Dream Palace Casino - Player’s account and withdrawal got blocked due to an alleged policy breach.

Earlier this year I opened quite a lot of casino accounts and it seems many of them were owned by the same people by the name of Progress Play. I was losing a lot of money but did have some luck in the end and found myself with pending withdrawals at 5 different casinos under in the Progress Play group. One of which was Dream Palace Casino.

But all of a sudden, all my casino accounts within Progress Play were suddenly suspended and eventually they returned only my deposits. And only in the case where I had won some money. In the case where I had lost the deposit - they kept all of them. Initially they gave no reason for their behaviour but did copy and past and huge and vague section of their terms and conditions. Eventually they came up with a most ludicrous explanation of how I breached their terms and conditions. They said I had been block from 3 of their casinos way back in 2016. The reason for that was because I had made a deposit and then withdrew it without playing. This is 7 years and I don't even remember those casinos. Next, they said I had changed my name to circumvent their sign up process. The actual truth is I got married and my surname changed. There are 1000's of other casinos out there I could join - I don't need to change my name to join a Progress Play casino especially as there was no incentive to do so. I took no bonuses and entered into no promotions.

Next they accused me of using a 3rd parties payment details. This is true, kind of. I actually used my husband's PayPal address which we have shared for more years than Progress Play has existed. And, I used it in error. We share a computer and when PayPal opens up it is auto filled. A simple error. AND, this PayPal error came AFTER I had won at Dream Palace Casino. Just a ridiculous attempt to find a reason not pay me. Their incentive is greater than the £4800 disputed at Dream Palace because the total of all the casinos they refused to pay from is around £10,000.

When it suits them they make out that all their casinos are 1 place, so if you make a mistake in one they will penalise you in all of them. But it's funny how when I deposited £7,000 in a day 10 out of control wild gambling spree in April and May of this year across several of their brands - they said nothing. I earn £10,000 per year but they were happy to take my money. I only wish I had read the reviews of these people before I entered into a gambling relationship with them.

Dear Lucygal,

Thank you very much for submitting this complaint. I'm sorry to hear about your issue with Dream Palace Casino. I have checked the casino's Terms and Conditions, and this is what I found:

F. Prohibited Actions

1. Without derogating from any other provision of these Terms and Conditions, if the Company determines that You are engaging in or have engaged in Prohibited Actions and/or Irregular Playing Patterns, or have attempted to do so, then the Company shall be entitled to close Your Account, withhold, seize and confiscate all funds in Your Account (including, but not limited to, any deposits and winnings in Your Account). In addition, the Company may exercise these rights in respect of any other Accounts of Yours on the Company Network. The Company shall also be entitled to inform and provide information documentation about You and Your activities to the applicable authorities and regulators, financial institutions, banks, credit card companies and

This means that if you breach Terms in one of the Progress Play casinos, you might get banned from the entire group. Using a payment method that does not belong solely to you is a valid reason to block your account. This can be found in the casino's Terms, as well as in our Fair Gambling Codex for players:

"For deposits and withdrawals, you should only use bank accounts and credit cards held in your own name. If you don't do this, you might get into trouble when trying to make a withdrawal. This rule is mostly in place to prevent credit card misuse and also because of international anti-money-laundering regulations." 

Please understand that this rule has been breached. Some exceptions might be allowed by casinos when depositing or withdrawing funds using a joint card or this possibility is communicated beforehand. Technically it is very difficult to check who’s the owner of the payment method at the depositing stage. This can be checked only during the account verification, which is usually done when a withdrawal is requested. Therefore, it is a player’s responsibility to use allowed payment methods only. 

If you’re not able to prove that you are a legitimate owner of the payment method and you haven’t received approval from the casino allowing you to use a third-party payment method, I’m afraid there’s not much we can do for you. 

Thank you very much in advance for your reply and understanding. 

Best regards, 

Veronika

Hi Veronika

Thanks for taking the time to look into my case.

I understand the rule about using another's person payment method. But, in this instance, it was done in error and for that reason I think they are applying their terms and conditions in an unreasonable manner. Furthermore, the PayPal account in question I have shared with my husband for 20 years. So they are clearly using their terms and conditions to an extreme level by taking approximately £10,000 off me for using my husband's PayPal account, by accident, once.

More importantly, I won money at Dream Palace Casino before I used the other PayPal account. This means they are taking money I had won prior to this flimsy breach of their terms and conditions. This cannot be in any casino's terms and conditions. If they are going to apply things retrospectively then they must also return all of my deposits prior to this PayPal error. ADR's, mediation web-sites and the UKGC have ruled in favour of the customer when they have breached a casino's terms and conditions, if the terms and conditions are unreasonable. Breach or no breach (and there is no breach as I won the money BEFORE the error) - I ask you Veronika do you think they are treating me fairly?

Readers of this should take note that Progress Play will search very hard to find any tiny reason they can to withhold their customer's money.

Progress Play applied their stance to all of their casinos where I hold accounts but treated them entirely individually when it came to allowing me to recklessly deposit £7,000 over a 10 day gambling spree. So they have it both ways.

Are you the co-owner of your husband's PayPal account? Or is the account in his name only? I am sorry but if your husband is the sole owner of the account, and you made deposits from this account, the casino will consider it as a third-party payment.

Could you please specify what was your balance prior to making a deposit via your husband's PayPal? Have you requested a withdrawal prior to making the new deposit? Have you played with the deposited money? How has your balance changed?

Hi

That PayPal account is registered only to my husband but we have both used it for 20 years. And while I understand using a 3rd party's email address is a breach of their terms I would have expected them to show common sense rather than use it as a tool to not pay my winnings. I used my husband's email address, just once, by accident.

Anyway, I had many wins and had requested withdrawals before the mistake with the PayPal address.

Here are wins all confiscated:

Dreampalace 20/4 £4000

Dreampalace 22/4 £1500

Bluefox 26/4 £1400

Rubybet 26/4 £2300

Mrjackvegas 26/4 £1500

Schmitts 01/5 £1500

And it was after this, on 01/5 when I used my husband's PayPal account. Furthermore, throughout this entire period I had many, many losing visits to their casinos both before and after 01/5. But did they return the losing deposits? Did they hell! That in itself is theft - clear as day. They are criminals.

If you had winnings in your account prior to making that one-time PayPal deposit, we believe the casino should pay you out. Before we move forward with your case, could you please send me any relevant communication between you and the casino regarding the suspension of your account to veronika.l@casino.guru? Thank you very much.

Hi

I most certainly did have winnings in my account before making the one time accidental deposit with my husband's PayPal account that I have shared for 20 years anyway.

And this other nonsense where they actually claim that I altered my name in order to join their casino. Crikey I am not that desperate to play there. In the 9 years between making accounts with them I was married. I have only ever signed up with the name on my passport. To do anything other than that would guarantee I don't get paid.

I have sent you an email too.

Do I understand correctly that you had more than 4000 GBP balance in your account when you deposited with your husband's PayPal? Could you please explain why you made a deposit when your balance was so high?

Hi Veronika

Not exactly. On the 20/04 I deposited £500 to Dream Palace and finished with £4500. The figure of £4000 I mentioned above was how much I actually won. I requested a withdrawal for the full amount of £4500 on the same day, 20/04. Therefore, it was no longer in my balance but elsewhere within Dream Palace's coffers and listed as a "pending withdrawal" where it could not be used until the withdrawal was settled by the casino. So the only possible way to play again was to make a subsequent deposit, which I did at Dream Palace and various other casinos within their group with the winning sessions listed above. The losing sessions I did not compile a list of. I realise now that building up this amount of pending withdrawals was leaving myself exposed and also tying up all of my available funds within Progress Play's grasps. This was an easy situation to fall into because I was on a winning streak and besides, I had no reason to think Dream Palace and Progress Play would do this to me because I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. God knows how many successful deposits I made from my own PayPal account before this one time error. There is absolutely nothing to be gained by using my husband's PayPal account so there is no subversive reason behind this. According to the UKGC's web-site Dream Palace Casino's "terms must be fair and transparent". To confiscate this much money over a one time error after countless successful deposits does not fit that description. And that is kind kind of irrelevant anyway because they have delivered this retrospectively.

Was the amount of £4500 your first pending withdrawal request at this casino?

Do I understand correctly that you were banned from the Progress Play group a few years ago due to chargebacks you made?

Hi Veronika

The £4,500 was my first pending withdrawal at Dream Palace Casino and I had been playing and losing there for 1 year. But it wasn't my first withdrawal from casinos within their group. For example, on April the 11th of this year I received a withdrawal from Progress Play for £2,997.50. To do this I would have needed to be fully and completely verified under my correct name Lucy Allen - which, of course I was. It was a month or 2 later when I had built up something like £15,000 worth of withdrawals when they suddenly decided I wasn't Lucy Allen and had altered my details to join them. And I offer you a copy of my marriage certificate should you wish to see it.

As for being banned from the Progress Play group over a chargeback a few years ago, pfff. Is this what they are hanging on to in order keep my money? More than a few years ago - 8 years back in fact, I had joined Conquer Casino, Hippozino and Lottozone. They never told me I was banned but they did block these 3 accounts saying that I had requested a "refund after 1 time deposit". Hardly crime of the century. I don't believe that is a chargeback and I wasn't banned. Furthermore, back in 2015 I wasn't aware of the name Progress Play. And nor was I in 2022 when I joined Dream Palace. I had no idea these casinos were connected and had completely forgotten about the existence of Conquer Casino, Hippozino and Dream Palace. If I was banned, I wasn't told. They were happy to take my money for 1 year from 2022 - but suddenly I was banned after winning. Funny that. According to the UKGC's web-site Dream Palace Casino's "terms must be fair and transparent". Their terms are clearly not fair here by suggesting I was banned 8 years ago even though they were happily taking my money - lots of it. I am a customer of casinos but the parent companies of gambling organisations need not be my expertise. To use their terms simply as a tool for confiscating player's money is in breach of their terms and conditions with the UKGC.

Kindly clarify the precise alterations made to your personal details between your initial registration at Progress Play casinos in 2015 and your new account in 2022. I refer specifically to changes in your name, surname, address, and devices utilized.

Hello

There will be quite a few personal details in my reply so I will email my response this time 🙂

Dear Lucygal,

after a thorough investigation, we came to the conclusion that we are unable to help you resolve your issue and the complaint will be closed as rejected. You breached several Terms and Conditions of the Progress Play group and were banned from their casinos, however, since you changed your personal information, the system was unable to recognize you as a blocked user.

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 any issues with this or any other casino in the future.