OlyBet ignored my gambling problem – money lost after failed protection

TL;DR:

OlyBet ignored my plea for permanent account closure due to a gambling problem while I was self-excluded, then reopened my account, leading to losses of €8,283.67. Estonian authorities did nothing to help.

Hi everyone,

I want to share my experience with OlyBet as a warning to others and to show how the Estonian regulatory system can fail players who ask for help.

In June 2022, I activated a two-year self-exclusion on my OlyBet account (18.06.2022–18.06.2024). While this exclusion was active, on November 4, 2022, I contacted OlyBet support, explained that I had a gambling problem, and requested a permanent closure of my account.

Their response?

A generic message: "Log in and do it yourself."

This was impossible, because my account was already self-excluded and even if I could have logged in, the only option would have been to extend the exclusion, not to request a permanent closure.

Later, their support (chat with Līga) confirmed that a permanent closure requires manual action from their Responsible Gaming team – something a player cannot do alone. My request should have been escalated to this team immediately, but it was ignored.

When my exclusion ended in June 2024, OlyBet reopened my account, even though they knew about my gambling problem and my request for closure. I resumed playing and, according to their own data, lost €8,283.67.

I tried to seek justice:

• The Estonian Tax and Customs Board (EMTA) admitted that operators are expected to close accounts upon request for gambling problems, but the method is up to the operator.
• When I demonstrated that OlyBet’s method had failed, EMTA refused to re-investigate.
• The Estonian Chancellor of Justice said EMTA has broad discretion and told me to go to court.
• ADR's rejected my complaint, misunderstanding that I had already self-excluded and was asking for a stronger, permanent block.
• OlyBet’s final defense: "No permanent closure exists under Estonian law," even though their own support admits they have an internal process for permanent blocks.

Eventually, OlyBet wrote:

"We genuinely regret that the process did not provide the level of protection you expected or that we aim to offer today."

But their final decision:

"No compensation or goodwill gesture can be granted for this matter."

Bottom line:

OlyBet ignored a direct plea for help, gave an impossible instruction, reopened my account, and hid behind legal technicalities – and the regulators let them. If you tell OlyBet you have a gambling problem, don’t expect any meaningful help. Be careful out there.

As a player, the only conclusion I can draw is this:

If you tell OlyBet you have a gambling problem, they will do practically nothing. Ethical responsibility doesn’t seem to weigh heavily on them.

I am really sorry for your experience, but unfortunately, our complaint team couldn't help you in such circumstances either.

I strongly suggest you use the option Veronika offered to you, and it is to globally self-exclude yourself.

You can find more information about our initiative here (https://casino.guru/global-self-exclusion-initiative) and about BetBlocker here (https://betblocker.org/).

BetBlocker, which supports seven languages, is quick and easy to install on multiple devices, taking just 2 minutes. Once installed, it blocks access to over 84,230 gambling websites and runs quietly in the background. The service can be used anonymously and helps individuals manage their access to gambling safely and appropriately, whether that means complete restriction or limiting access during vulnerable periods. 

Additionally, BetBlocker includes a list of 824 gambling information sites. These sites primarily inform users about and advertise gambling services. You can choose to include these sites in your restriction by ticking a box. However, if you have an ongoing complaint against a gambling operator, do not check this box, as it will prevent you from accessing the Casino.Guru website as well.

Thank you for your reply Romi. I appreciate the information about self-exclusion tools; I am already familiar with global self-exclusion and BetBlocker, and I think they are important resources.

However, I would like to clarify the reason my complaint was rejected. Veronika (from your complaint team) misunderstood my case:

She treated my request as if I had simply asked for self-exclusion, even though I had already been self-excluded and was specifically asking for a stronger, permanent closure, which only OlyBet’s Responsible Gaming department could provide.

My situation was not about failing to use self-exclusion tools, but rather about the operator ignoring a clear and direct plea for permanent closure due to a gambling problem while I was already excluded. This is an important distinction, and the misunderstanding led to my complaint being unfairly dismissed.

Would you be able to reconsider my case, given this clarification? I believe other players may face similar issues if their requests for stronger protection are also ignored or misunderstood.

Thank you again for your help and the work you do for player protection.

Unfortunately, as I believe, Veronika didn't misunderstand but was unable to do more for you in such a case, you know.

We have no authority like licensing authorities do; we are just mediators between players and casinos.

But if you feel like reopening your case, please do so at any time. You will need to explain the reason for it well, though.

Surely let us know, please, how you went with it. I really hope we could do more, for sure.

I understand CasinoGuru’s role as a mediator rather than a regulator, and I appreciate your limitations.

However, I believe my case deserves reconsideration for an important reason:

It is extremely well-documented, fact-based, and highlights a structural failure in responsible gambling processes. This issue affects the public interest and potentially many players, not just myself.

This is not just a refund request. It’s about whether operators can ignore explicit pleas for help and still claim compliance.

I have formally requested my case to be reopened, and I am ready to provide any additional documentation you might need.

Thank you for considering my request.

I surely understand your point here and am glad that you think of others as well.

Unfortunately, as I can see, your case was rejected due to the fact that all this happened back in 2022. I'm sorry, I didn't understand that it was that way back, actually.

In that case we are really unable to do anything, as we can try to solve only cases no more than 6 months old. It is unfortunate because usually casinos don't keep anything for more than this period, and then we are unable to investigate the whole matter.

At least, though, everyone can read about that situation of yours from our forum, so thank you for that.

While I appreciate your explanation regarding the 6-month policy, the rejection is based on incorrect facts.

This case is not actually from 2022. The negligence happened when my account was reopened between June 2024 and July 2025. This led to the €8,283.67 loss, and it falls clearly within your 6-month timeframe.

Also, the claim that casinos don't keep old records doesn't apply here. I have already provided CasinoGuru with the full GDPR data and chat logs starting from 2022. All the evidence is available and can be verified.

Most importantly, the original rejection was based on a misunderstanding. It was claimed that I 'did not use the available tools.' This is simply not true. I was already on a 2-year self-exclusion when I asked OlyBet for a permanent closure. Their reply told me to 'log in and do it myself,' which was impossible to follow. That specific request should have been escalated to their Responsible Gaming team. This factual error is why the complaint needs to be re-evaluated.

I respectfully ask you to reopen the complaint based on these facts. I am ready to resend all documents if needed.

Thank you for reconsidering.

Please try to explain everything to our complaint team at [email protected].

Unfortunately, here we won't be able to do anything with it.

I have finally received the official 'Terms and Conditions' valid in November 2022 from OlyBet.

Until now, OlyBet's main defense for refusing to help me was that "no permanent closure as such exists" in their license or rules, so they supposedly couldn't grant my request for a permanent ban.

However, Clause 1.4.5 of their own 2022 Rules proves they had the power to act:

'1.4.5. Olybet'il on õigus ühepoolselt ... sulgeda kliendi mängukonto ... kui ... klient võib tekitada edasise mängimisega endale kahju.'

(Translation: 'Olybet has the right to unilaterally ... close the client's gaming account ... if ... the client may cause harm to themselves by continuing to play.')

The Reality: On Nov 4, 2022, when I explicitly emailed them stating 'I have a gambling problem', I became exactly the client described in this clause: one who might cause harm to themselves.

This proves that OlyBet DID have the contractual power to close my account immediately and unilaterally to prevent harm. Their claim that they 'could not' do it or that the tool 'did not exist' is misleading. They had the specific rule (1.4.5) to handle this exact situation, but they chose not to use it.

The Consequence: Because they failed to use this power, my account was allowed to reopen automatically when the temporary timer expired in 2024. This direct negligence led to further losses o, which would have been prevented if they had simply followed their own rule 1.4.5 upon my request.

I will update this information also by email.

I submitted a request to reopen my complaint about two weeks ago, and I also sent a follow-up email with important new information last week. Could you please let me know what the current estimated processing time is for reopening requests? I don’t mean to rush things, but waiting without any confirmation or update is quite stressful.

Thank you 🙂

Hello.

I have contacted our complaint team and can assure you that they are looking into this. It is quite a complex case, and therefore it takes a bit longer, actually.

Please stay patient, and you will get notified about what can be done.

Thank you.

This technique doesn't seem strange to me; almost all casinos are using it these days. And we have no help, it's true, for reasons that don't exist, and the processing time for a casino guru is long, sometimes taking more than a week to give you an answer. It all becomes an agony. I still insist that it's better not to play; otherwise, we're left exposed, with no one to protect our rights.

And Veronika, who handled their case, didn't misunderstand them; she simply chose not to proceed. Only they know the reasons.