MyStake Casino - Player allowed to gamble despite self-exclusion.

Hello slavo,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint and I'm really sorry to hear about your issue with MyStake Casino. Please allow me to ask you a few more question before we would move forward.

Could you please advise if you did contact the casino since your new account is created? Is the new one still open? Would it be possible to forward your initial request for self-exclusion to nikolas.b@casino.guru?

Looking forward to your answer.

Regards,

Nick

Hello Nick,

Thank you for your response.

I have now contacted you for what you have requested. Also to confirm, I have yes.

1. I requested to be excluded for the maximum term on the 19/04/2024 from mystake.com
2. I then made an account on their sister website goldenbet.com and requested to be excluded from their website on the 03/05/2024.
3. I went back to mystake.com and was allowed to easily create another account by just using a different email address but being able to use the same exact personal details and deposit method. I then requested to be excluded again on the 17/05/2024.

Hello slavo,

Can you please advise which other registration details were similar to the first account or was it only your name?

Hi Nick,

So the details that I provided on all accounts were all the same details - 

I provided the following:

Full name 

Mobile phone number 

Full home address

D.O.B (date of birth)

My deposit method (debit card) was the exact same across all accounts. Registered to me, same card numbers, same bank account. Nothing changed.

Not sure if this means anything but also accessed the accounts using the same devices, a mobile phone and computer. Same I.P address. 

Thank you 

Slavo

Hello slavo,

Nowhere in your e-mails did you mention gambling addiction to MyStake Casino. Did you ever request for the exclusion with mentioning it?

Hi Nick,

Correct, I did not mention 'Gambling addiction' Why do I have to mention this? is their self exclusion a lie? I did request to be self excluded for the maximum term that is stated in their terms and conditions - 

I also did not mention 'close my account' I said, can you self exclude me for 5 years from your website. Nothing mentions in their terms and conditions that I have to say, Oh by the way, I have a gambling addiction in order to be self excluded? 

- What is self-exclusion? Self-exclusion is a tool used by those who have recognised that their gambling is harmful to them.

After losing like £10,000 (no withdrawals) over 1-2 weeks (on mystake.com - my first account) and looking at the type of bets I placed, plus the self exclusion request for 5 years, it would be clear to mystake.com that I have a gambling addiction on the 19/04/2024.

Also, their email response to my request of the 5 year self exclusion did not even ask why I chose to self exclude myself for the maximum term. 

What is the point in 'self exclusion' if it means nothing? I was just able to make a different account using just an alternative email but with my same exact personal details and able to deposit thousands over the course of 3 days using the same exact deposit method? 

A brand new fresh account that is depositing £3000 in less than 24 hours is not flagged by mystake.com and is not investigated? 

I have not been 'self-excluded for 5 years' from mystake.com as I requested on the 19/04/2024, as I was not stopped from depositing a further £4,441.

Hello slavo,

Unless you mention gambling addiction, the casino simply blocks your account and do not self-exclude you (as self-exclusion serves to prevent addiction). In such case, the player is able to reopen his account by simply requesting it. While you are not excluded and created a new account, it is a breach of casino terms and they are not obligate to refund any lost deposits.

Please try to request for the exclusion properly by mentioning gambling problems. Unfortunately, any deposits prior to this request are non-refundable.

How am I supposed to be aware of this? I have just said self exclude me for 5 years expecting to be excluded for 5 years. Nowhere do they mention you have to say ‘I have a gambling addiction self exclude me’ in order to be actually self excluded.

If it said in the terms and conditions that I had to say that I have an addiction to get me actually blocked I would have done so but it dosent say that, nor did they even ask me why I wanted to self exclude for 5 years.

I specifically requested to be self excluded as I know that I have a problem. That is why I requested for the maximum term.

So they have then accepted my same details and have allowed me to deposit a further £4,400 over a few days and use their site full well and knowing that I broke their terms and conditions? Why are they accepting my payments and allowing me to use their website and offering me promotions and giving me funds to gamble with over livechat to try and meet a wager requirement?

Also, Yes, I made another account as I requested to be self excluded for 5 years. So I knew that I could not use that account anymore.

I made the second account, as I suffer heavily from addiction. I took out a £5,000 loan and gambled £4,400 of it with MyStake.com using this second account as I suffer from this awful addiction.

Again, I asked to be self excluded as per my email request for the maximum term on the 19/04.

They said they actioned my request.

They did not honour this, as I was allowed to deposit a further £4,400 using my same exact details but just using a different account.

And now MyStake.com knew I broke the terms but still allowed me to deposit this £4,400 over the course of a few days? and offered me promotions? And offered me cash bonuses on live chat?

I should have never been allowed to deposit this money…

Hello slavo,

I've run through the case again and I'm sorry to say that we still have to agree with the casino regarding their decision.

From our point of view, the self-exclusion was not requested properly - you must understand that it serves purely to prevent gambling addiction and as it was never mentioned to them, the casino could not know about it and the standard procedure in such case is simply closing the player's account not excluding it.

Also you must understand that the casino has no knowing that the second account belongs to you as there was no KYC and only a very few casino checks the player's registration detail to check for duplicity before the verification procedure.

If you have lost your balance, it is unfortunately not refundable. It would be a different case if the casino would refuse to pay out your winnings as we would not agree with that as you were basically not excluded in the casino.

Please be sure to always mention gambling addiction in any further self-exclusion requests you make in any online casino otherwise it might end the same way.

I'm really sorry that we could not help out more regarding this matter but I would still advise you to contact the casino licensing authorities if you wish to pursue the matter to receive your refund, meanwhile, we will be unfortunately forced to reject the complaint for all the above explained information.

Best regards,

Nick