Merlin Casino - Player’s withdrawal has been delayed following bonus issues.

I deposited €50 and received a €50 no-wagering welcome bonus with a maximum withdrawal of 5× the bonus (€250).

While the bonus was active, I played the slot "Hit Coins 2 Hold and Spin", which was fully accessible and playable.

Many other games on the site are clearly blocked during bonuses with a message stating "game deactivated while bonus is active", but this game was not blocked and displayed no warning.

I won and requested a withdrawal of €250, which is exactly the stated bonus limit.

The casino refused the withdrawal, cancelled the bonus and winnings, and refunded only my €50 deposit, claiming the game is considered a restricted "jackpot game".

However : The game is not explicitly listed in the restricted games list

The bonus terms state that restricted games are automatically blocked while a bonus is active

The game was playable and allowed

The restriction was enforced only after a withdrawal was requested

I contacted the casino multiple times and sent a formal follow-up on 8 January, but I have received no response or acknowledgement.

I have screenshots, game history, and all correspondence available.

I am requesting payment of the €250 withdrawal in line with the stated bonus terms.

T&C here : https://www.merlincasino.com/en/info/bonus-terms-and-conditions

Nowhere in line 14 is the game "Hit Coins 2 Hold & Spin"

Line 14.1 clearly says that restricted games by bonus are automatically blocked by the system.

Important notice:

Casino Guru will never ask for payments or access to your accounts to complete KYC. If someone claims to be from Casino Guru and does that, do not share any information.

We only contact players through this official complaint thread or via @casino.guru e-mail addresses. Always check the sender’s domain and verify your complaint resolver’s e-mail address by clicking on their avatar visible inside the official complaint thread.

If anything seems suspicious, contact us directly.

Stay safe.

Dear srcds,

Thank you for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your experience at Merlin Casino. We believe that restricted games for bonus play should be blocked and that this rule should be implemented at the software level—meaning the casino's software or website should prevent players from placing bets on games that are not permitted during bonus wagering. That would be the ideal solution. Alternatively, at the very least, players should be notified when they access a restricted game that it cannot be played while their bonus is active.

• Could you please advise if you have been warned by the software when accessing any of the restricted games and if it was your first redeemed bonus in this casino?
• Do you have access to your gameplay history in your account? If yes, could you please share it with us?
• If there is any other relevant communication between you and the casino, please forward it to attila.g@casino.guru. Alternatively, you can post it here.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Attila

Hi Attila,

Thank you for your prompt reply 🙂

I sent you an email with all the necessary info / details.

Let me know if anything else is needed.

Regards,

****

Hi Team,

Today at 5:53AM Irish Time the casino finally replied stating the following (attached)

I would like to respectfully clarify my position in light of the casino’s response.

The core issue is not whether the casino internally considers "Hold and Win" or "integrated jackpot" games to be restricted, but how this restriction is communicated and enforced.

The bonus terms explicitly state that restricted games are automatically blocked by the system once a bonus is active. This is consistent with my experience on the site, where many games are indeed blocked and display a clear message ("game deactivated while bonus is active").

However, Hit Coins 2 Hold and Spin was fully accessible, playable, and displayed no warning of any kind while the bonus was active. The game is also not listed by name in the restricted games list, and the terms do not define "Hold and Win" mechanics or "integrated jackpot features" as a separate restricted category.

From a player’s perspective, it is not reasonable to assume that a playable, unrestricted game will later be reclassified as forbidden only after winnings are generated.

The restriction was enforced retroactively, after the withdrawal request, despite:

the game being accessible,

no warning being shown,

and the bonus terms stating restricted games are automatically blocked.

For these reasons, I respectfully maintain that the winnings should be honored in line with the stated bonus conditions.

Dear srcds,

Thank you for your cooperation and for providing all the necessary information. I truly appreciate the time and effort you’ve taken to share everything with us so far.

Your complaint will now move to the next stage of our process and be handled by your dedicated Resolver, Matej (matej.l@casino.guru). This is a standard step in our procedure, as the Resolver will take over communication with the casino directly and manage your case from this point onward.

No action is required from you right now. Your Resolver will reach out through this thread if any additional details are needed. You can rest assured that your case is in very capable hands.

I wish you the best of luck and hope your case will be resolved to your satisfaction soon.

Kind regards,

Attila G.

Hello srcds, nice to meet you!

My name is Matej, and I will be assisting you with this case. I'll do my best to help you resolve this issue as soon as possible.

I’d like to invite a representative of Merlin Casino to join the conversation and participate in the investigation of this case as well. Could you possibly provide additional information regarding the issue with the game play? I would also appreciate if the casino could provide us with any and all relevant evidence. Any sensitive information or internal system files can be shared with me directly by e-mail matej.l@casino.guru.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation in advance.

We would like to ask the casino to reply to this complaint. We are extending the timer by 7 days. If the casino fails to respond in the set time frame, we will close the complaint as ‘unresolved’ which may negatively affect its rating.

We have reviewed the case , including gameplay history, the bonus conditions applied. After a thorough review, we must confirm that our decision was made responsibly and in full accordance with our Bonus Terms & Conditions.

We would like to clarify that games with integrated jackpot features, fall under the category of restricted games when playing with an active bonus. The game "Hit Coins 2 Hold and Spin" includes an integrated jackpot feature.

Although some restricted games may be automatically blocked by the system, this does not alter their classification under the bonus rules. Accessibility of a game during bonus play does not override the applicable restrictions outlined in the terms. For this reason, the bonus and the winnings generated from this gameplay could not be approved. We refunded the deposit player made.

Hi Matej,

I would like to provide some additional factual context that may be relevant to the assessment of this case.

Merlin Casino visibly uses game tags on its platform (for example, "Jackpot" tags displayed under certain games). I am attaching a screenshot as an example of a game with such tag.

The game "Hit Coins 2 Hold and Spin" does not display any "Jackpot" tag, nor is it listed among the restricted games in Section 14 of the Bonus Terms & Conditions.

Additionally, Section 14.1 of the Bonus T&Cs explicitly states:

"Restricted games for bonus are automatically blocked by the system once bonus is active."

In this case, the game was fully accessible, launched normally, allowed betting, and displayed no warning or notification that it was restricted while the bonus was active.

As also stated earlier by Attila, restricted games should either be blocked at the software level or, at minimum, players should be clearly informed when attempting to access them. Neither of these occurred here.

From a player’s perspective, there was no reasonable way to know that this specific game was considered restricted, especially given the absence of a jackpot tag, the absence of any warning, and the casino’s own statement that restricted games are automatically blocked.

I am attaching the following evidence for clarity:

– Screenshot 1: Example of a game on Merlin Casino clearly marked with a "Jackpot" tag

– Screenshot 2: "Hit Coins 2 Hold and Spin" showing no such tag

I hope this additional context helps clarify why I believe responsibility in this situation lies with the casino’s system implementation rather than with player behavior.

Dear Merlin Casino, is it possible that the Hit Coins 2 game has not been categorised properly and the issue has now been rectified? As per the player's screenshot above, the game has not been showing the "Jackpot" tag, however when I went to check myself, I can see the the tag.

This aside, I can confirm that Hit Coins 2 is not mentioned amongst restricted games in the Bonus T&C, and also as the player mentioned - bonus term 14.1 clearly states that prohibited games are automatically blocked.

So far it seems to me that this issue has been caused by technical issue on the casino side, and I would like to ask if you would be willing to reconsider your original decision.

Dear srcds, I have received an e-mail from the casino representative, summarising the issue and reiterating their decision as being correct.

I have responded, asked for clarification and inquired whether the management would be wiling to reconsider their decision. So far, I have not seen evidence of bonus abuse, fraud, or deliberate misuse of the system to avoid restrictions on your part. And I still believe this is a technical issue on the casino's side, that needs to be fixed to avoid similar issue in the future. Hopefully the response will allow for further mediation, and I will keep you updated in this thread along the way.

Hi Matej,

Thank you very much for the update and for the time and effort you’re putting into reviewing this case — I really appreciate it.

I’d just like to confirm once again that there was no bonus abuse, fraud, or any deliberate attempt on my part to bypass or misuse the system. I played in good faith and followed the Bonus Terms & Conditions as they were presented to me at the time.

Thanks again for your assistance and for keeping me informed. I’ll await further updates.

Kind regards,

Vlad

We have credited players winnings of 200€ to his account despite breaching our bonus term and condition number 14. He can enter his account and withdrawal the money. We notified him by email.

Thank you, Merlin Casino, for reconsidering the original decision.

Dear srcds. Seems like your winnings have been returned, the game thumbnail now correctly displays the Jackpot tag and I have also recommended the casino representative to add the game onto the prohibited games list within the Bonus T&C, to avoid similar issue in the future.

Can you please confirm whether you are satisfied with this outcome and whether we can consider this complaint successfully resolved? Alternatively, you can use the dedicated "resolved" button. If you have any more issues or questions, do not hesitate to ask.

We'd like to inform everyone following this case that the player has marked this complaint as resolved using the dedicated button.

Dear srcds,

We are pleased to hear that your issue has been resolved. We will mark the complaint as 'Resolved' in our system. Thank you for your cooperation and confirmation. If you experience any future issues with this or any other casino, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our Complaint Resolution Center. We are here to assist you.

As always, our services are free of charge, and we do not accept any gratuities. However, we would greatly appreciate it if you could take a moment to share your experience with our services on Trustpilot: https://trustpilot.com/evaluate/casino.guru. Your honest review, along with any suggestions for improvement, would be incredibly valuable. It can also help others who are considering contacting us for assistance with online casino-related matters.

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.

Best regards,

Matej