Smokace Casino - Player's account has been closed.

On 30/5 I made two withdrawals with a total amount of 1050 euros. The next morning I received a mail in order to verify my address and bank account. I sent all the required documents. I tried to login but I got the message 'user is disabled because of gambling addiction'. I then contacted them and they said that I received an email that I never did. They send me the text of the email in the chat, the message said that I violated the following rules:

3.6. It is prohibited:

a) to transfer funds from one account to another;

b) to use payment methods of 3rd parties;

However, I never transferred funds from one account to another and I never used a payment method of 3rd parties since it was my own visa card from my own account.

They suggest that I used my visa in a different account, which I did (I did not know that at the time). It was a friend's account. According to the rules, they should have closed my friend's account (they did) since he used the payment method of a 3rd party.

On the other hand, I did not violate any of the rules of the casino from my side, thus I find it unfair that they closed my account and confiscated my balance.

Dear KyriakosRed,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can understand the whole situation completely. Do I understand correctly that you have always used the same deposit method since creating your casino account?

Could you please forward all the relevant communication between you and the casino to kristina.s@casino.guru? Alternatively, you can post it here.

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

Best regards,

Kristina

I used two deposit methods since I opened the account, one is through my skrill wallet, and the second one that had the 'problem' was with my visa card. I attach the screenshots with the communication that I had with the live chat.

Thank you very much, KyriakosRed, for your cooperation. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Branislav (branislav.b@casino.guru) who will be at your service. I wish you the best of luck and hope the problem will be resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.  

Hello, KyriakosRed,

I am sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience. I will contact the casino and try my best to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Now I would like to invite Smokace Casino's representative to join this conversation and participate in the resolution of this complaint.

Dear Smokace Casino Team,

Could you please provide us with an explanation of the player's situation in more detail?

If we are talking about a breach of the casino's Terms and Conditions, is the casino able to substantiate its decision with relevant evidence?

It is possible to share the data directly here, with your reply, or by sending them to my email address (branislav.b@casino.guru).

Thank you in advance for providing the information.

Dear Smokace Casino Team,

Thank you for your detailed explanation. However, allow me please to repeat a part of my previous post.

"If we are talking about a breach of the casino's Terms and Conditions, is the casino able to substantiate its decision with relevant evidence?

It is possible to share the data directly here, with your reply, or by sending them to my email address (branislav.b@casino.guru)."

Can you please provide me with the relevant evidence?

Did the linked accounts use any bonuses? If yes, what bonuses were used by which account, please?

What type of games did the disputed account play the most?

What (unfair) advantage could the complainant gain by using his payment method in another account?

Dear Branislav,

Additional data on violations of the rules of our casino by players has been sent to the e-mail address that you specified: branislav.b@casino.guru.

Please review the received data.

Best regards.

Smokace Casino Risk Department.

Thank you very much, Smokace Casino team, for your email and the information provided.

Could you please look at my last email regarding the matter and provide me with a few additional details?

Dear KyriakosRed,

Can you please confirm both you and your friend used the same bonuses on your accounts?

Please note if you and your friend completed the verification shortly after registration, it does not mean you did not breach the casino's terms and conditions. Online casinos usually check the players' personal data and gameplay history after a withdrawal is requested. It means they cannot find out a breach of their rules earlier. Only 1 account is allowed per player, and the same is valid for bonus offers. We are talking about standard rules.

As both linked accounts used the same internet connection and the same bonuses, played the same games or chose similar ones to play, and even deposited by the same payment method - how can you please imagine proving that the accounts were not used by 1 person?

Hello,

my friend is not sure for which bonuses he used since it was a long time ago. He said that he probably used at least the first deposit bonus. I used the first deposit bonus and some other daily bonuses. Other than that, I can still dont understand where I have an advantage over the casino terms.

I dont know if its possible, but maybe is easy to see that my friend mostly used his account on his address and I used mine in my address.

Your speculation is plausible but since my friend used his account, verified it, deposited and withdrawed money before I even opened mine, it is not valid. Also, there is no reason for him to open a second account under my name, since there where no limitations on his own account. Adding to this, there is a huge list of casinos if you need an extra account or extra bonus. Why would he risk getting caught violating the rules of the casino when he could just open an account somewhere else? This doesn't make any sense and I think you can also understand that it is dumb violating the terms in this way.

Lastly, if it is the same person, then it should probably be me since we played from my address right? Then why the first account opened was under my friends name and not under mine? It should have been the other way around right? If I had two accounts playing from my address, then I would first create one under my name and then another one under my friend's name. I think this shows that we are two different users using their own account.

Best, Kyriakos

Dear KyriakosRed,

I was provided with additional evidence confirming the casino's claims - both accounts used Welcome Bonus, and both accounts regularly used the same type of bonuses (daily bonus/"MAP DAY").

Although it does not make sense, it is not so unusual. If a player creates 50 accounts in an online casino, it is clear that 49 of them should be with the identities of other people in order to withdraw possible winnings. Then it really does not matter which one will be registered with the correct and true personal information of the owner.

Using someone else's payment method does not make sense either. If he would not ever breach the terms and conditions by creating a new account in your name, he should be very well informed about the fact that using a 3rd party payment method is strictly prohibited in online casinos. But I have to agree with you - if it is the same person, then it should probably be you. Therefore, allow me to please ask you a few more questions.

What was the reason for your friend using your payment method in his account?

What is your country of residence, and what country do you have on your verification documents?

Since (if I am not wrong) this information was not shared anywhere - can you please provide me with a communication where the casino informed you that both accounts played from your address? Or, how do you know that?

Did your friend make any successful withdrawals after using your payment method?

And the question that has not been answered yet - "As both linked accounts used the same internet connection and the same bonuses, played the same games or chose similar ones to play, and even deposited by the same payment method - how can you please imagine proving that the accounts were not used by 1 person?"

Dear KyriakosRed,

Thank you for your explanation.

After gathering all the necessary information and having an internal discussion with the team, we are closing this complaint as unjustified - there are reasonable grounds to believe we are talking about multiple accounts used by 1 person and bonus abuse, which seriously violates the casino's terms and conditions. In the given circumstances, it would be very difficult or impossible to prove anything else. The same payment method used in both accounts only confirms it. The casino acted in accordance with its terms and conditions, and we accept its decision.

Since the deposits have been successfully returned, the disputed amount will be updated to €865.

I am sorry we were not able to help you with this one, but please, do not hesitate to contact us in the future, if you run into any issues with this or any other casino. We are here to help.

If you are not satisfied with the complaint solution, I recommend you consult the gambling authority that the casino is regulated by. In case of any questions, feel free to write to me at branislav.b@casino.guru.

Thank you very much, Smokace Casino Team, for providing information and for your cooperation.

Best regards,

Branislav, Casino.Guru