Casino applied its max bet rules retroactively

[Gr4nnycasher]

bear with me this story is a little long so will try boil it down as much as possible.

signed up to an online casino i wont name for the time being and deposited 30 and recieved a bonus sum of 30

on the site you have 2 balances at the top of the screen, your cash balance and bonus balance

rules stated you had to wager 40x your bonus and deposit in order to withdraw, i believe that is 2400 however im sure the progress bar they provided for this was over 2800, i digress

i missed a rule stating the wager limit was £5, and that if at any point you wagered over this amount they would remove your bonus funds.

here's where it gets odd

i broke this rule 21 times according to them, however i completed the bonus, and all bonus funds were transferred to my cash balance.

i sent my id and proof of address over.

they accepted these proofs, at this point i had a cash balance of 600

i withdrew 500, and carried on playing with the 100

i hit a max win on a slot and won 6000

i withdrew the 6000, both these withdrawals stated pending

4 days later i received an email informing me that i had broken their rules and they had confiscated all my winnings and returned my initial deposit to me.

i logged a complaint and asked for proof of the rule breaking

was going to leave it there and chalk it up to experience however a couple of days ago i received an email from their complaints team saying they had not changed their position on my rule breaking but taking all matters into consideration they offered me 200 as a gesture of good will.

now its got me thinking there is something more there, why would they offer me 200 to go away if there wasn't. its not like i have pestered them over it. i've never encountered a site that has a max bet rule on these bonus funds but will still let you place the bet, that's a clear trap. surely the fact the rule specifically states they can remove bonus funds, but they had already transferred my bonus funds into my cash balance gives me a leg to stand on and fight this? or should i just take the 200?

have tried 3 different solicitors one turned it down the other refused on the basis that fighting it would cost more than i would get back. but accepting the 200 feels like a kick in the teeth tbh

hope someone can help here


this is a uk casino based in malta there license checks out ok but they have a lot of similar reviews like this across the internet which i wish i had read first but im here now so

 

[Avernite]

If you breached the $5 max rule while in bonus funds I'd just take the $200 mate. It's better than most do and more than they have to.

 

[Toomza]

If you breached the $5 max rule while in bonus funds I'd just take the $200 mate. It's better than most do and more than they have to.

Exactly. Many casinos would not even consider offering good will gesture when breaching bonus T&C

 

[Gr4nnycasher]

If you breached the $5 max rule while in bonus funds I'd just take the $200 mate. It's better than most do and more than they have to.

this is what i was thinking tbh, but figured id ask see if there was any hope

 

[hubbadubbadingdong]

People get burnt for a single +£5 spin, 21 spins you are ahead take the $$ and run chap….

 

[Avernite]

this is what i was thinking tbh, but figured id ask see if there was any hope

I know it'll feel like giving up 6.5k, but try and think of it more like you've made 170 profit.

As for bonuses in general make sure you scour the T&Cs before ever accepting one. It's situations like this that make me rarely accept online casino bonuses.

 

[jasonuk]

The only out I can think of is if the problematic spins happened in your cash balance, and you never dipped into the bonus funds at any point - even when it was converted to cash.

Under UKGC rules, cash balances and bonus funds are split and the rules that apply to each can vary - but these rules are vastly different from site to site so the precise T&Cs are important.

If you dipped into the bonus funds at any point, then technically your balance is zero - deposit returned is already more than fair, any goodwill above that is generous.

For bonuses, you absolutely have to read the small print because mistakes can be extremely costly - as unfortunately you've discovered.

i've never encountered a site that has a max bet rule on these bonus funds but will still let you place the bet, that's a clear trap.

I would counter that and say the number is close to 100%... they could impose technical solutions, but much better for their bottom line to let you make the mistake and void your winnings. This forum is littered with people who made an innocent mistake (in some cases one spin), didn't bother to read the rules, or trying to pull a fast one - and all had their winnings confiscated for breaching the terms of a bonus.

surely the fact the rule specifically states they can remove bonus funds, but they had already transferred my bonus funds into my cash balance gives me a leg to stand on and fight this? or should i just take the 200?

A variation of the same argument, few sites automatically enforce bonus violations - they'll do it at withdrawal instead. Just because the bonus funds were released doesn't absolve any violations of the bonus terms.

 

[juicypickle]

bear with me this story is a little long so will try boil it down as much as possible.

signed up to an online casino i wont name for the time being and deposited 30 and recieved a bonus sum of 30

on the site you have 2 balances at the top of the screen, your cash balance and bonus balance

rules stated you had to wager 40x your bonus and deposit in order to withdraw, i believe that is 2400 however im sure the progress bar they provided for this was over 2800, i digress

i missed a rule stating the wager limit was £5, and that if at any point you wagered over this amount they would remove your bonus funds.

here's where it gets odd

i broke this rule 21 times according to them, however i completed the bonus, and all bonus funds were transferred to my cash balance.

i sent my id and proof of address over.

they accepted these proofs, at this point i had a cash balance of 600

i withdrew 500, and carried on playing with the 100

i hit a max win on a slot and won 6000

i withdrew the 6000, both these withdrawals stated pending

4 days later i received an email informing me that i had broken their rules and they had confiscated all my winnings and returned my initial deposit to me.

i logged a complaint and asked for proof of the rule breaking

was going to leave it there and chalk it up to experience however a couple of days ago i received an email from their complaints team saying they had not changed their position on my rule breaking but taking all matters into consideration they offered me 200 as a gesture of good will.

now its got me thinking there is something more there, why would they offer me 200 to go away if there wasn't. its not like i have pestered them over it. i've never encountered a site that has a max bet rule on these bonus funds but will still let you place the bet, that's a clear trap. surely the fact the rule specifically states they can remove bonus funds, but they had already transferred my bonus funds into my cash balance gives me a leg to stand on and fight this? or should i just take the 200?

have tried 3 different solicitors one turned it down the other refused on the basis that fighting it would cost more than i would get back. but accepting the 200 feels like a kick in the teeth tbh

hope someone can help here


this is a uk casino based in malta there license checks out ok but they have a lot of similar reviews like this across the internet which i wish i had read first but im here now so

Res stag did the same to me for $2100

 

[charlixcx]

I had a very similar experience recently with a few different details.

i want to start by saying i (nearly) always review bonus t&c before playing with bonus funds and if the information isnt clear will actively ask customer support if there is a max bet before playing, but in the situation im about to describe, this was a casino I played at somewhat frequently. i thought i was familiar with their terms so didnt bother reading them in this instance, and either had forgotton about the max bet requirement or had missed it during my initial review. This was my own bad... and i take responsibility for this.

I do believe, however, that while I know they're not obligated to, i do think that if a casino has a max bet provision, the respectable thing to do is to program the games so that any bet attempt over the max isnt accepted, but i'm not so naive to think that casinos of all industries operate with respect being their top priority, and I defnitely understand not all casinos do this and that a player should review the terms before playing. in my case, what i found especially disrespectful was after i had exited the game where i had made bets exceeding the max limit, i received an automated notice that notified me I had made bets that exceeded the maximum and told me to ensure all future bets are below the maximum in order for me to not have my winnings confiscated. In the previous game where some bets were over the maximum I had wont about $700, then after I received this notification and didnt exceed the maximum bet once, my balance grew $3,500. So I ended up with about $4,300 dollars which was now in my withdrawable balance, but when i attempted to withdrawal, they confiscated everything and my balance was now at $0. I know i had breached the terms with my bets but it was that damn notification that pissed me off. I would have accepted my loss a lot easier if instead of the notification making it seem like all is ok if i correct my bets moving forward, i had been told i breached the terms and all funds won with bonus money up until that point would be confiscated. I would be more pissed off but would still be accepting if they hadnt notified me at all and confiscated everything at the end - at least then it would have been my mistake to not read the terms and i probably would have exceed the max bet at other periods in my gameplay.

But it was them giving me confidence I was OK and the fact that once i knew about the rule I COMPLIED, and that the majority of winnings were based on bets that complied... this is what pisses me off and I feel is poor enough conduct on their part that having everything confiscated isnt OK.

Then on top of all that, there's a weekly cashback at this casino that is 15% of all losses. With them confiscating my winnings, i had a loss that week. I had a loss whether or not you included the wagering with the bonus funds. But the casino didnt give me the cashback that week because according to them, their system I had profited during the cashback timeframe, not lost. But the only way they could conclude that is the "manual withdraw" they used to collect my winnings and set my balance to 0 was a normal withdraw that me, the player made. You'd think the casino would regonize this as a glitch in their automatic calculations and when looking at the matter would understand i indeed did have a loss that week and would give the cashback. But nope. Once I contacted them they said "accordingly to our calculations you did not have a loss this week". So first they tell me the wont confiscate my winnings, then when they realize that not confiscating my winnings would mean they'd have to pay me out a substantial chunk of cash they decide to confiscate, then when they realize that because they confiscated they'd have to pay me out a small amount they deny the fact they confiscated. Infuriating.

...and if anyone things I dont have the right to be upset because i made a few bets over the maximum, I sort of understand where you're coming from, but I think the back and forth and inconsistent behaviour of the casino is enough jerking me around that its not ok to leave me with the nothing. Call me naive, but I think that casinos have the reponsibility to a) actively communicate key conditions of their bonuses b) be consistent in their communication c) operate according to their terms and d) and generally operate in a way that minimizes disappointing surprises. Maybe im in Lala land but when this sort of behaviour isnt followed and when my own play demonstrates i wasnt actively trying to abuse rules or procedures, it feels unfair.