Dear loyal RX forum readers and Rio/Skybook customers:
First of all, we would like to thank all of you for your many words of support and your loyalty during times when unscrupulous people attempt to discredit us. We can't thank you enough for the emails thanking us for the free contests, free half points, fast payouts, etc. etc.
The purpose of this announcement is to defend the plethora of inaccurate statements made by an individual who is obviously reeling into a downward spiral--that person being the pathetic Russ Hawkins from MajorWager.com.
It is widely known that of all the dregs in the offshore industry, that he is the lowest, along with Charlie from Aces Gold, Peter Linz of the Dunes, and many other deadbeats and scam artists. Russ Hawkins has backed many books that he knew were going under, and even started his own sportsbook that STIFFED all of its customers at the end. We could go on all day, but enough about this sorry individual.
The bottom line here is that Rio/Skybook/IIS was one of his top advertisers two years ago. We paid him a lot of money to be on his site. However, due to the fact that his site is so small, and so nominal in terms of credibility, so poor in terms of return on investment, the company decided to pull its advertising, along with a multitude of other advertisers. When advertisers pull their ads from this broke individual, he attempts to extort them to bring them back. In other words, he makes you think that if you don't re-up with him, that he will badmouth you and attempt to ruin your company. We at Rio/Skybook were intimidated at first, but knew that this individual had to be stopped in his denial of service types of attacks that extort sportsbooks.
The only difference between now and two years ago is the fact that we stopped advertising there. Let this be a WARNING and a heads up to all prospective advertisers. When you realize that his site elicits no customers and you decide to terminate advertising, he will go after you in the same way the russian hackers who extorted the books with their denial of service attacks.
A couple of weeks following our pulling of the advertising he started a myriad of malicious rumors designed to undermine Rio/Skybook. He rumored that Rio was going under in a couple of months, was slow paying customers, and owed astronomical debts to individuals in the business.
All of these attempts to discredit Rio/Skybook have obviously been futile. Rio/Skybook continues to grow and strive to improve. Skybook was recently mentioned widely in a New York Times article. The viability of Rio/Skybook has never been better as illustrated by the fact you will not find one customer who will ever say he has been slow paid, by the fact that we have been with Don Best Premium for 6 years, USATODAY.COM for 3 years, (USATODAY obviously would not collaborate with a sportsbook who doesn't pay), and by the fact that Rio pays out thousands and thousands of dollars in free sports contests every year without blinking an eye.
As far as Rio/Skybook owing money? C'mon. Do you think fellow respected books like Cris, Hollywood, Grande, Olympic and Jazz would continue to do large transfers with us? We all know the answer to that.
All we ask of you readers is that in the future that you do your own due dilligence in terms of deciding if his rumors or any rumors posted in the forum are true. Call Joey C. or call Larry, find out for yourself if these rumors are true instead of choosing to believe a mudslinging, desperate individual on his last legs over a premier sportsbook that has always vowed to be generous, ethical, and diligent.
Thank you very much for your time, and thanks again for your support throughout the years.
Sincerely,
Management
Rio International Group Ltd.
Rio International Sportsbook, Skybook Sportsbook, International Island Sportsbook
