Betvictor Casino - Player’s account with significant winnings got closed.

This is a review I submitted on trust pilot. The issue is still ongoing and all betvictor has told me is they are "investigating deeply". There was not cheating or collusion. Only issues were ones I flagged below. I’m in Ontario so have the regulator looking into it but they aren’t doing much. Please help 🙁

This company has screwed me out of $85,000. I deposited $700 or so and won a ridiculous amount playing live casino baccarat - all legitimately. After I request withdrawal, they ask for verification documents. All are provided. Even bank statement showing transfer from my own bank account - everything checks out. Then they close my account without providing any reason. I contact livechat and they just keep running in circles about emailing accountsecurity and that this is being reviewed. This was on Nov 9. They have closed my account and refused to pay out for no reason specified.

Eventually I got their head of customer service Stevie Palmer who wrote me one email saying they are "investigating" and haven't heard back. Granted he did say it would take until the 21st likely to hear back. But still he has not responded to any of my questions, provided reasons for the account closure or balance confiscation.

But it's been over a week since they closed my account. No issues of fraud, or multiple accounts. Any issues I could think I've raised and they continue to just say they're investigating. Deposit was made right from my own sole registered bank account. I cannot think of any issues and they aren't providing any. They are still "investigating" and doing whatever they can to find a way out of paying it. I have occasionally bet at my friend's house who also has a BV account, but we have completely separate houses, IP addresses, submitted individual verification documents, etc. We are romantic partners. We have each had our own accounts for months and they've taken deposits and paid withdrawals before without question. They closed his account for no reason provided. He asked for a reason 5 days ago and no response. Their customer service is a joke and doesn't even respond to emails. STAY AWAY.

Thankfully I'm in Ontario and have certain protections under Ontario law, but given the amount involved, it's very scary right now. I cannot believe what is going on. I even had to get a law firm involved and they are familiar with the Ontario laws and cannot believe what is going on. We have tried to arrange for a phone call, sent multiple emails requesting more information on the investigation, been completely transparent in showing that the deposit in question and winnings in question are all from ME: that there's no duplicate account. I have no actual reason given for account closure and balance confiscation but I can only suspect these issues given I used my friend's IP address - that is not prohibited in their rules. What's prohibited is an individual creating multiple accounts. We are separate individuals with separate addresses and separate IP addresses. We've provided all documentation to confirm this. 

I've previously deposited and won a bit and they've paid me. A couple months ago. So only NOW it's an issue because we're talking about $85,000. How sneaky of them to try find a technicality when they've already taken my action, paid out, established the legitimacy of my account, etc...

They are weasels; they will find any and every excuse under the sun not to pay you. Here, their indefinite "investigation" ongoing with no responses to ANY of my questions is not only really bad practice and acting in bad faith, but also leaves me completely in the dark as to the security of my funds. My lawyer and me have to infer what the issues are from and address them. Any and all issues have been addressed. The only things we could think of were the log-ins to the same IP and there was one $80 deposit (which was lost gambling) from months ago from a joint bank account which their terms do not prohibit. Their terms specify that all deposits must be from the account holder's bank account/credit card or winnings are voided. The account is in my name, just shared. But in any event, for the balance in my account now, the deposit was directly from my sole registered bank account, not any joint account. 100% of my balance is that deposit from my solely owned bank account and winnings that were legitimate - live casino - no cheating, no fraud, nothing. 

When you win big, legitimately, and with a regulated book, you should get paid out. End of story. Thankfully the Ontario laws provide that when they close your account, they have to pay out your balance. These morons can't get it through their heads that this is their obligation. We will sue and seek damages. 

Hello srossisboss1992,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint and I'm really sorry to hear about your issue with Betvictor Casino. Please allow me to ask you a few more question before we would move forward.

Could you please advise if your account is already verified and if yes, since when exactly? Did you accumulate your winnings with real money or did you use a bonus? When was the last time you spoke to the casino and what was it about?

Looking forward to your answer.

Regards,

Nick

Hi Nick. Thank you for helping out.

My account was verified when it was opened which was I believe 6 months ago or so. As I mention there was a withdrawal of about $9,000 around sep 10 2023 and I definitely would have had verification done by then.

winnings were accumulated from a sole deposit of real money from my solely registered bank account. No bonuses.

I’ve been asking questions to the casino about what they are investigating. They don’t respond to any emails. I’ve received 3 emails in total from them and all they say is their fraud/security team flagged some concerns and they have some concerns and it’s taking longer than expected to come to a decision. Last I heard was a few days ago and they said they’d have a "final" decision by end of next week. But originally they said by nov 21. I cannot login and when I try it says my account has been closed. They have not provided any reasons or cited what the issues they are looking into are. Hence my concern and trying to infer or guess at what the reasons might be which I’ve laid out (previous deposit from joint/shared bank account and winnings paid - which I’ve offered to them in good faith as a gesture to resolve this to return and deduct from my $85k balance even though I don’t think I should and sharing an IP address at times with another betvictor player. However we live at separate addresses and nothing in their terms says you can’t get together and bet while watching something together. I also explained to them that this other player gets 5 percent cash back - it would make no sense for him to use my account to play when both accounts have no betting restrictions. He’d be giving away a huge financial incentive. So my account is not a multiple or duplicate to avoid or get around any restrictions on his account.)

thank you for your help and do let me know if I can provide any more information. I’ve been kept in the dark but proactively tried to be transparent and give them information on whatever issues I could see there being.

What is concerning is BetVictor's absolute right to unilaterally close my account and withhold winnings, this comes from these sections of their general terms and conditions. These are so insanely over-reaching and unfair to players. Look at section 17.3 - it literally provides them to discretion to close your account and void bets for any reason - note the word "including" is a qualifier and they use that so that they still retain the authority to void bets/confiscate winnings whenever they'd like for whatever reason. So they have given themselves the power to do whatever they want retroactively without any real evidence of cheating or collusion or anything illegal. Also note that the definitions of Prohibited Practices and Fraudulent Activities include any breach of the terms - so these terms are literally meaningless. They imply a higher level of misconduct but are defined to refer to any breach of their terms.

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17.3 We may end your contract at any time, including if we suspect that you break these terms. We may restrict your access to BetVictor, temporarily suspend or permanently terminate your account, withdraw your offers for bets, void any bets that have been settled on your account, cancel and void any outstanding bets in our absolute discretion without cause at any time for any reason, including but not limited to if: ….

As mentioned I have no concerns about the game play at all. The winnings were all from one of their providers of baccarat and that’s all legitimate.

it’s hard to be left in the dark and guess at what they’re worried about. I’ve done my best to be transparent and provide an explanation and documents for what I figured they might be looking at. It’s so disheartening and and it’s such bad faith to just take someone’s bets, have a history of paying out etc… and then they win big and it seems like they’re trying to get out of paying me on a technicality. It feels wrong. My friend in question and me play at many books and never come across an issue like this. I wish I won at a different place.

Hello dziiizas,

Can you please advise if you did play casino games or sports betting? Would it be possible to forward the communication between you and the casino to nikolas.b@casino.guru?

Hi Nick. I played only live casino.

I have forwarded the relevant emails.

I am really freaking out. They are simply not responding anymore. I’m so distraught. Any help you can provide I’d appreciate.

Hi. Here is their final response which I emailed to you. They don’t even mention the winnings derived from the $700 deposit which was made solely in my bank account and they have no right to withhold. Please help.

Dear Stephanie,

Thank you for your emails and your patience whilst we fully investigated your case.

Upon review I can confirm that 2 deposits have caused concern from September 2023, these deposits have been checked and the name of the account holder did not match the registered name on your account or any version of your name.

As you are aware all deposits into your account must match the details registered on your account and we do not allow 3rd Party Deposits.

Our standard procedure in these situations where a 3rd party method has been used, would be to void any all transactions and close the account.

In your situation I can see that the funds were used and the amount of $9999.05 was withdrawn, after the deposits in question.

Following this the next transaction on your account was a deposit of $700 in November 2023.

Based on our procedure, your account has been closed and we have returned the deposited amount of $700 to the method used.

Please accept our apologies for the delay whilst we carried out the review.

If you wish to escalate this issue, please reach out to iGaming Ontario.

Kind Regards,

Stevie

Head of Customer Support

Nikolas I just want to make sure you got my emails? I’ve forwarded the full complaint I made to iGaming Ontario. I fear they may not be of much help which is why I’d so appreciate whatever you can do to help.

Hello srossisboss1992,

Yes I have received all the e-mails from you. Is it possible to provide a proof that the bank account you used to deposit is a shared account, so you are there as account owner? Please forward to the same e-mail.

Hi Nick. I will forward you now the email showing proof that for the $700 deposit from which the winnings were derived is from a bank account solely registered in my name.

With respect to the September deposits from the shared bank account, BetVictor called my bank and made inquiries and is taking the position that since my name isn’t on the bank account as first registrant, it is not in my name. I’ll try forward you proof that the account is in my name/shared and not a third party.

I just heard from the Ontario regulator the following. Is there still anything you could help with on this?

Hello Stephanie, 

Further to your email to iGO on December 1st, iGO has completed its review of this incident and is satisfied with the Operator’s decision on this matter. 

Therefore, iGO will take no further action at thistime and considers the matter closed. 

Sincerely, 

iGO Player Dispute Escalation team

Hello srossisboss1992,

I'm afraid that as long as the regulator made a final decision, there isn't much we are able to do in this case as they have much higher authority.

Is there anything we may assist you with? If not, we will be unfortunately forced to reject the complaint based on the regulator's decision.

Dear srossisboss1992,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Thanks but why does the regulator's decision have to be the end of the road? Their decision doesn't even give any reasons. I'd still prefer this complaint to be public and at the very least my review. What they've done is incredibly unfair and I will be commencing litigation.

Hello srossisboss1992,

Unfortunately yes, the regulator's decision is final. Your complaint will of course remain visible on our website even though it will be rejected.

Wish you best luck.

Regards,

Nick