Gate777 / White Hat Gaming - deplorable practices

Around ten days ago I got lucky and won 3000 Euros on Gate777. I do` not have a gambling problem, but I have one to many times gambled away winnings after winning big.

So after requesting a withdrawal I self-exclude for the periode up to the withdrawal having finalized. I had some problems with this at Gate777 but after getting help from their chat I got a seven days cool-of. I have requested an update on why the withdrawal is taking so long, but no response.

Today I got a mail from them congratulating me that my seven day cool-of periode was over and gave me 30 FS worth 0,5 Euros to play with. I think this practice itself is sort of dodgy but I soon discover why they did it - of course my withdrawal had not been finalized and was available for cancelling. I do get that gambling is a business but find this particular attempt of preserving their profit deplorable.

Wow! This is all wrong. I'd like to know - do you already have your account verified in the casino or is it your first withdrawal there?

Regarding the free spins you received. It's very dangerous. Not only because you can cancel your withdrawal, but in some casinos, accepting the bonus can potentially void your winnings and the pending withdrawal. I'm not sure whether this is the case in Gate777, but generally speaking, be very careful about accepting any bonuses while you have a pending withdrawal.

I've even seen cases where casinos added a bonus without even informing the player about it and then they voided the previous winnings, because the player did something against the bonus terms that applied to the added bonus.

Did you manage to solve the problem?

This casino was fined for poor practices, 1.3 M by regulators in the UK, I closed my account with them some years back, best option with their practices, better places to play... currently they accuse everyone of something, with no real world facts associated with it.. that was my experience, stay away from it...any of the casino's in the brand as well.

Hello thanks for the information. When was this casino fined ? What was the problem when you closed your account ? I suppose it was probably on the spot, but I'm asking out of curiosity. 

The UKGC also state that failures which they identified as part of their assessment include the failure to identify the source of funds for a customer who proceeded to lose £70,000 in a three month period. Furthermore the UKGC also cite a second and third customer who respectively lost £50,000 and £85,000 both in a short space of time.

Commenting on the news, the Gambling Commission’s Executive Director Richard Watson, said: "Through our tough compliance and enforcement activity we will continue our work to raise standards in the industry and continue to hold failing operators to account."

The £1.3 million regulatory settlement that White Hat Gaming will be required to pay will go towards funding the UKGC’s National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harm program.

In response, White Hat Gaming have released a statement in response, part of which reads: "On 28th January 2021, the Gambling Commission (the "Commission") publicly released a statement relating to White Hat Gaming ("WHG"). This was a regulatory settlement offered by WHG in lieu of a fine and further regulatory action relating to seven customers as a result of a routine audit by the Commission which commenced in January 2019."

"The regulatory settlement involved a payment to National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms and a payment to cover the Commission’s costs. None of the customers involved were subject to any police investigations or criminal action and, hence, no divestment was required as no victims of crime were involved."

Thank you for sharing. 🤔