PokerStars Casino - Player's account has been locked after attempting withdrawal.

In June of this year, I decided to reactivate my PokerStars account, which I had registered several years ago, with an intent to play at their casino. My game of choice is BlackJack. I made several deposits, first depositing 1000 usd, followed by deposits of 200 usd and 628 usd.

On June 17th, I was requested to verify my account by providing my identification documents, which I promptly sent. Additionally, I was asked to provide screenshots of my deposit methods, which I also provided, demonstrating that my Skrill and Neteller accounts were fully verified. My documents were approved and my account, which had been temporarily restricted until I sent in the documents, was unblocked.

Since everything seemed to be in order, I made several more deposits, bringing my total to approximately 15,000 usd.

I luckily had a good run and accumulated a fair amount of money in my account. I requested a withdrawal of 20,000 usd. At this point my troubles began. Initially my withdrawals and deposits were restricted until I resubmitted documents (they only requested an updated utility bill for my current address as they affirmed they already had and approved my ID).

The most outrageous part is that the given reason for the restriction was that I had been making "a large number of withdrawals from my account," when in reality I had deposited only, and this was my first withdrawal request. I provided all the requested documents but my account was then completely locked out. Their constant response to my inquiries is that they are investigating and can't provide any details, saying they will contact me when the investigation is done.

I have been locked out of my account with funds frozen since August. As I don't have access to my account, I can't remember the exact amount in it but I believe it to be around 97,000 usd.

I have been sending emails frequently and always receive the same reply. They have never provided any explanation regarding the issue. I have complied with all requests for information. I demand that they permit me to withdraw my funds. Furthermore, my account should also be fully unblocked as there is no reason for maintaining the blockade. I never committed any wrongdoing, and the casino simply blocked me for requesting my first withdrawal.

Dear Cabecha19,

Thank you very much for submitting this complaint. I'm really sorry to hear about your issue. Please allow me to ask you a few questions to make sure I understand your situation completely.

Could you please specify what types of games did you play? Was it only blackjack?

Has the casino informed you how long the investigation will last?

Could you please confirm if you made any successful withdrawals from this casino before -- when you had your account closed for the first time?

I hope we will be able to help you resolve this issue as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your reply.

Best regards

Veronika

Thank you very much for the quick answer! I played BlackJack at live tables. I never managed to withdraw. As soon as I requested a first withdrawal of 20 thousand USD, they blocked me despite having always sent all the documentation they were requesting.

I had sent another email on October 18 and they answered me this:

Hello Rodrigo:

We understand that you want to have your PokerStars account available as soon as possible, and I can confirm that we already have all the requested documents from you.

From what I can see, your case is now correctly escalated to the appropriate team, who is still responsible for the investigation of your account.

I cannot determine how long it will take to do the review, but I can confirm that when it is finished, we will contact you, so in the meantime, we appreciate your patience.

Sincerely,

Alex ♠ ♥ ♦ ♣

Anti-fraud team

________________

As always they ask me for patience...

Thank you very much, Cabecha19, for providing all the necessary information. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Stefan (stefan.m@casino.guru) who will be at your assistance. I wish you the best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Dear Cabecha19,

I am so sorry to hear your account got blocked. I will contact the casino and try to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

Now I would like to invite a PokerStars Casino representative to join this conversation and participate in resolving this complaint.

Dear PokerStars Casino,

Could you please state why the player's account got blocked? Could you please provide us with the evidence?

Thank you in advance for providing the information.

Kind regards,

Stefan

Hello Cabecha19,

Thanks for reaching out.

We sincerely regret that your account got restricted, and you were not able to withdraw. The issue is still under review by the relevant department. You will be contacted via email once the investigation is over. Unfortunately, we cannot influence the timeframe needed for a review, and we do not have sufficient information regarding the matter while the investigation is still ongoing.

Please wait for an email with more information.

Your understanding and patience are highly appreciated.

Kind regards

PokerStars Casino

Dear PokerStars Casino,

Could you also let us know here once the investigation is over?

Thank you very much in advance for providing the information.

Kind regards,

Stefan

I'm tired of always reading that answer. Months go by and it's always the same. It's exasperating. Earlier today I read it and I preferred to leave without responding because out of the anger it made me I could end up writing something that violated the rules of this community and good manners. I still can't believe I'm going through all this. Total helplessness.

Dear Cabecha19,,

How long has the investigation taken already?

Thank you very much in advance for providing the information.

Kind regards,

Stefan

Oh sorry I didn't see there was a new question. The investigation began in mid-August. When I requested my first withdrawal they sent me the first email from Security asking me to resend documentation that I had actually already sent when I verified my account. The strangest thing is that the security email began like this:

"Thank you for your refund request.

Due to the accumulated amount that you have withdrawn in the last 30 days, we are obliged to request documentation from you that allows us to verify your identity and location."

But it was my first withdrawal request and it wasn't even half of what I had in my account, so that "the accumulated amount you have withdrawn" doesn't make any sense.

After that they asked me for more documentation, which I always sent. But they haven't asked me anything for months and they only give me automatic responses like the one posted here by the casino.

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.

Dear Pokerstars Casino,

Do you have any news regarding the investigation?

I am looking forward to your response.

Kind regards,

Stefan

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.

What other steps do you advise me to take in case the casino still does not respond? I sent another email a few days ago to which they only responded saying that they had forwarded it to the corresponding department and then nothing more. That was on the 20th. The situation is desperate because if they gave me at least one reason for starting the investigation I might have some idea of what is happening, but not even that.

Hello Cabecha19,

I am trying to get in touch with someone responsible for the complaints outside of the thread.

I understand this must be frustrating for you, but I will extend the timer one more time by seven days.

Your patience is much appreciated.

News about the case: I received an email from the courtroom apologizing for everything that happened and offering to arrange the withdrawal of my money.

They haven't given me any explanations about anything but obviously if they let me withdraw I'm happy and I'm not going to make any more demands.

For now I have sent the data so that the withdrawal can be processed, I will confirm here when it arrives. I request that the complaint remain open until I receive the funds, just in case.

Hello Cabecha19,

That's wonderful news, could you let me know once you receive the payment?

I am looking forward to your response.

Yes, of course as soon as I receive money I'll let you know here. For now I received another email saying that it could be processed in 72 hours. It looks good. I'm moderately happy, I don't want to celebrate early.

Hello Cabecha19,

Thank you for your fast response.

Please, keep us updated.

I am looking forward to your response.

Money received. The room kept my account blocked, I still didn't know why, but they returned all my funds. So we can now close this complaint and consider it resolved. Thanks a lot for everything.

After successfully resolving the problem, we will mark the complaint as 'resolved' in our system. We appreciate your cooperation and confirmation, Cabecha19, and if you encounter any issues with this or any other casino in the future, please do not hesitate to contact our Complaint Resolution Center. Our goal is to assist you.

As you know, we do not charge for our services, nor do we accept any gratuities. However, we would appreciate if you could take a moment to share your experience with our services on Trustpilot https://www.trustpilot.com/evaluate/casino.guru. An honest review and any suggestions you may have to improve our complaint resolution and mediation process would be greatly appreciated. Your feedback could prove helpful to others who are considering contacting us about any online casino-related issues. Thank you in advance for your time. 

Best regards,

Stefan, Casino.Guru