Drake Casino - Player's winnings are confiscated.

I won and was withdrawing $999.00 on 6/20/23. After finally getting my account verified. That was an issue in itself, they kept adding things for me to get verified. Their is a rule in the T&C says you can't bet more than $25 which includes the double up & gamble features, to complete your playthrough. I never violated this rule. They are saying where I purchased the bonus game is the same as betting. That is misleading and misconstrued the rule. Wizards jackpot is the game that I bet $2 and paid $60 to play the bonus game. Now that I won and requested my winnings, they are saying it's included under the gamble feature. It isn't in the rules. This is illegal and unfair, please help with this matter.

Dear slighfrankie,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your negative experience with Drake Casino.

Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can better understand the situation. 

Do I understand correctly the casino is referring to this situation as a breach of the max bet rule?

Did you win from the feature? Did you use the feature more than once? I hope we will be able to help you to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Yes it is you can't wager more than 25 per spin with bonus money, but I didn't wager, I purchased the right to play the bonus game. It doesn't state anything about it in the rule. I did it 2 times, the first time I didn't get back what it costed, the second time I hit for 890.00. Please help, I've read the rules and i did not violate it. They are wrong for this.

Now the casino has written me an email stating a lie about the rule trying to mislead me. They wrote it states "gambling" features and double up features. It states GAMBLE feature like on the merlin game of heads or tails to get more spins. Who do I need to contact, what authority should be notified, this is is illegal

Thanks for your reply:

I checked the promotional rules and found this wording: https://www.drakecasino.eu/promotionrules

All bonuses have a minimum dollar value of wagers that must be reached before you will be permitted to withdraw. This is referred to as the "wagering requirement". Unless stated otherwise, when playing with bonus money, you may not wager more than $25 per spin in order to clear your Wagering Requirement. This includes double up wagers and gamble features. 

Do I understand correctly that you were aware of this rule, but you didn't consider the specific feature to be included in the meaning of the 'gamble' feature?

That is correct because I was not wagering or gambling, it says "buy-in" as its name because that's what I was doing, buying the ability to play the bonus game at a $2 wager. This rule should be amended to include purchasing the buy-in and given clarity. I understand the English language and the few people I asked their opinion about this all 11 of them agreed with me. I didn't wager I purchased something that isn't mentioned in the rule.

Has their been any change in the situation? I have talked to several more people who agrees with me as well. So now I feel very strongly that I am in the right. I await your response

Dear slighfrankie,

We believe that the max bet rule should apply on a 'per-spin' basis. For example, if you buy a feature that awards you 10 spins, even if the purchase was above the max bet specified in t&c, this should count as 10 bets being made with 1/10th the value of the purchase.

However, the feature in this particular slot launches a different game, where a jackpot can be won. Due to this reason, we would argue you bet on a single 'spin' and therefore will not be able to help you.

Please understand the way the casino applied its terms and conditions in this particular case is a common way how the max bet rule is interpreted and enforced by online casinos in games with any 'features'.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this complaint will now be rejected. Thank you for your understanding, I am sorry we could not be of more help on this occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into issues with this or any other casino in the future.