Prive Casino - Player's account registration leads to significant losses.

I am from the UK and have a strong history of problem gambling. I have taken measure to protect myself in the form of Gamstop, credit card and debit card gambling blocks, I have had councelling and a psychologist help me through these steps. It has been going well, until 26/10/2024 and in a vulnerable moment I signed up to Prive Casino.

The issue at hand is that I should not have been able to register from the UK in the first place as UK players are not allowed. I did not use any form of VPN to bypass restrictions and believe they have the responsibility to prevent UK residents from registering based on geographical locations and IP addresses, and I trust they well aware of this. My ID was fully verified on Oct 29th 2024. Even though their terms and condition state:

Legal Requirements:

3.1.2. You are not allowed to register on the Website and use our services if you are a resident of, or accessing the Website from, USA, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, Australia, Cyprus, Spain, Austria, Comoros, Germany, Dutch West Indies (Aruba, Bonaire, Saba, Statia, St Martin and Curacao), all FATF Blacklisted countries (such as Iran, North Korea etc.) and sanctioned countries, any other jurisdiction that the Central Government of Curaçao.

I was able to deposit over 25,000 Euros in a matter of days, created extreme financial problems for myself, putting my personal and business accounts in overdrawn, and my credit cards nearly maxed out. The transactions were disguised as 'books' or 'courier services' etc so were miscoded and not stopped by my gambling blocks.

No checks were my on my location or my funding. Which I could not afford. I have increased a personal loan to try and help but still financially at a problematic place.

Depositing €20,000 within such a short time frame is a valid reason to request proof of income or source of wealth, which they not do.

I have asked the casino to consider refunding the deposits based on breaking their own terms and conditions or even a gesture of goodwill but to no avail.

I have suggested sending a medical certificate/paper to prove my gambling disorder and opt for a reasonable refund of my net deposits.

I feel it is unfair as a UK citizen to be allowed to sign up to a casino, be verified and allowed to lose this amount of money when mental health issues have taken a dive and in a vulnerable moment lost money and chased those losses. ESPECIALLY when their casino DOES NOT accept UK Players they should not have verified me, they should not even have allowed my geo-location to join up, and they should have certainly check my proof of income or funds.

The casino made me a VIP and stated if I deposit more they would reward me with more bonuses which I did because I was desperate to win money back.

I am at a very low point and feel life almost isn't worth it I am asking please for some help in this situation.

Regards

Dear Materialgirl84,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint I'm truly sorry to hear about your issue with Prive Casino.

Please note the casino appears not to be licensed, therefore your gamstop registration might not be effective.

I'd like to inform you that we accept the situation when the casino allows players from restricted countries to open an account as long as they don't use this as an opportunity to later cancel the player's legitimate winnings. 

In other words, if the casino allows players from restricted countries to deposit and play, they should pay out their winnings as well. Therefore, I would like to emphasize, that we investigate further and help only those players, whose funds (or winnings) have been confiscated due to being from a restricted country. 

Please allow me to ask you a few questions so I better understand the situation.

• When did you inform the casino about your gambling problems?
• Has the casino blocked your account as a result?
• Could you please advise how much currently is your withdrawable balance? 
• Could you please share the response you received from the casino regarding your request? My email is tomas@casino.guru

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Hello I have sent the reply

Thanks for your reply.

Since you played down your funds, and only informed the casino about a gambling problem afterward, we are unable to help.

Online casinos have an obligation to protect you from gambling after you inform them about having a gambling problem.

If you have any casino accounts still open I would like to call your attention to our Self-Exclusion Assistance Tool https://casino.guru/global-self-exclusion-initiative/assistance-tool

This tool will make it easier for you to block your casino accounts across multiple gambling establishments simultaneously and is not affiliated with any specific casino. The Self-Exclusion Assistance Tool was designed to assist individuals who may be facing challenges with their gambling habits by helping them limit their access to gambling and reduce the potential for further harm.

As part of our Global Self-Exclusion Initiative, we've partnered with BetBlocker, a UK-registered charity providing a free service to support people worldwide. 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.

Above all, if gambling no longer brings you joy and is becoming a burden, it is highly advisable to seek professional assistance. I strongly recommend reaching out to centers in your country that specialize in addressing gambling problems. You can find some of these centers by referring to the following link https://casino.guru/problem-gambling-help-centers#cnt_33=true

As mentioned earlier, we can only investigate and help players whose funds were confiscated with the justification of being from a restricted country, if the funds are played down, we cannot help.

After considering the circumstances of your case, we unfortunately won't be able to request a refund on your behalf.

Due to the aforementioned reasons, this complaint will now be closed. Thank you for your understanding, I am sorry we could not be of more help on this occasion. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you run into issues with any online casino in the future.