Stake Casino - Player requests refund from unlicensed casino.

Dear Casino Guru Team,

Over the past few years (2021-2024), I have lost several thousand euros at Stake.com. It recently came to my attention that they do not have any licenses for Germany and that it should be forbidden for me to use the casino.

However, I was not made aware of this at any stage. Neither during the registration process nor during the verification by my ID. I was consistently able to deposit money, despite my IP clearly indicating my location.

In addition, I have repeatedly deposited large amounts of money in short succession, which should have raised suspicion of addiction on my part. No action was taken in response to this either.

Since the casino didn't comply with its own Terms and Conditions in this case and failed to notify me of this issue, I am demanding a reimbursement of my losses, which total approximately 20,000€.

I am waiting for your detailed assessment before I proceed with legal action through my lawyer.

Thank you & Best regards,

Dear Mo1953,

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

I checked the website of the casino and it seems that registration for players from Germany is not allowed:

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. 

We can't penalize casinos if they lack any particular license.

We believe casinos should offer players a mechanism of permanent self-exclusion due to gambling problems. https://stake.com/policies/self-exclusion

"9. Conditions and Processes

To self-exclude means to stop betting or gambling for a set time. Self-exclusion can be temporary or permanent.

By requesting one of our self-exclusion time periods on offer you agree to the following terms and conditions, which will be effective from the minute you receive a confirmation email of your chosen self-exclusion, this email will be sent to the email address used to register your account only and will display the date of self-exclusion completion.

Requests made via our Chat function will not be actioned. However, a customer support agent will direct you to our customer support email service.

On receipt of an email request for account closure, the requested account and any linked accounts will be placed on our first stage, 24-hr cooling off period which will disable your account or accounts, allowing no gambling activity. Once this time has passed; you will receive an email to confirm your desired self exclusion duration of 1-day, 1-week, 1-month, 3-months, 6-months, 1-year or permanent."

• Could you please advise how much currently is your withdrawable balance? 
• Have you informed the casino about any gambling issues?
• Is your account currently accessible to you?

Thank you very much in advance for your reply.

Best regards,

Tomas

Dear Mo1953,

We are extending the timer by 7 days. Please, be aware that in case you fail to respond in the given time frame or don’t require any further assistance, we will reject the complaint.

Unfortunately, the player has not responded to our messages and questions. Consequently, we are unable to investigate further and have no choice but to reject this complaint.

The player can reopen this complaint at any time.