Apex implodes, over $200,000 owed

Saw this article on APEX and thought you guys might want to read it.

Apex implodes, over $200,000 owed

Johnston Farrow

Costa Rican-based Apex Sportsbook closed its doors last week with 19 players owed over $200,000.

The company opened last June on a $50,000 budget and eventually had up to 150 players a week.

"As much as I don't want to admit it, the truth is we took a business that should be profitable and drove it pretty well straight into the ground within less than a year's time," Paul, a.k.a. Sidekick Pauly, a former partner in Apex told Covers. (Paul declined to give his last name.)

The problems with Apex started when a group of sharp players beat the book several weeks in a row following the football season. Instead of a steady approach, the sportsbook's owners decided to gamble. Apex began to advertise heavily, take on large deposits and offer big bonuses.

The new approach dissolved the working partnership between co-owners Robbie McPhail and Paul, who said he favored the slower approach. He told Covers he ended his partnership with McPhail last April.

The new business philosophy backfired on the sportsbook and the company finally closed its doors on June 23.

Several players had $18,000 worth of balances transferred to the online sportsbook, Platinumsb.com. Other Apex players registered with the Secure Gaming Alliance (SGA) had approximately $11,500 transferred to sportsbooks who are members of the SGA coalition.

"We are currently sending the players who have registered and verified account balances with us for Apex to other sportsbooks in our program," Jim Hines, owner of the SGA told Covers.com in an email. "The players will need to rollover their newly credited account two times before any withdrawals."

The owners of the now-defunct Apex plan to pay the remaining 19 players through case-by-case payment plans. Paul said some players agreed to take minimum payments over 48 months and some players agreed to take 10 percent of their balances and walk away.

"Some of them have opted to take it (the 10 percent)," Paul said. "They said, 'I don't even think I'm going to get paid by you guys, so anything I get is a bonus'."

Paul is confident that the players will get paid, but admits it might take awhile. Last week, he cleared up $19,000 in players' balances.

"The way we're going, we'll be out of debt in a short while," he said. "Obviously, we can't pay $19,000 every week, but we'll pay as much as we can, when we can."

Bill Dozer, a research reporter with Sportsbookreview.com, is one person who’s skeptical the players will be paid in full.

"Well, unless there's a bailout offer, that's the only way I would say they're going to see the $200,000," Dozer told Covers. "One of the payment plans was for $250 a week. We're talking about (an account) of five figures. I mean, that's grocery money."

Still, Paul said he plans to stay in contact with the players until the situation is resolved. Both McPhail and Paul, who seem to have put their differences aside to deal with the Apex situation, plan to earn the remaining balances through a referral/marketing company. They are currently working under contract with Platinumsb.com.

"We're not counting on anyone and we're not trying to pass the buck," Paul says. "But we are working very hard and we're working as fast as we can to rectify the situation, which is all I can tell anyone. If anyone had any realistic ideas of how we can help the players, I'm open to any ideas that they might have."

Dozer said the only way for players to avoid another Apex situation in the future is to do proper research before opening an account at a sportsbook.

"Stay with top tier books," he said. "There's no way to look at a books finances, for the most part. There's no way to really know except to look at the history. If you look at books that have been in business for the long haul, then at least you can base it on something."