I converted the bonus to cash, what is the difference if I withdraw the funds, redeposit and then make the wagers, or if I just use the cash balance in my account to make the wagers. They were firm in their belief that my wagers, despite showing as Cash Wagers in the cashier history (which I provided screen shots of) did not constitute cash wagers.

To recap my defense I sent one last email to SBR in which they didn't reply. My argument was essentially 3 parts.

1. If I have a balance in my account that shows as Cash, and the wagers I made using those funds are noted as Cash Wagers, how can they conclude those are not cash wagers? How would cashing out and redepositing the funds make any difference?

2. If I had not "validated" the second bonus by Jan 1, in their minds (B e t D S I), why did they then issue me the bonus in the middle of February.

3. If B e t D S I believed what they were doing was fair, why would they not give me any indication as to why the took my balance? Why ignore 5 or 6 emails? Any correspondence with support prior to them taking my balance, was always met with a quick reply.

Anyways, it isn't a significant amount of money, and I have more or less given up any hope of recouping the funds. My reasons for posting this are to get a neutral point of view, as SBR's defense of B e t D S I's action seemed rather ridiculous to me. They scoffed at the idea that the I considered my wagers to be Cash Wagers, and they invited me to post on their forum, claiming any sportsbettor would tell me the same thing. I told them I'd rather present it on here, to a non-bias group. It is my opinion that SBR is more in the business of advertising and affiliate work, than being the industry watchdog they present themselves as. Also, I wanted to give the heads up to anyone considering doing business with B e t D S I. The fact they essentially ghosted me is incredibly unprofessional, regardless of whether you consider my complaint legitimate or not.

Sorry this was so long, thanks to anyone who made it this far.

You're right, they're wrong, and you're not getting your money.

SBR, maybe 20 years ago, was actually an independent review site. Now they're basically an advertising site for the handful of big bookies they promote. I'd be shocked if SBR ever ruled against those sites it has rated as A.

Offshore bookies and those who promote them are criminals, and you should expect them to behave accordingly.

that site has gone downhill since they left bookmaker, essentially a scam book now.

I had an account leftover from the BM days that was banned from betting but allowed horse racing. About a year ago they sent an email 8% rebate on all bets regardless of track and bet type. And it would pay at the end of the month. I wagered about 600k there in a month. 0 rebate and when I asked about it I got banned, so yea great book.