Originally Posted by
snake_in_the_ass
One of the most important rules of betting on credit is to not bury the guy you are gambling with. Beat him for a number he can pay and then stop gambling until he pays. Expecting a degenerate gambler to pay 7 figure debts on sports is stupid.
If the story is what it appears to be, Haralabob didn't think he was betting with Dwan.
He thought Dwan was just a go-between in order to place large bets.
It's likely that Haralabob felt that he wouldn't be able to get large action if betting as himself, so he got Dwan to do it for him. When the bets won, it appears Dwan either kept the money or simply never placed them (hoping to keep the money if Haralabob lost -- essentially freerolling him), and vanished.
For those saying, "Booking bets yourself against Haralabob is moronic", it's actually not all that moronic if you're a scammer looking to freeroll him. If you're going to collect when he loses and not pay when he wins, the skill of the bettor only matters in the probability that your plan fails. If your plan fails, you just run off, so you're not really risking much except your reputation.