In the world of online gambling, I will defend to the death a player’s right not to be mistreated by Internet casinos as long as that player has played honestly and has abided by a reasonable set of Terms & Conditions. Unfortunately, that does not always happen and the players, either through malicious intent or mere ignorance will step outside of a casino’s terms and conditions and then be surprised when adverse action is taken against them. It is important to remember that some terms are nearly universal and that a casino is within its right to take action if a player has committed an apparent violation.
Of course, that is a two-way street and casinos have a responsibility to offer a set of Terms and Conditions that is both fair and unambiguous. In an editorial to follow this one pretty shortly, we will take a look at some of the most unfair acts that rogue online casinos, or those with questionable practices take to the detriment of the players. Some of these casinos are also not rogues, per se, but impose upon the players an unreasonable set of Terms & Conditions that are both unfair and occasionally self-contradict. The purpose of this editorial, however, is to reiterate the responsibilities that the players have when betting with a website that we will assume to be legitimate.
The first question that I would ask a player in this situation is whether or not the player lost the money prior to it being, ‘Confiscated.’ Furthermore, I would also be inclined to ask a player if they completed the wagering requirements within the prescribed period of time as defined by the bonus that the player took from the online casino.
Often, players will knowingly (or unknowingly but avoidable) accept a bonus and then want out of it if things start to go badly. These players will occasionally be surprised that they are showing a balance but are unable to cash out because the bonus terms aren't complete. The question is: Should the casino have a responsibility to return a player’s cash funds to them if the player has not yet lost them.
The answer is: No.
To put it simply, if a casino allowed a player to play with bonus credits but then to withdraw his or her cash that was deposited prior to the completion of the wagering requirements, the casino would essentially be giving the player the ability to free roll the casino on every single bonus that the player takes. For that reason, players should understand that, the way casino bonuses work, a player bets his cash funds first and bonus funds second.
In other words, as the player makes more and more bets, the player eventually arrives at the point where he/she is likely playing entirely with bonus funds until the wagering requirements are completed. While the player still has credits that can be used to play the games, and hopefully to win back some actual cash, what the player must realize is that cash funds are essentially lost first. Granted, any wins that a player has should constitute cash funds rather than bonus funds, but that is where the wagering requirements come into play.
The design of the wagering requirements is not to ensure that the player plays for a particular duration of time, but rather, to make sure that the player cannot run bonus funds through and then cash out when the player is ahead. In the majority of cases, the wagering requirements are designed such that, with the RTP of the games being less than 100%, the player is expected to lose all of his/her bonus funds and cash funds before successfully completing the wagering requirements.
The key to advantage play at online casinos, quite simply, is to find sets of rules and games where this is simply not the case. Furthermore, players can structure their bets in such a way as to grow their bankrolls using a combination of bonus funds and high variance bets, but then to follow that up by grinding out the playthrough requirements by making smaller bets.
The latter is the most frequent way to find an advantage while playing at Internet gaming providers. The reason why is because the structuring of the bonuses and playthrough requirements are such that the expected loss still outweighs the total amount of funds that the player has bonus funds included. In a certain sense, the goal is to give the player the ability to play longer. When playing a game that has a certain house edge with a deposit match bonus, for example, $1,500 is going to last longer than $500.
There are very few games out there in which the bonus match funds and initial player deposits are such that the game can be beaten, “Right off the top,” with flat betting. One such game is the Texas Hold ‘Em Bonus games that some casinos offer combined with the right deposit match promotion. I don’t know whether or not that is still the case, but I had the good fortunate to find such a situation and flat bet the game at a certain few online casinos that I will be keeping to myself for right now. If you are motivated to do so, you can probably figure them out (if they are still beatable) because I have now told you the game and have explained the math in countless previous editorials. If you shoot me a private message and ask me really nicely, I might steer you in the right direction.
The thing is that the casinos are not going to put themselves in a situation when players can easily beat them for large amounts of money. They already tried that years ago with some of their Blackjack offerings combined with huge deposit bonuses and low playthroughs and paid the price. They have also become more sophisticated in understanding how to avoid throwing out beatable promotions or giving players too many comp dollars to work with. That is why a number of comp dollars that players receive differs depending on what sorts of games they are wagering upon.
Another method that casinos are accused of using to, ‘Confiscate,’ a player’s money is that of having maximum payouts as a result of a certain win or maximum weekly or monthly payouts. The fact of the matter is that the casinos have to keep a certain amount of funds on hand in order to be able to pay out all of their players who have a balance with them according to their maximum withdrawal limits. A player may win $60,000 on a single slot spin, or some other huge amount, and be surprised that they do not get paid that all at once. The reason for that and for maximum withdrawal limits is because paying out such a huge jackpot may not leave enough funds on hand to cover other players who may want to cash out.
This is a key difference between online gambling and brick & mortar casinos who are expected to have enough funds on hand to cover any massive pays that a player might hit and to be able to pay out the player in cash or check. There are regulatory measures in place in the jurisdictions that license these online casinos that call for minimum weekly payouts to players who have the balance to cover it. Therefore, if a player really wants that to be changed, then the best thing that the player could do is send an E-mail or letter to the regulatory body demanding that the casinos be forced to have higher minimum weekly or monthly payouts. The casinos themselves are acting in accordance with what the regulator allows them to do.
Furthermore, the vast majority of online casinos have the maximum cashout amounts available on their websites in the Terms and Conditions. If you are interested in a particular casino, the information can be found there as well as being found in the casino’s Review page on this site.
In that sense, the casino is not confiscating anything. They are holding the money in accordance with the Terms and Conditions that you, as a player, have already agreed to by the fact that you are playing there.
Casinos will also occasionally confiscate funds, or delay payment when they suspect a player of wrongdoing. Several months ago we had an instance in which several individuals were setting up fake accounts using fraudulent or perhaps stolen identification to exploit several casino bonuses acting under fake names. If the casino suspects something like this might be going on, but you have not done any such thing, then your funds may, unfortunately, be held while the investigation is taking place. In that case, the casino should not be blamed, but rather the players defrauding them and playing with fake identification.
The casinos have a responsibility, however, to pay the money back to players if the players have paid in good faith and in accordance with the Terms & Conditions. While an investigation of some kind or a verification of identity might hold your payout up while it is taking place, there is no excuse for a casino to outright refuse to pay you unless they can provably demonstrate that you have done something wrong. It is for that reason that we have reps for various online casinos who are active on this site, so if you cannot get anywhere through the customer service channel, you should seek out the representatives that are available here and they will look into your situation.
If you have exhausted every possible avenue through the casino itself as well as this site and you believe your money is still being held unfairly, then my suggestion would be to get ahold of the regulator who licenses the casino by sending them either an E-Mail or a letter. The type of response that you will receive back, and the investigation, will vary according to the quality of the jurisdiction through which the casino is licensed. For that reason, it may also be important for you to research a casino’s licensing jurisdiction before playing there and making sure it is a quality one.
I know that doing all of these things before you play sounds like a serious pain in the ass, and in a way it is, but you can always just go in blindly if you would prefer to do that. The reason that all of these things are necessary for players is because there are rogue online casinos and puppet jurisdictions (Costa Rica, anyone) out there and you have a responsibility to protect yourself by only gambling at sites with integrity. Remember, all of these things are not necessary because of the casinos that are operating rightly, they are required because there are so many rogues out there who operate fraudulently.
It is important for you as a player to read all of the Terms & Conditions that an online casino has prior to playing. Many online casinos may have terms and conditions that you disagree with, and if you feel like they may become relevant, then you should simply not play there.
One example is that of online casinos who disallow, ‘Skilled play,’ ‘Professional play,’ or, ‘Advantage play,’ in their Terms and Conditions. Casinos that have such requirements may fall back on those to deny payment of winnings even if you have otherwise complied with their other terms. Personally, I don’t gamble online unless I am doing so at an advantage, so I do not play at casinos that do not allow advantage play. I do not know what the casinos mean by referencing, ‘Professional play,’ but it seems like a vague enough term that they could decide I forfeit my winnings if I go in there and play at an advantage. I avoid casinos that use that sort of verbiage in their terms and conditions.
‘Skilled Play,’ is perhaps the worst one of all. If I play Blackjack according to Optimal Strategy based upon the rules of the game, does that make me guilty of skilled play? Am I guilty of skilled play if I make the correct holds on Video Poker every single hand? Once again, the casinos can use the term, ‘Skilled play,’ to mean anything that they want to so I would not play at such casinos.
While it may not be right, casinos with such terms may use those terms against you even if you do not believe that you have violated any of them. If you see that these terms are in place at a particular online casino but choose to play there anyway, and then they use those terms against you, then that is on you as the player. You should not play at casinos if you do not understand the terms or if they seem ambiguous or unfair. However, you do agree to those terms before playing and are therefore subject to them.
If enough players refuse to play at a particular location because the terms are ridiculous or overly vague, then the casino will have no choice but to change the terms such that players can play there again. For that reason, I would personally prefer if players would avoid casinos with conditions that include verbiage such as that I highlighted above. The casino should not hold it against me, or anyone else, if I find a way to beat them using the set of rules and bonuses that they have laid out for me. I am not going to play at a casino or suggest anyone else play there if the terms are ambiguous crap.
It is also important for players to read the Bonus Terms as well as the normal terms and conditions of the website. The majority of online casino players are going to want to accept bonuses, particularly deposit match bonuses, so it is important to ensure that you do not run afoul of the special bonus terms.
While the casino should have the responsibility to ensure that the player cannot violate any special bonus terms even if he wanted to, that is not always the case. For example, a casino may have a clause that states that certain games cannot be played with bonus funds, not that they will not count towards the wagering requirements, but that they cannot be played at all. Personally, I think the casinos should then be designed to tag a certain account as being in, ‘Bonus Mode,’ and when an account is in Bonus Mode, disallowed games will simply not be accessible to the player.
Unfortunately, not all online casinos are designed this way, so a player might decide to play a little bit of craps at an online casino just for a break from whatever the player would usually be playing. Unfortunately, if playing Craps automatically disqualifies a player from the bonus and any bonus winnings, then that is what is going to happen if they look at your play history and see that.
Is it the player’s fault for playing Craps? Well, unfortunately, yes.
Once again, if a player breezes through (or ignores) the terms and conditions without taking the time to read them, understand them and ask questions if necessary, that doesn’t take away the player’s responsibility to abide by them. If the terms say that you are not allowed to play Craps while in the middle of an active bonus and you do so, then the casino is not wrong to have you forfeit winnings and only give you your original deposit back.
It might be true that playing Craps is not why you won to begin with, and if that’s the case, I would make that argument with customer service. However, from a legal standpoint, the casino is not wrong if they say that you will forfeit winnings for playing certain games, you play the games in question, and then the winnings are forfeited.
Online casinos will also usually only give a player a certain amount of time to complete bonus play otherwise the bonus itself and any winnings from that place are forfeited. I have no idea whatsoever why that is the case, but again, if you agree to it you are bound by it. As a player, you agree to it whether you read it or not.
It is important to understand that you are dealing with your actual money when you are playing at an online casino. Reading and understanding the terms and conditions is much more important to do than doing something like signing up for a throwaway E-Mail account. I understand it seems like a lot to do just to have some fun gambling on the Internet, but it can come to bite you in the ass if you don't seriously.
Another example of a term that many casinos have is that you can only have one account per person, per household. That is another one that needs to be taken seriously. You might be two different people with two different ID’s, but the casino is generally going to assume that the second person is nothing more than a proxy for the first so that the first person can take advantage of the same bonus twice. Casinos tend to offer up their strongest bonuses for new sign-ups and the bonuses that follow tend to be a little weaker and challenging, if not impossible, to beat. For that reason, casinos only want you to take advantage of new member offers once and will respond very unfavorably if they feel you have tried to circumvent that.
The first thing that I want to say is that I hate the max bet rule while playing a bonus, but I understand why it exists. The reason it exists is bonuses that I consider unplayable would be extremely favorable if I were allowed to bet a significant portion of my bonus bankroll. The reason why is because making a single bet with, ‘House Money,’ that is House Money and then grinding out the playthrough requirements is presently the biggest advantage a player can gain over the house.
I don’t know whether or not that is true with online slots because I have not taken the time to study the slots. But I imagine it is possible to have an advantage by winning on a very large slot bet and then switching to a low variance table or video poker game and grinding out the playthrough requirements with small bets.
Many online casinos are now aware of a player’s ability to take action such as that with bonus funds as well as the advantage that is provided to the player when he does. It is for that reason that these casinos have instituted a rule that states a player may not make a single wager larger than x amount while playing on bonus funds.
It is the sort of thing that a player might miss if he does not read the bonus terms. The player might make a huge bet simply because he is, ‘Taking a shot,’ and not due to any advantage play whatsoever. Hell, that was the excuse I used when I was questioned about it once. The fact of the matter is that most online casinos are on to this tactic at this point, turns out they don’t like losing thousands of dollars to the same guy and have countered it accordingly.
Granted, I think it would be better if the casinos would set up the Bonus Mode I was speaking of earlier to prevent the player’s account from even making such a bet to begin with, but many of them are not going to take the time to program it that way. It is for that reason that players have to police themselves by reading the bonus terms and making sure to play within those parameters. It’s unfortunate but necessary.
The reason for the max bet rule while playing a bonus is to avoid bet structuring which, as I said, is designed to use bonus funds to improve your bankroll and then grind out playthrough requirements dramatically. Casinos also now use bet structuring rules in the bonus terms to prevent that from happening by which they may say something like, “Your biggest bet may not be more than ten times your smallest bet.”
Once again, for players who think that the casinos do not go through the game log files to see if this has happened, think again. The casinos do not design these bonuses for people that know how to beat them; they design them so that the players who do not know how to beat them can play for a long time and maybe get lucky.
For those of you who think that this is unfair, I disagree with you a little. I believe that it sucks, but that it is perfectly fair. Brick & Mortar casinos will kick players out, and do all the time when the players have not even violated any kind of stated rule that they have expressly agreed to.
That’s the thing that cannot be emphasized enough about the Terms & Conditions of online casinos; you are giving your express agreement to those terms whether you read them or not. The same thing goes for the Bonus Terms. If you do not want to read and understand the bonus terms, then my suggestion is to go to Live Chat and tell them that you would prefer to play without a bonus. Unless you just flat bet slots all the time, if you don’t know the terms, there is a good chance that you will violate them.
In addition to the tactic of restricting players from being able to bet structure as well as limiting max bets, online casinos will also have a list of games that players can or cannot play when they are playing on bonus funds. We mentioned that earlier, but let’s now take the opportunity to discuss why that is.
The fact of the matter is that most games that involve even money bets are inherently low variance. In other words, if a player is making small bets, even if he makes many of them, he will not win or lose very much relative to the bet amount. For example, betting an initial $1 per hand at Blackjack for 1,000 hands would require a terrible run of bad luck for the player to lose as much as $100 after the thousand hands. That’s just the nature of the game, the player does not win or lose very much at it over a ton of hands.
What makes games like that attractive for recreational players is that money tends to last a long time on those games. Players increase their bankroll dramatically and grind out playthrough. Money tends to last a long time on those games.
Other games that are frequently disallowed are Roulette, Craps and Baccarat. The reason for those games to be excluded when playing with bonus funds is that they give players the opportunity to engage in what is known as, ‘Opposite betting,’ to grind out playthrough. With Craps, for example, a player could make a bet on the Pass Line and Don’t Pass Line, hedge the twelve, wait for a point to be established and then bet a ton on odds.
The reason why is because a Come Out roll of 12 loses on the Pass Line and pushes on the Don’t Pass, it is also literally the only time the two-way opposite bettor ever loses any money. The player might even protect himself against this by betting $30 on the Pass, $30 on the Don’t and then throwing $1 on the twelve. The worst case scenario is that the 12 doesn’t show up and the player loses the dollar, but with 5x odds, the player gets over $500 in playthrough completed on that one initial bet as long as a point number shows.
In other words, players can use two-way action to lock in a small loss or make it very probable, but they get a lot of playthrough done in the process. Imagine if a player makes a high variance bet that takes his bankroll from $1,500 ($1000 Bonus) to $5,500 ($1,000 Bonus). The player might need to meet $100,000 in playthrough requirements but can very easily do opposite betting to get through that safely and lock in a profit.
A player could play single zero Roulette and make $10 bets on every single number guaranteeing a loss of $10 per every spin. The player would need 271 spins (each bet would be for $370) and would lose a guaranteed $2,710 to complete the playthrough requirements. Even with that, the player would finish with a balance of $2,790 of which $1,790 would be cashable...all for a deposit of $500.
Again not every player who plays a forbidden game is doing it with that in mind, so it is for that reason that some players may feel unfairly treated if they violate the bonus terms and forfeit their winnings and bonus money as a result. They can make their case with customer service, but will probably lose.
Once again, I think it would be better if a Bonus Mode were enabled such that the player would not be able to open a Roulette, or any other excluded game, at all. However, without such a mode the player is responsible for ensuring that he/she does not unwittingly violate the bonus terms.
When it comes to the Terms & Conditions, even if they seem unfair, you as the player expressly agree to them when you sign up for the site and/or accept a bonus that the casino in question is offering. It is for that reason that you are responsible for knowing what they are and should take the time to read them, understand them and ask questions if necessary.
I know gambling is fun, but gambling is also money and you should treat it with the seriousness that it deserves.