The player from Italy had been unable to initiate a second withdrawal despite the casino's terms allowing up to three withdrawals per day. Additionally, he had requested to suspend his gaming activity while still permitting withdrawals, but the casino had denied this request. The player’s account had been blocked and then unblocked, but his withdrawals were frozen due to an investigation. He lost his entire balance of €30,000 after being denied a cooling-off period. The complaint was closed by us due to a lack of evidence of a self-exclusion request, which the player had been advised on multiple times. We had reopened this complaint as per the player’s request. The complaint was ultimately rejected due to insufficient evidence that the player had communicated a gambling problem or followed the proper self-exclusion procedures.
Smokace Casino - Player faces withdrawal limit and account suspension issue.
Amount: €16,600
Smokace Casino
Safety Index:HighUnjustified complaint
REJECTED
Case summary
In the terms and conditions of this casino, it is explicitly stated that you can make up to three withdrawals per day, each with a maximum amount of €1000.
I had only initiated one withdrawal, but the system is not allowing me to make a second withdrawal.
This is the response I received in the chat:
Additionally, I requested to suspend my gaming account activity while still allowing me to make withdrawals so that I wouldn't lose my winnings.
The casino responded that it is not possible to do so!
To make the situation even worse and at this point I became suspicious of fraud, my account was blocked with three different messages in chronological order:
-First message: Unable to get user balance from Trueplay (what is Trueplay??)
-Second message: User disabled due to gaming problems (never asked this casino for self-exclusion)
-Finally they sent me an email saying that they have to contact the provider to examine the gaming session and that it will take up to two weeks and my money cannot be withdrawn and the only withdrawal entered will not be paid!!
I haven't used any bonuses so this investigation makes no sense.
I have €17,643.33 blocked in my account and I am seriously fearing that they are preparing some absurd excuses to delay payments or even worse not pay.
I would like to point out that my account is fully verified and I have never withdrawn from this casino so far.
I paid €3850 and they are illegally keeping all my winnings.
My account is no longer blocked.
They let me play but they unfairly froze the payment of withdrawals due to an investigation requested from a provider whose name they won't tell me.
I played live roulette (lightning roulette by Evolution) and some Playson slots.
The winnings were obtained on roulette while on the slots I should be in deficit.
My balance is now €26,130.
I am waiting for the payment of my winnings from the casino.
I would also like to see a time out period set until all winnings are paid out by the casino.
Via chat I was told that it is not possible and I find it unfair.
Thanks for collaboration.
I have more than €32,000 right now.
The casino still won't pay my withdrawals so I'm unable to place any more.
I also asked for a colling off as provided in the responsible gaming section but the support refuses to apply it because I have pending withdrawals and an active balance.
From this response I have official confirmation that they are doing everything they can to make me lose my winnings.
I ask for urgent action given the casino's clear fraudulent intentions.
The casino has achieved its goal. He denied me the possibility of suspending the account and I lost my entire balance, that is, around €30,000. Thanks for the quick response. Now I'm seriously considering taking my own life.
These are the screenshots of my gaming account suspension requests rejected by the casino.
I lost my entire balance of €30,000
The casino did not want to apply the cool off period to safeguard my winnings.
I ask for full compensation of €30,000 otherwise I will kill myself.
Dear carsix79,
Thank you for submitting your complaint. There must have been an issue as my initial respond was not posted here. I'm really sorry to hear about your issue with Smokace Casino.
Can you please advise if you did request for self-exclusion? If you didn't, why not if you were aware that you might lose your balance gambling it?
As you had not one complaint with us regarding such matters, you must know that the casino is not responsible to block your account or actions if you do not request for self-exclusion. As you did not, based on the e-mails provided so far, it was purely your responsibility whether you play with the balance or not and you have been advise multiple times that refund is not possible in such situation.
Is there anything else we can assist you with?
I see that you are treating my complaint with disinterest and superficiality since you have not read my screenshots and what I explained to you. Or you're doing it on purpose.
Is it possible for the complaint to be handled by another operator?
I wrote to you that I asked for self-exclusion from gaming exactly as indicated on their website.
I looked up how to do it and found this:
So I sent an email to support to ask for a suspension of gaming activity as my withdrawals continued to go unpaid:
Following my request I received this response:
So I insisted on asking for the cooling off period, specifying that it is indicated on their website that it is possible to request it:
And it was confirmed to me again that it is not possible to do so.
And you tell me that I did not request self-exclusion from gaming!!!!!
This casino refuses self-exclusion in case of active balance and withdrawals entered!!!!
Now do you want to help me or let's pretend we don't understand??
To make you understand how shady this casino is this morning after losing everything my account is inaccessible with the following message:
Even via chat I had asked if it was possible to self-exclude and still be able to access the account to enter new withdrawal requests and the answer was NO!
So tell me what a player should do to protect their winnings if the casino refuses to cooperate.
The casino did not contractually honor my responsible gaming request (paragraph 4 of their terms and conditions)
My question is: did I follow the casino guidelines stated in their terms and conditions?
Has the casino fulfilled its duty and obligation to honor my request?
Dear carsix79,
We will gladly assist you if you can show a proof of self-exclusion (with addition mentioned) otherwise there is nothing we can do. You had a bunch of complaints with the similar issues and you have been advised multiple times by us how to request for an exclusion.
The complaint will be now closed for the above stated reasons. You can reopen it by providing a relevant exclusion request to nikolas.b@casino.guru.
If you still wish to continue resolving the matter, please contact the licensing authorities of the casino.
Regards,
Nick
We've reopened this complaint as per the player's request. We would like to give this case one more chance to get resolved and help both parties involved to reach a satisfactory conclusion.
Additional comments from the player:
Dear Nick, I don't know if you're angry with me but from your answers it really seems like you don't understand the situation.
You keep saying I should have mentioned the word self-exclusion.
Well, self-exclusion applies when you no longer want to play and lose money in a casino.
I already had winnings and withdrawals (€33,000) at this casino and I just wanted to block my gaming account for a period of time as described in their terms and conditions.
I did what I had to do to request a suspension of my gaming account and it was denied.
In your opinion, if the suspension of my gaming account was denied because I had a balance in the account, wouldn't the self-exclusion have been denied as well?
Otherwise what would be the discrimination that would have made the casino act differently?
I therefore invite you to reopen the complaint and if you do not want to deal with it you can pass it on to another operator.
All of this could lead to very serious consequences for the image of your site and that is not what I would like to do.
Hi carsix79,
Thank you for providing the supporting evidence showing that you requested your account to be blocked while you had an active balance and a pending withdrawal. More importantly, you mentioned a gambling problem, and according to the communication you shared, your request was declined.
- Could you please let us know when this communication took place?
- Additionally, who is Alberto B***** mentioned in the correspondence?
- What was your active balance when you informed the casino about your gambling issue?
If you have any additional communication between you and the casino that you’d like to share, please feel free to forward it to me at petronela.k@casino.guru.
Thank you.
Hi Petronela, sorry if I'm only replying now but I was on vacation.
When I requested a gaming suspension period via email I had a balance of €30,000 and three withdrawals of €1,000 pending payment for a total of €33,000.
The subject of my complaint is the fact that the casino does not allow any way to block your gaming activity if you have an active balance or pending withdrawals. As you will have read in the chat conversation and paragraph 7.4 of their terms and conditions there is no responsible gaming system to protect your winnings. This is illegal, unfair and predatory towards the player.
I FIRST NOTE that before opening the game account I read their terms and conditions and in paragraph 4 of responsible gaming and in the FAQ it is written that it is possible to request a break from the game by sending an email to support and that the balance would be paid. It is not specified that with an active balance you cannot block the gaming activity! This aspect is specified only in paragraph 7 regarding the blocking of the account (see screenshot above) and is contradictory to what is written in paragraph 4:
I trusted what was written in the responsible gaming section and it is clear the casino's intent to create confusion on this point by specifying in a different paragraph what should have been specified immediately and therefore not protecting the players.
The chat conversation I sent you under a different name was made later to demonstrate to you that I could never have blocked my gaming activity in any way, not even with the explanation "gaming problems".
I had, however, had that conversation with the operator via chat before sending the email in which I asked to self-exclude from the game.
To sum up:
When I received an email telling me that the payment of withdrawals was pending for a hypothetical routine investigation on the gaming session and that only after the provider had provided the answer within 14 days I could enter new withdrawals I had already understood from there the casino's strategy to make me lose everything. In the meantime, in fact, I was free to play but without being able to enter new withdrawal requests.
So I asked via chat what their responsible gaming practices were to safeguard my winnings. They told me that with an active balance it is not possible to block the account in any way, not even with a self-exclusion for gambling problems.
However, I sent a request via email which was repeatedly rejected.
In my email request I did not mention any game issues for two reasons:
-1) many casinos, if you declare that you have gambling problems, no longer allow you to enter the gaming account, enter new withdrawals and pay those already entered. Furthermore, they can use this excuse to withhold the winnings and not pay you anymore. I had this experience in a sister casino of Smokace about which I sent a complaint here to you (Wintopia). My account was blocked for gambling problems and they withheld my balance without explanation and without communicating with me anymore.
-2) mine was a request for suspension from gaming activity and I followed their guidelines described in their terms and conditions where it is simply written to send a request to support via email without indicating any gaming issues.
Furthermore, I had already been informed via chat that this was impossible even though I had specified this.
The question now is: can a casino refuse to grant a player a break just because they have an active balance? Do the terms and conditions clearly explain this?
In this case, the player has no tools to protect their winnings. Does this meet your responsible gaming standards?
If this is fair to you and not attributable to a fraudulent tactic then I throw up my hands and surrender.
Sorry for being so long-winded but I wanted to be as clear as possible.
One more important thing I forgot to specify.
When after the first day I had obtained the first winnings and made the first withdrawal, my account was blocked due to gambling problems with this message:
The next day it was unlocked and I received the email explaining that there was an investigation underway with the game provider and that the withdrawals would not be paid until the investigation was concluded.
So they already knew about gambling issues (probably from their sister casinos) and despite having a remaining balance and a withdrawal entered they blocked my account while when I asked them to do it a few days later to protect my winnings which had reached €33,000 they replied that they couldn't do it!
I have read many complaints that Altacore casinos use these predatory tactics. In my case they tried everything and achieved their goal of making me lose everything.
Hi carsix79,
To summarize:
- You requested a cool-off period from the casino but did not mention a gambling problem in your emails, as you were concerned it might affect your ability to receive your winnings.
- In previous messages, you indicated that you communicated your gambling problem through live chat. However, the screenshot you provided appears to be from someone else's chat and does not match the format or context of the casino's live chat system, and it is not in your name.
Original screenshot from 1st reply
Smokace Casino written on top
Last screenshot with fake user's name
Casino name not visible
We reopened your complaint because you were concerned that the casino did not handle your situation correctly and felt that we might be favoring the casino. As you know from the 30+ complaints you've submitted to Casino.Guru, we thoroughly review all evidence before taking action.
So far, the evidence we have includes:
- screenshots of terms and conditions
- unrelated communication from someone named Alberto B*****
- emails requesting a cool-off period without mentioning a gambling problem.
If you had clearly communicated your gambling problem and requested account closure when your balance was over €30K, and if that request was ignored, it would constitute a valid case for Casino.Guru. As it stands, the evidence suggests that the casino was not informed of your gambling problem, and instead, you continued to play and lost all your winnings.
Please let me know if there is any additional information that I have overlooked, but I’m afraid I will be forced to reject your complaint as unjustified. I wish I could be of more help. Thank you in advance for your reply and understanding.
1. You requested a cooling off period from the casino, but failed to mention a gambling problem in your emails, because you were concerned that this might affect your ability to receive your winnings.
Exactly! Self-exclusion for gambling issues would have resulted in the permanent closure of my gaming account without the possibility of entering new withdrawals and not simply the suspension of the gaming account.
I have had other similar cases and even on casinos of the same group!
Also in their terms and conditions regarding the request for suspension of the game account it is not specified that you have to mention gambling problems. This has become an obsession of yours!
If I play at a casino I submit requests following their terms and conditions.
Why would I mention gambling issues for a request that did not involve that and would jeopardize my winnings??
Furthermore, I repeat for the umpteenth time, the chat I sent you confirms that even if I had mentioned gambling problems the casino would not have automatically excluded me from playing since I had an active balance.
2. In the previous messages, you indicated that you communicated your gambling problem via live chat. However, the screenshot you provided appears to be from someone else's chat and does not match the format or context of the casino's live chat system, and is not in your name.
Original screenshot of the first answer
Smokace Casino written above
Did I understand correctly? Are you questioning whether the chat with a different name is from Smokace casino?
Apart from the fact that in the last screenshot of the chat the operator invites me to write to support@smokace.com but if you don't trust me I'll also send you the chat via email since I have the transcript saved via email.
The graphic difference between the two chats is that the first is a screenshot taken directly from the chat while the second chat is a screenshot taken from the email transcription of the chat.
This makes me think that either you don't trust me or you aren't paying attention to the content of the complaint.
So even though I provided you with all the evidence that the casino was NOT willing in ANY WAY to suspend my gaming account because I had an active balance, you continue to stand by them?
Mentioning gambling problems was irrelevant to the casino in excluding me from gambling activity at my request and I have proven this to you in every way.
Contrary to what you claim I believe I have sent you enough evidence to prove this to you. Chat conversation, email and screenshots of the terms and conditions.
Also it seems you forgot that I also wrote to you that my account was initially blocked for gambling issues before I even sent my request to suspend the account:
I don't understand what else you need!
So given all my evidence how could I protect my winnings if the casino is using a predatory strategy?
Now do you want to help me or will you close the complaint as unjustified as you will surely have decided to do even in the face of the evidence of all my proofs!
In case you close the complaint, answer my last question.
Please read point 7.3 and then 7.4 carefully and tell me what you think.
If these are the rules imposed by the casino what tool should I have used to suspend my gaming activity and protect my winnings?
This section of the terms and conditions is separate from paragraph 4 of responsible gaming which does not specify that with an active balance it is NOT possible in ANY WAY to block the gaming account.
Is this right for you??
Hi carsix79,
I’m sure you understand that we cannot act based on hypothetical scenarios, especially when there is no evidence that you informed the casino about your gambling problem due to concerns about jeopardizing your winnings. If you had followed the proper steps for self-exclusion and the casino either kept your account open or closed it while confiscating your winnings, we would have taken immediate action.
However, since we ask casinos to consider each case individually and not adhere strictly to their terms without context, we cannot address a scenario that did not occur.
The screenshots from the live chat involving a third party (Alberto B*****) do not relate to your case and are not helpful, as they describe a hypothetical situation rather than your actual situation.
You were first advised on how to properly self-exclude from any online casino by my colleague in July 2022. Since then, you’ve had several complaints with us, and we have consistently reiterated the proper procedures. It is important to follow these procedures to ensure that your self-exclusion is handled correctly.
I wish I could offer more assistance, but given the circumstances, I must reject this complaint. If you encounter any issues with other casinos in the future, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Best regards,
Petronela
Casino.Guru
