Some Forty Plus players get gambling credit
The saga of one failed online casino has ended with some players getting credit for the money they had in their accounts. And there is a message for existing online gambling operations.
Another casino has agreed to credit new accounts there with the money lost in the demise of Forty Plus Casino, an online operation based in San Jos?.
After nearly a month of nagging and blistering e-mail exchanges by former players, casino industry newspeople and others, English Harbour Casino agreed to credit the former Forty Plus players.
No clear estimate of the amount of money involved is available, but some players said they had several thousand dollars in their Forty Plus accounts when it folded in October.
English Harbour Casino uses the same gambling software as did Forty Plus. That is software provided by Odds On Gaming Inc. of Toronto, Canada, and St. Johns, Antigua.
Players and casino critics argued that Odds On must at least have some idea of how much each player had on account in the casino when it collapsed because it received a royalty from each dollar wagered.
The Forty Plus Web page was owned by a Costa Rican firm, Green Oaks Ranch S.A. A check of Costa Rican corporate records showed that the president of that firm was Jorge Eduardo
Barahona Ram?rez and that the firm was located at Avenida 13 and Calle 3 in San Jos?.
Barahona engaged the players in e-mail discussions. But he said that he was only an employee and that the money behind the casino came from an unnamed investor. Said Barahona:
"I was hired to start this new casino operation, based on my previous experience, unfortunately the investor of the operation decided to close it, according to him, simply because the software does not work the way it was supposed to. The entire casino staff was fired at the end of October, including myself, and the local office was closed at the end of November; all the assets were sold in order to pay the local responsibilities, such as taxes, employees? salaries and any other corresponding amounts."
Among those Casino industry newspeople responsible for obtaining a favorable agreement with English Harbour was Brian Cullingworth of InfoPowa News, which covers online gaming.
Bryan Bailey, operator of the newsletter, Casinomeister, maintained a running account of player concerns on his Web site.
". . . this was a team effort with several smart players and journalists involved, said Cullingworth. "It is an illustration of what players . . . can do when they want to, and I hope the providers and operators . . . take note."
The saga of one failed online casino has ended with some players getting credit for the money they had in their accounts. And there is a message for existing online gambling operations.
Another casino has agreed to credit new accounts there with the money lost in the demise of Forty Plus Casino, an online operation based in San Jos?.
After nearly a month of nagging and blistering e-mail exchanges by former players, casino industry newspeople and others, English Harbour Casino agreed to credit the former Forty Plus players.
No clear estimate of the amount of money involved is available, but some players said they had several thousand dollars in their Forty Plus accounts when it folded in October.
English Harbour Casino uses the same gambling software as did Forty Plus. That is software provided by Odds On Gaming Inc. of Toronto, Canada, and St. Johns, Antigua.
Players and casino critics argued that Odds On must at least have some idea of how much each player had on account in the casino when it collapsed because it received a royalty from each dollar wagered.
The Forty Plus Web page was owned by a Costa Rican firm, Green Oaks Ranch S.A. A check of Costa Rican corporate records showed that the president of that firm was Jorge Eduardo
Barahona Ram?rez and that the firm was located at Avenida 13 and Calle 3 in San Jos?.
Barahona engaged the players in e-mail discussions. But he said that he was only an employee and that the money behind the casino came from an unnamed investor. Said Barahona:
"I was hired to start this new casino operation, based on my previous experience, unfortunately the investor of the operation decided to close it, according to him, simply because the software does not work the way it was supposed to. The entire casino staff was fired at the end of October, including myself, and the local office was closed at the end of November; all the assets were sold in order to pay the local responsibilities, such as taxes, employees? salaries and any other corresponding amounts."
Among those Casino industry newspeople responsible for obtaining a favorable agreement with English Harbour was Brian Cullingworth of InfoPowa News, which covers online gaming.
Bryan Bailey, operator of the newsletter, Casinomeister, maintained a running account of player concerns on his Web site.
". . . this was a team effort with several smart players and journalists involved, said Cullingworth. "It is an illustration of what players . . . can do when they want to, and I hope the providers and operators . . . take note."
