ever have any trouble with the money?

[thomestribe]

I was just wondering if anyone here has ever had any problems by finding leagues on these message boards...
It makes me just a little nervous to send money to someone I don't know, and just trust that they'll dish out the money at the end of the year.
I'm sure 99.9% of the people here are honest, but does anyone have any words of advice, or is this something not to worry about?
Thanks!

[slobizz]

I worried about the same thing a few years ago, which is why I just started my own league so I wouldn't have to worry about it. I have a $50 buy-in yahoo H2H league and I pay out the winnings via paypal within a day of the league ending.

I guess you just have to make a judgement call based on the communication you have with the commish. If he takes forever to respond to emails or is shady about league details then chances are you won't be seeing any winnings at season's end. You could also log in to the league and check out the message board. If there is good communication amongst managers (including commish), that's a sign of a decent league. No matter what, there'll always be a risk.

[BartenderWJT]

I only had a problem once. The ironic thing is it was the ONE league I WASN'T worried about.

It was a football fantasy league with a live draft at the commish's house. Everyone seemed to know everyone else except for a couple of us.

When it came time to get paid, I didn't hear anything from anyone in the league for a couple of months. Even when I logged in, it showed that the league was basically dead.

After a few months, I finally received a check in the mail.

Like the last poster said, you have to go by what you feel and see. Otherwise, you are stuck playing in some "commercial" league with payouts being at about 70%.... but even with those you have to worry about ringers and the such.

I typically would ask for the physical address and the phone number of the commish. If they hesitate, that's a warning flag.

One other thing, EVERYONE has an email address. I NEVER send money through paypal to a free address such as yahoo, hotmail, and the such.