As long time members of this board may know, I was big on War Emblem in 2002 for the Illinois Derby and again for the Kentucky Derby. However, for the latter I was stationed in Saudi Arabia at Prince Sultan Air Base and was having trouble accessing my TVG account as it was blocked there as you might imagine.
I was a comm guy at the time and had access to unfiltered internet but I really wasn't supposed to use it for personal use. But, I took a chance anyway. I bet $100 win on War Emblem and $20 Oaks/Derby Doubles Take Charge Lady, Farda Amiga over War Emblem, Blue Burner (don't ask!) for a total of $180. I bet another $70 in Derby exotics but none of that worked out.
The net haul was about 16k. The next time I had a chance to check my account, it was CLOSED! I couldn't access it at all. I was obviously very worried but there was nothing I could do from Saudi.
About a week later, I call my wife and she mentions you got something from TVG, she thinks a check. I'm like OPEN IT! She does and it was all a check for my TVG balance including the Derby winnings along with notice my account was closed. It turned out it had nothing to do with betting from Saudi Arabia. They had decided they couldn't do business in Oklahoma and the timing was just a coincidence. Talk about a relief! Nobody ever said anything about it on the Air Force side so I made it through unscathed.
By the way, TVG still won't take Oklahoma residents.
