Playing.io Casino - Player faces delayed withdrawal and account issues.

Dear Casinoguru Team,

For a long time, I hesitated to report this case, considering the symbolic amount of $50. Ultimately, I realized that this is not just a matter of monetary interest but of principles and justice. I believe it is a moral obligation to draw attention to the behavior of Playing.io (owned by Bridge Technologies B.V.), whose actions demonstrate not only a lack of professionalism but also a severe lack of ethics in dealing with its customers.

On December 24, 2023, I opened an account with Playing.io and successfully completed the verification process. I made two deposits (please see the attached screenshot Playing-deposits.png) and completed three withdrawals (please see Playing-withdrawals.png), with my last withdrawal of $2,461.61, requested on February 26, 2024, being successfully processed after a delay of 12-13 days.

Although my account remained active, my ability to place sports bets was limited to minimal amounts, forcing me to stop using the platform. However, over time, I noticed that Playing.io continued to credit small bonuses and rewards from their loyalty program to my account (please see Playing-Vip-club.png). I used these small amounts to play primarily Dice and Book of 99 and met the wagering requirements. On December 12, 2024, I requested to withdraw my remaining balance of 49.53898497 USDT, which was rejected the following day with the reason "Audit rejected," and the funds were not returned to my account balance (please see Playing-Audit-rejected.png).

I contacted their customer support and provided all the facts, but I received the following response:

"As we checked with our backend team, it seems that you haven't deposited for a long time and use bonuses for arbitrage. Please deposit and play the game in order to make a successful withdrawal. Thanks."

There is no such condition in their terms and conditions that ties the ability to withdraw to the last deposit. Moreover, "bonus arbitrage" does not even exist as a defined concept. These actions by the operator are arbitrary, baseless, and blatantly unfair. What’s more, they are suggesting that I make a new deposit to withdraw my legitimate winnings - a practice that is not only unethical but also outright misleading.

This case is not about $50 - it is about protecting the principles of transparency, ethics, and fairness in the gambling industry. I hope your intervention will lead to:

1. A review of the case and a demand for Playing.io to release my withheld funds.

2. An evaluation of the operator and the publication of information that will warn potential players about such practices.

I trust that Casinoguru, as an advocate for players' rights, will review this case objectively and take the necessary steps to restore justice.

Kind Regards,

Bestbets

Dear Bestbets,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can understand the whole situation completely.

• Do you currently have access to your casino account?
• Do I understand correctly that the bonus you played with was a no-deposit one?
• Could you please forward all the relevant communication between you and the casino to kristina.s@casino.guru? Alternatively, you can post it here.

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,

Kristina

Dear Kristina,

Thank you for your prompt response to my complaint. I am providing clarifications to the questions you raised:

1. Yes, I currently have access to my account, where the balance is $0.

2. After withdrawing $2,461.61 (requested on February 26, 2024, and received 12-13 days later), my balance was reduced to $0. I haven’t made any further deposits since then. However, small amounts (cents or sums around $2-3) started appearing in my account. These were rewards from their VIP club loyalty program, credited weekly or monthly due to my previous activity. I believe these bonuses are referred to as "cashback" in other places. These small sums were subject to wagering requirements, which I fulfilled through low-stake sessions (under $1). This brought my balance to $49.53, which I decided to withdraw.

3. To expedite the review process, I am sharing my correspondence with the casino below. It doesn’t contain personal details, except for the operator’s name, which I’ve omitted for privacy reasons:

December 12, 2024, 17:42 - My Message:

Dear Playing.io Support Team,

I am writing as user ************.

I recently requested a withdrawal of my balance amounting to 49.53898497 USDT.

Currently, I see the transaction status marked as "Audit rejected." Could you please clarify what this means? Additionally, could you advise when I can expect to receive the requested withdrawal?

Thank you for your assistance.

December 13, 2024, 16:21 - Operator Response:

Hello, Kindly share your game UID & withdrawal transaction screenshot so that we can better assist you.

December 13, 2024, 16:34 - My Message:

Thank you for your response. As requested, I am sharing the following details to assist with the resolution of my issue:

Game UID: *********

Withdrawal Transaction Screenshot: Please find the attached screenshot of the relevant transaction.

I kindly ask that you review this information and let me know the reason for the "Audit rejected" status. Additionally, could you advise on the next steps required or provide a timeline for when I can expect to receive the withdrawal?

Thank you for your assistance, and I look forward to your response.

December 13, 2024, 16:38 - Operator Response:

Alright. We have forwarded your details to the backend team. Kindly wait for some time; once we get an update, we will immediately notify you.

December 13, 2024, 16:50 - Operator Response:

As we checked with our backend team, it seems that you haven't deposited for a long time and use bonuses for arbitrage. Please deposit and play the game to make a successful withdrawal. Thanks.

December 13, 2024, 17:22 - My Message:

Dear ****,

Thank you once again for your assistance in communicating with your management team. Please kindly pass along my response regarding this matter:

------

Following my last transaction (Order ID: CH24022621583839616), where I withdrew my entire balance, I received small loyalty/activity bonuses (a few dollars each). I played with these amounts and met the withdrawal requirements set by your system.

I could not find any rule in your terms and conditions that ties the ability to withdraw funds to the timing of the last deposit.

Therefore, I kindly request the withdrawal of my balance amounting to 49.53898497 USDT, which would finalize my relationship with your company.

If there is any misunderstanding on your part regarding the rollover requirements for the bonuses or an implied condition not outlined in your terms that restricts my ability to withdraw, I will have no choice but to seek assistance from an authorized ADR service to resolve this matter.

The only fair and reasonable course of action is to process my withdrawal. This would save both of us time and effort that would otherwise be spent on prolonged discussions or third-party involvement.

------

I look forward to your cooperation and a prompt resolution.

This was my last message to the casino on December 13, 2024. The funds were neither transferred to my account balance nor withdrawn.

Kristina, I kindly request your assistance in resolving this matter.

Kind Regards,

Bestbets

Thank you very much, Bestbets, for your cooperation. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Peter (peter.c@casino.guru) who will be at your service. I wish you the best of luck and hope the problem will be resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.  

Hello there,

Thank you Bestbets for providing us with all the information. I hope we'll be able to resolve this issue together.

I would now like to ask Playing.io Casino for their help in resolving this complaint. We would like to know what is the issue with the withdrawal and what can we do to help the player receive their winnings.

Thank you!

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.

I have tried to contact the casino repeatedly but had no success. I’m afraid there is not much that can be achieved without cooperation from its side. I will mark the complaint as "unresolved" in our system. I understand this isn't a satisfactory solution to your issue. However, the decrease in the rating caused by unresolved complaints might help to change the casino's approach. If the casino decides to react, we will reopen the complaint, and you will be notified by email. In the meantime, I recommend you contact the Curacao Gaming Control Board and submit a complaint to them. The regulator states that it will not handle individual disputes between players and operators, but if you would like to contact them anyways you can do so here: (https://www.gamingcontrolcuracao.org/contact). Please let me know if you need help with submitting the complaint or how they responded if you can do it on your own (peter.c@casino.guru). I am sorry I could not be of more help on this occasion.

Best regards,

Peter