PKR revoking bonus for no reason.

[topoor]

Hi,

Last week I signed up for a new account with PKR Casino. I deposited $200 and received the signup bonus. I wagered around $10000 on Casino Holdem and withdrew my money with no problems. A day later I received an email from PKR inviting me to partake in another promotion. This time a 50% reload bonus of $250. Ideposited $500 and again wagered around $10000 on Casino Holdem. This time I did much better and won around $300 when the bonus was released. I withdrew again.

3 days after my withdrawal I received the following email.

After a thorough review of your account it is evident that you have abused the PKRCasino Reload bonus.

Please direct your attention to points 9 and 10 of the bonus Terms & Conditions (see below)

You have now been permanently banned from PKR and all funds gained by abusing the reload bonus have been seized.

The decision of the PKRCasino management team is final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Regards

Frank
PKR Security Team
security@pkr.com


Reload Bonus Terms & Conditions
(1) To qualify for the reload bonus, you must make a deposit of $25 or more between 21:00:00 GMT on Friday, 04 July 2008 and 23:59:59 GMT on Sunday, 06 July 2008. For the purposes of this bonus for existing PKR customers, a fund transfer into your PKRCasino balance will count as a casino deposit. (2) You must wager a total of forty times the pending bonus amount before the bonus is credited to your account. The pending bonus amount will be equal to 50% of the qualifying deposit amount. To receive the maximum payout of $250 bonus, you must wager $10,000 after making a deposit of at least $500. Wagering requirements only need to be met on the portion of the deposit which qualifies for the deposit bonus, for example, a deposit of $700 will qualify for a bonus of $250, with wagering requirements of $10,000. (3) A maximum of $250 will be paid out in bonuses to any one player. (4) Wagers placed on Blackjack, Pontoon, Baccarat, European or American Roulette, Craps, Sic Bo, Video Poker, or any available variations of these games do not count towards the wagering requirements. (5) Only one bonus per account per household. (6) Once you have successfully met the deposit and wagering requirements for this bonus, the bonus will be automatically credited to your account. (7) Wagering requirements must be completed no later than 23:59:59 GMT on Thursday, 31 July 2008. (8) This offer cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Any current bonuses or promotions must be completed before wagering requirements towards this promotion will be valid. (9) PKRCasino reserves the right to take action against any player we believe has abused this bonus in any way. This action may range from a withdrawal of bonus privileges to forced account closure. (10) PKRCasino reserves the right to withhold any bonus payment if it believes that the promotion has been abused and/or where the terms of the offer are not fulfilled, or any irregular wagering patterns are found. (11) PKRCasino reserves the right to withdraw or amend this offer at any time, without prior notice. The decision of the PKRCasino management team is final and no correspondence will be entered into.


I dont see how I have "abused" anything or anyone? I played a mixture of $1 and $5 bets as I had done for the signup bonus only 2 days earlier. The bonus was released after I had met any wagering requirements so I cannot have done anything that would prohibit its release such as playing a disallowed game as surely it wouldnt have released? I think perhaps it upset them that I had not lost a great deal of money at their casino but rather I won.

I dont think its fair that this casino should offer a promotion and then renege on it. I am a pensioner who is aged 62 and although I gamble recreatonally I cant afford to risk money when I stand no chance of winning. I have received no money back from PKR, not even my initial $500 deposit for the reload and they do not respond to my emails. They do not have a telephone number either. I am thinking the initial signup bonus was a sweetener to make me think they were reputable and would pay ok. They then get me to deposit twice as much with the reload offer and then rip me off. I wonder if I would have received this treatment if I had lost money. At one point I was down to my last $80 but managed to pull it round so it was not plain sailing.

It is disgraceful that a company can behave in this manner.

I would like to take this further. What is the best course of action please?

[Rhyzz]

Did you play Casino Hold'em exclusively?

How any company can claim a player who plays Casino Hold'em is a bonus abuser is beyond me, it has a huge house edge.

I'd be asking for further details if I were you, it seems very strange that would remove your bonus if you're a Hold'em player.

[blizeH]

Hi, just to let you know that you're not alone and I had the same e-mail under very similar circumstances.

I fired off a quick (very polite!) e-mail to them so I'm going to wait to hear a response - will let you know how I get on.

[topoor]

They refuse to provide me with further details categorically stating that I am a bonus abuser and they have banned me from their site. I have spoken via live chat with "Motie" a supposed manager whose attitude is an absolute disgrace when asked what I had done replied with "Give us some credit" and that "you know better than me why you chose to abuse the bonus." It literally took me 10 requests for her name and position to get it out of her. I had to pratically beg.

They refuse to explain any further and will not provide any information on when I can expect to receive my money except to state that someone will be in contact to verify my identity.

Here is an exerpt from the live chat. I am a 62 year old woman. I have never been treated like this by a casino.

motie: You violated the terms and conditions of a bonus, we exclude bonus abusers from our site
Me: how?
motie: Mrs *****, please give us some credit
Me: I ask you again, how?
Me: And please be advised that this chat will be recorded.
Me: Please clearly state what you mean by "give us some credit"
motie: it is recorded here too
Me: Great then there can be no dispute
Me: I ask again, Please clearly state what you mean by "give us some credit"
motie: you are banned from our site

motie: You are not entitled to the bonus. you can only withdraw the remainder of the balance on the account excluding the bonus pending ID verification by our security team
Me: Why have I not been asked for identity verification?
Me: And I ask you again. Please clearly state what you mean by "give us some credit"
motie: see my answer above
motie: You are not entitled to the bonus. you can only withdraw the remainder of the balance on the account excluding the bonus pending ID verification by our security team
Me: Why have I not been asked for identity verification? And I ask you again. Please clearly state what you mean by "give us some credit"

motie: The answer to why you abused the bonus should come from you
motie: I can see
Me: excuse me?
Me: I met all conditions of the bonus
motie: You know better than me why you chose to abuse the bonus

I have still not been asked for ID. I have still not been refunded. Nobody should play at this casino.

Thank you for your post BlizeH, I wonder if there is anyone else who they have done this to?

[topoor]

Did you play Casino Hold'em exclusively?

How any company can claim a player who plays Casino Hold'em is a bonus abuser is beyond me, it has a huge house edge.

I'd be asking for further details if I were you, it seems very strange that would remove your bonus if you're a Hold'em player.

Yes I played Holdem exclusively. A mixture of $1 and $5 bets.

[topoor]

I have now received a request for ID. I promptly replied with a copy of my passport and a utility bill. Although quite what this has to do with bonus abuse Im not sure. Another attempt to legitimise non payment perhaps? An attempt to keep all my money?

Can casinos shout bonus abuse without having or even alluding to some evidence or explanation and get away with it? PKR certainly seem to think so.

I have PABed.

[vinylweatherman]

Given that play was identical on the two bonuses, then either BOTH were "abused" or neither. They cannot claim only the reload was abused, and not the first.

Their lack of a reason shows that they are just guessing, no terms have been broken, and they are just sore losers, you did something "impossible", which was to beat a sucker's game twice on the trot, therefore you simply HAVE to be "cheating" in some manner, but they have no idea how, but know that without the bonus you would probably not ended up ahead.

The typical "bonus abuser" will take the juicy first bonus and run with the money, they would NOT return again for a lesser offer, this is what "loyal players" do - giving the casino a chance to win back some of the money.

The ID has nothing to do with bonuses, it is becoming routine whenever a payment is made to a player.

The PAB process may reveal what is going on, but on the face of it, this just looks like a rogue casino miffed that a player won on a high house edge game, one that would normally be a "cash cow" for the casino.

I have heard worse though, a player of SLOTS was accused of "abusive play", and this surely has to be impossible.

[vinylweatherman]

I have had a look at their site, and they claim to be licenced by both Alderney and the UK Gambling Commission. This is rather odd, as their UK licence is dated 1st Sept 2007, and I recall a press story about the fact that NO online gaming site had bothered with a UK Licence at that stage due possibly to unfavorable 15% tax rates.

The chat script, if it genuinely comes from a company licenced both by Alderney AND the UK Gambling Commission beggars belief.

Both licences are available for inspection on the PKR site, and seem genuine looking (but how would players know that anyway).

I had a look on the Alderney site, and a search for "PKR Casino" yields ZERO matches. Their PDF copy shows they got the licence in 2006, and it is number 23, sadly, the Alderney commission offer no way for players to make an independent check themselves as to whether an online site claiming to be licenced there genuinely is.

I have serious doubts about this lot now, surely having both a UK and Alderney licence is overkill, meant to impress the unwary.
If they have indeed got these licences, they have breached their terms.

For Alderney, the procedure is to formally complain to the site, and then (if no joy) to the Alderney commission.

I suggest contacting PKR again, making a formal complaint about this sequence of events, and state that if you do not receive a satisfactory responce within, say, 14 days, you will complain directly to the Alderney commission, with the details specified on their site's PDF copy of their licence no 27.

With luck, this will scare the proverbial out of them, and your deposit at least should return in a flash - winnings can be pursued at leisure.

As well as Alderney, you could complain to the UK Gambling commission, they claim & display that licence too!

The casino is Playtech (often software of choice for rogues that feel they are too "posh" for RTG), god only knows what software the poker room is.

[pokeraddict]

god only knows what software the poker room is.

It seems to be developed in house as PKR Limited. According to Poker Site Scout the company and server are based in Alderney.

[vinylweatherman]

It seems to be developed in house as PKR Limited. According to Poker Site Scout the company and server are based in Alderney.

Well, at least this means their server is where they say it is.

What kind of CS and management treat a 62 year old woman like that!!!
One truly regulated by both the Alderney and UK gambling commissions - I find that hard to believe, it is the sort of thing I would expect to see from "sham" licencing juristictions, such as Costa Rica, and in some respects Kahnawake.

The first thing Max perhaps should do is check that these licence claims are genuine, as if they are not, we can be certain this is a rogue site without further ado. Why won't Alderney list who currently has a licence, it would make it far harder for dodgy operators to stick up the logo when they have no right to. I was on the Alderney site for 20 mins looking for a link to such a list, and it was nowhere to be found.