Thor Casino - Player’s winnings are being confiscated.

Greetings dear Guru team,

I’m facing an absurd situation with Thor Casino. I deposited €160 and received a €160 "wager-free bonus." After playing slots, my balance reached €1,055. I then canceled the bonus and attempted to withdraw my winnings of €895. However, the casino canceled my withdrawal and returned the €895 to my balance, importantly not reinstating my bonus of €160.

Next, they informed me that I needed to wager my deposit five times before I could make any withdrawals. It's essential to note that this requirement applies to all deposits made into the casino, regardless of whether they were played with bonuses or not. My first deposit preceded the receipt and acceptance of the bonus, so the deposit wagering requirements should take priority over any subsequent bonuses. However, the casino prefers to view it the other way around, which I believe is absolutely wrong.

Again, pay attention - the casino claims that I "violated the bonus rules" at the moment when I didn’t wager the bonus but was fulfilling a different requirement—the 5x deposit rule—which applies to all deposits and is unrelated to any bonus. In other words, they are applying bonus rules to a non-bonus game. 

At that point, I had already wagered about €650 playing slots, leaving me with only €150 left to meet the 5x deposit requirement. I proceeded to wager this €150 on French roulette and then attempted to withdraw my winnings of €895 again. Here’s where things took a surprising turn, which I can only describe as a dirty trick. They claimed that I played "table games" which are restricted to be played with their welcome bonus.

This entire situation unfolded while I was fulfilling the requirement to wager my deposit five times, which is unrelated to the bonus. I would also want to emphasize that the bonus was already removed from my account when I made those small bets on roulette. Now, the casino wants to confiscate €735 of my winnings.

They are applying "bonus rules" to the requirement of a 5x deposit, even though these two have nothing in common. This tactic resembles the tricks of an illusionist in a circus—it's merely a ploy to confiscate legitimate winnings in the online casino.

I ask the experts: can such treatment be considered FAIR?

Dear allaskaya1968,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. We believe that the casino should enforce restricted games on a software level to prevent players from accidentally placing bets on games they should avoid.

Please allow me to ask you a few questions, so I can understand the whole situation completely. 

• Do I understand correctly that you didn't place any bets on table games before this incident?
• 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

Hello Kristina and thank you for the reply.

I have explained thoroughly under which circumstances I placed 150 wager bet on french roulette. The context is all that matters here.

I forwarded to your email the relevant correspondence from casino.

Kind regards.

Thank you very much, allaskaya1968, for your cooperation. I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Peter (peter.c@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 there,

Thank you allaskaya1968 for providing us with all the information. I hope we'll be able to resolve this issue together.

I would now like to ask Thor Casino for their help in resolving this complaint. We would like to know why were the player's winnings confiscated and what can we do to help resolve this issue.

Thank you!

Hi there,

To explain situation in few steps;

1. Player did first deposit matched with first deposit bonus and decided to play slot with maximum allowed bet 4 Eur.
2. Player requested withdraw and was cancelled due to not rollover his initial deposit min. 5 times as per General T&C.
3. To fulfill rollover requirements player unfortunately decided to choose roulette game and dramatically changed his gaming pattern after big winnings on previous slot game and decided to bet on double chances with maximum bet of 40 cents.
4. At this time his bonus was still active according to clause 10.1.8 from Bonus T&C which restrict betting on table games. (10.1.8 With any active Bonus following games are strictly forbidden to play; Jackpot games, Table Games, Video Poker, Virtual Games (Sports and Races), Live Casino or placing bets on any Sportsbook event.)

Thorcasino Team

Thank you for the response Thor Casino representative, I would like to ask if the player was warned about this in other ways than just the terms and conditions. According to our Fair Gambling Codex if it is not possible to prevent players from playing excluded games through software the casino should add other precautions like a pop-up that would warn the player. Was the player warned in any way? Thank you in advance for your clarification!

Please, pay attention again. I was asked by the casino to fulfill rollover requirements (this is what the casino representative states above). At the same time it is clearly stated at the casino website that the wager free bonus has no any rollover requirement. It is obvious that the rollover requirements I was asked to fulfill are related to the minimum playthrough requirement for all deposits at this casino. And there is no any restriction for using roulette games for this purposes. As such, the casino’s claim is ubsubstantiated.

Hi Peter,

Please note our system warns players about prohibited games in a way they can not enter particular slot game. In this particular case, player requested withdrawal which was cancelled and somehow system enables him afterwards to enter prohibited slot.

Moreover, we will request additional steps for players verification as we have indicators someone else is playing in the name of registered player. We may share more information privately on your request.

Thorcasino Team

Thank you for the update Thor Casino representative. I would like to point out that if this was a failure of your system as you have mentioned we believe there should be compensation for the player. However, we will wait until the player is able to verify their identity before we investigate further. Please keep us updated about any new developments. Thank you in advance!

While my arguments were basically ignored (I played roulette while fulfilling minimum playthrough requirements which have no any game restrictions assigned to it by the casino’s rules) I am still ok with the Guru’s position regarding my case. Also, I am ready to pass the required verification.

Hi Peter,

We have asked player to provide us with details where we can conduct video call for verification purposes.

Whether player pass verification process we will compensate players winnings.

Thorcasino Team

Thank you for the clarification Thor Casino representative, please keep me informed about any new developments. Thank you!

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.

Hi Peter,

We have sent 1st reminder to player to provide us with information where we can conduct video verification.

Thorcasino Team

Dear allaskaya1968, let us know if you're able to go through the video verification or update us about the situation once it's done. Thank you!

I was quite busy with my work recently. I will send a reply to the casino in the nearest future.

Hi Casino.Guru,

Please note we have requested from player only telephone number via any app that allow player to use video call verification. As you can see, player can not provide it in reasonable timeframe (two weeks) which makes no sense and can raise number of questions about legitimacy of account.

Based on that we are even more sure that players gameplay history & behavior leads to conclusion that account is being abused using others people documents (might be bought or borrowed) for Bonus Abusing purposes.

Thorcasino Team

For personal reasons I am unable to accept a phone call from the online casino not at my home and not at my work. I am looking for the possible solution. Please, give me some more time.

Dear allaskaya1968,

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.

I am ready to proceed with the video verification call now. However, I have one question before we begin: in which language will the call be conducted? My spoken English skills are nonexistent. When communicating here, I rely entirely on Google Translate. Please advise.

Hi Casino Guru,

Please note we have long communication with player where players English skills have been proven as advanced. We can surely claim player text in emails was done without help of any English Translate App. It is hard to believe player has no spoken English skills if you compare with all email writings and also his responses in this complaint.

Once we have sent email (18.11) about video verification in English player started avoiding with poor reasons and finally decided to claim she has no English spoken skills which is again very hard to believe.

We kindly ask you Peter to check whole complaint once again as it is evidently that things turned around once it gets to verification. As by now we are even more sure someone is using players documents for bonus abusing purposes.

Thorcasino Team

Am I expected to be proficient in speaking English to meet the casino’s requirements as a legitimate player? You might be surprised to know that modern language-assisting applications, such as ChatGPT (which I frequently use), have advanced significantly in recent years, making written communication smooth and effortless.

Additionally, I would like to highlight the interrogatory attitude of the casino staff towards players like me. Not only do they impose invasive procedures, such as mandatory video conferences, but they also insult me based on unfounded suspicions.

Does the necessity of paying out a modest sum of money justify such behavior? I strongly believe it does not.

Dear allaskaya1968, if you cannot pass the video verification we won't be able to assist further. Do you speak any other languages that are more commonly spoken, and the casino could accommodate? Thank you in advance!

I can only speak Russian.

Dear Thor Casino representative, would it be possible to accommodate the player and conduct the verification call procedure in Russian language? Thank you in advance!

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.

Hi there,

Please note we can not accommodate players request to conduct video call in other language than English which is official language of Thorcasino and all communication should go through same language. This should be well known to player here and on other casinos.

Thorcasino Team

Dear Thor team,

I have an acquaintance who is fluent in both English and Russian and can assist with translation. However, he is a very busy person and can only be reached by phone. Would the casino accept a scenario where my acquaintance helps with translation during a video call via mobile connection?

Hi Casino Guru,

Please note we will request video verification only with the registered person without any other person in the same room who can influence in verification process. This is standard procedure in such cases.

Thorcasino Team

Dear Guru,

I don't see a reasonable solution; the casino leaves me with no choice. I can't learn a new language just to take a video call from this casino.

Dear allaskaya1968, unfortunately, we cannot assist further in this case. It is a common practice in the industry to conduct video verification in English. I recommend reading the terms and conditions or contacting casino support before opening an account to see if they can accommodate you not being able to speak English. When it comes to verification there isn't much we can do to assist as each casino has a different process due to legislation or regulatory requirements. Subsequently, we will have to reject your complaint. I am sorry we can't be of more help on this occasion.

Kind regards,

Peter