Infamous 5Dimes Sportsbook to Close European Operations

07:53
28 May

Beleaguered Costa Rica-based sportsbook operator 5Dimes is closing down its European operation. The site will “permanently stop accepting wagers as of May 29th, 11:59pm EST,” although customers will still have a 12-month grace period for withdrawing funds.

The firm, which saw founder William Sean “5DimesTony” Creighton brutally murdered in 2018, has stated they will focus future plans on the regulated markets in the USA and other American jurisdictions.

News of the European arm’s closure was shared on numerous sportsbetting forums, an email to customers revealing the basic details:

“Still focused on our goal, we remain working and morphing! The latest changes are drawing us to different horizons and our era as a European gambling operator has come to an end.
We must let go of this part of our business to center our attention in the Americas regulated market jurisdictions we aim to target in the future.
Given our new direction, the websites 5Dimes.eu and 5DEurope.eu, will permanently stop accepting wagers as of May 29th, 11:59pm EST. All funds available in player accounts will be honored and paid out accordingly.
The website’s cash out feature will remain accessible for 12 months to allow all customers ample time to withdraw their balances. Click here if you need help with your withdraw.
As a team, we learned a lot and enjoyed every step of the way of our Isle of Man licensed journey. We thank the Gambling Supervision Commission, our commercial partners and mostly, our customers for their patronage and continued support.
5Dimes next chapter is yet to be written! Stay tuned!
— The 5Dimes Team.”

As we reported recently, rumours were doing the rounds that 5Dimes’ owner, Laura Varela, wife of the late Creighton, was considering shuttering the entire business after pulling plans for a sportsbetting licence in Ontario.

Having previously closed its doors to US customers in 2020 and paid $46.8million to the US government for a clean slate in a bid to go legit, Varela was said to be “ill-prepared to spend any additional money on other aspects of the regulatory process.”

Reportedly on the “verge of a nervous breakdown,” the closure of the European arm of its operations could still spell the beginning of the end for 5Dimes.

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Poker refugees

Founded back in 1996 by William Sean Creighton, 5Dimes was one of the first-ever online bookmakers catering to a US market that had no legal alternatives.

Based out of Costa Rica, it carved itself a niche role, but one that flouted US law, in particular the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), often referred to as ‘the federal sports betting ban.’

Costa Rica was one of the countries of choice for US-based poker players who found themselves in limbo when Black Friday struck in 2011, as well as a prime location for the sportsbetting industry. The 5Dimes site used to offer poker through skins of Pitbull Poker.

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Kidnap, ransom and murder

Creighton went missing, believed abducted, in October of 2018, his car found crashed and abandoned.

His wife is alleged to have paid a $1million ransom in cryptocurrency for his release but Creighton had already been suffocated to death after recognising one of the police officers involved in his kidnapping.

The ringleader of the kidnap gang, Morales Vega, skipped Costa Rica with his wife and mother, heading to Spain where authorities tracked him to Zaragoza.

The trio were arrested and deported back to Costa Rica and police searches uncovered documents relating to the ransom, including ‘details of the three e-wallets where the ransom money was transferred’.

Morales Vega was later sentenced to 65 years in prison, his girlfriend, mother, grandmother, and an uncle all receiving similar sentences.

Two police officers received 35- and 25-year sentences respectively, while another man was given a 33-year sentence.