5Dimes Little Canada Problem: Screwing Players on Future Bets

It was the end of an era this week as 5Dimes shut its doors to one of its last remaining markets, Europe.  5Dimes had also taken bets from parts of Canada outside of Ontario up until Tuesday morning.

The betting company says it plans to enter the regulated Ontario market.  As Gambling911.com first reported back in February after learning of 5Dimes plans to shut down, its software had already passed through rigorous compliance.  In fact, sources close to G911 believe 5Dimes software would pass muster in some US states.

The company's founder Sean Creighton was found dead in 2020.  His wife Laura took over 5Dimes knowing nothing about sports betting and has since expressed an interest in relocating her family to the US.  She's also made it abundantly clear to sources close to Gambling911 she wants nothing more to do with running the nearly 25-year-old sportsbook.

But there's a problem.  As of mid-February at least, 5Dimes had been unwilling to demonstrate its ability to meet fitness during the regulatory process in Ontario , likely a result of the company hemorrhaging money over the years. 

Another more serious problem perhaps: 5Dimes left a sour taste in the mouths of gamblers by failing to honor futures bets after pulling first out of the US market, then out of Ontario and now Europe.

One only need to visit the Reddit site this week to see how folks feel about 5Dimes.

Sniper1245 posted an example of how 5Dimes wants it both ways while screwing the player in the process.

5dimes recently made the announcement that they are exiting Canada on May 29, 2023 and they would be cancelling all pending wagers. I had bet the LA Clippers to win the championship at +1100 earlier this year which was not graded even though they lost in the first round. My guess is that the would grade this bet once "a winner was declared"

My friend who also uses this site, had bet on Miami Heat at +5000 before the playoffs started. This morning, my Clippers bet got graded as a loss, and my friends bet got cancelled even though Miami's odds are currently +300 as their are only 2 teams left. A more fair way would be to either cancel everyone's wager, or have a payout option based on today's market odds for those teams still playing.

For example, 5dimes could payout 5000/300 = +1666 * wager in this case.

5dimes did the same thing when they exited USA three years ago. Based on these gaming practices, Laura Varela is a scam artist and no one should ever play at their site.

Twitter too.

I was a little league bettor. Yes. 5Dimes was always good for that BUT they still owe me a lot of money. So the hell with them

— Montana Gambler (@MontanaMaxBet) May 31, 2023

Outside of the initial report featured on Gambling911 back in mid-February warning of 5Dimes inevitable demise that had readers scrambling to pull funds - enough so that 5Dimes felt compelled to post a message on their website claiming the report was all lies - many other gamblers were left with a one-week notice that the company would be shutting its doors May 30.

Gamblers do have recourse nonetheless.

With Gambling911.com among the few remaining watchdog sites now that SportsBookReview has been deemed essentially useless (it once rated 5Dimes the site's top sportsbook and now refers to it as having long been a part of the "black market"), our own Thomas Somach reached out to the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC), the regulator overseeing 5Dimes licensing since 2020.

Julia Minay from the GSC explained the process for assisting affected customers to Gambling911.com's own Thomas Somach.

"The GSC has the power to suspend or revoke a licence and licensees have the ability to surrender their licences at any time. There are many reasons why these actions occur but the process with respect to customer communication and funds is the same. At the point that a cessation of licensing becomes known, the GSC’s focus shifts to the orderly withdrawal of the licensee from the Isle of Man regulated sector. We ask the licensee to communicate with customers about their change in licensing circumstances and to explain to customers how they can withdraw their funds if they wish to."

Customers should also reach out to Ontario regulators.  There are reports of at least one company looking to acquire some of 5Dimes assets as a foothold to enter the Canadian and potentially the US gaming market.

"5Dimes must make customers whole before that process can happen, one would think," Somach tells us.

5Dimes Disputes Can Be Filed With The Following Agencies:

Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC)

Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com