Ask HN: I want to start an online sports betting website. How to process pay?

1 pointubertoop2 comments

Just as the title asks -

I want to start a website where users can place real money bets on sports. I have the technical chops to do so, but where I stumble is - accepting payments.

I've used Stripe in the past for other businesses and it's been great, but they explicitly prohibit sports betting. Are there any reputable alternatives, or is this just a fool's errand?

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Crypto would work but may require a large amount of user education. Western Union Xfers to a Costa Rican clearing house works well too. The biggest problem you might run into is finding somewhere to lay off the bets people make, it's not too often that you will have the exact amount bet on both sides of a game. So unless you have deep pockets and want to gamble, you will need to cover these bets through a third party whilst still getting a piece of the vig.

Good luck.

There has got to be a more legit pathway than crypto or westen union, right?

CA is on the path to legalizing sports betting. If there are no payment providers that are less seedy than that, then there is definitely a market for one.

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