Captain Cooks confiscated everything

[sprogy]

I tried to cashout 1.900 € from CaptainCooks I won on roulette from their bonus and my deposit, and after I sent them copies of my ID, they simply blocked my account and sent me an email (posted below).

Now I am new to this online gambling, and sure, I use a "betting system", but I was simply unaware that any casino would be able to bend the house edge in this way...so now I'm wondering two things:
- can this casino legally take all the money I won (not just their damn bonus, but also my deposit) and I have noone else to blame but myself for not having thoroughlly read their convenient rules?
- can I expect such behaviour from other casinos, which in case that I ever win anything again, can simply decide that my play was "irregular" or does this privilige pertain just to the worst casinos out there?

The email (it's probably because they are endlessly striving to better their service, that they just can't answer any of my emails for two days now):

We would like to inform you that your cashin and account has been blocked due to a breach of the Bonus Account Terms and Conditions of the casino. For more information please look under Bonus Account Terms and Conditions include >> Point 13

“The Casino reserves the right to withhold any withdrawals and/or confiscate all winnings for irregular play. ‘Irregular play’ includes but is not limited to any one or more of the following types of play:

1. Placing single bets equal to or in excess of 25% or more of the value of the bonus credited to the account prior to the play-through requirement for that bonus having been met;

2. Using the double-up feature to increase bet values;

3. Even money bets on Sic Bo, Craps and Roulette”

We are endlessly striving to better our service. If there is anything more we can do for you, or if we could improve your experience, please do not hesitate to let us know. We are always here for you - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Thank you and kind regards,

Rudolf

Risk Management Team

[spiderlegz]

Did you bet more than 25% of the bonus or did you play black and red (the even money rule) on roulette?

And yes, sadly they can do pretty much whatever they want like most of the online casinos.

[heador112]

This is so rogue!

They should limit the bets within the software insteat of stealing peoples money.....

[lnspin]

That is true, but to protect yourself read all bonus rules or even better be like me and dont ever take a bonus

[sprogy]

I violated both of these limitations, luckilly, my original deposit was only 50€, so I guess my "education" was relativelly cheap after all.

However, I still have some faith in this industry as a whole, since I played in the same manner on PartyCasino, where I made over 3k € on my deposit + bonus and was able to withdraw 1k and then another 1,6k so far without a single problem...so hopefully it's all about actually reading the damn Terms & Conditions and not everybody will just take my winnings just for using a system

[spiderlegz]

At least you must get your own deposit back. Confiscating your deposit is low, even on Casino Rewards standard.

I wouldnt be placing so called even money bets on roulette when playing with a bonus, it will just end up in grief as most casinos forbids it in the T&Cs. And the HE is still the same if you dont play French roulette.

[sprogy]

the "risk management" won't reply my emails (for two days now), I tried their customer support, but they keep saying I should send an email to the risk management department, so any any advice on further action would be very appreciated...

[spiderlegz]

You could try sending a PM to their rep Renee_RA. That should be enough.

[vinylweatherman]

IF this is a first offence, there should be no question about them returning the deposit. It is a breach of the terms, but this simply makes the bets void, therefore you STILL have €50, which should be returned to you.

IF this is a repeat offence, and you have alredy been told you cannot do this on another account, then it would be reasonable for them to recover their costs in remedying the breach of contract from your €50, BUT they must provide you with a receipt for these deductions.

You could also complain to their regulator (Kahnawake), complaining about the non-return of your deposit. Kahnawake will find for the casino about the breach of bonus terms, BUT they will expect your deposit to be returned.

Casinos are different, and whilst Partycasino paid you, this does NOT mean others will as well. In fact, most casinos would NOT pay you under these circumstances, you were very lucky Partycasino DID pay, rather than unlucky that Captain Cooks did not.

Nearly all welcome bonuses have these restrictions, and the only games that are safe to play are non-progressive slots using stakes modest relative to the amount of bonus claimed.

I agree also that the software developers should introduce software enforcement of these terms. It shouldn't be hard, and the alternative is a growing feeling among players that this is a DELIBERATE decision not to have software based enforcement, since it prevents casinos from making extra profit from breaches of the terms.

We have seen this philosophy at work here in the UK, over parking. Motorists have slowly learned through fines what they must NOT do, and this has meant fines have been falling. Councils have reacted by INVENTING NEW VIOLATIONS, or enforcing obscure ones that no-one has ever heard of before, to keep the revenue flowing. The latest one has been to fine drivers for BUYING A TICKET, but not removing an earlier one before sticking the latest one up. They have also stopped giving out sticky backed tickets, and then fining drivers when their ticket gets blown off the dashboard by the wind.
I would expect the SAME "dirty dealings" from ANY entity after our money, INCLUDING online casinos.

Just as council parking wardens' excesses have spawned an industry based on fighting such fines, and winning; online casino excesses have spawned a generation of much cleverer "advantage players" who strive to make casinos fight harder for the money.

This tactic was from a PREVIOUS generation of advantage players, and things have moved on since then. Advantage strategies that work will NOT be found on the various "bonus beating" forums, where strategies like this will be touted as the way to go, but are so old that it is hard to find a casino operator daft enough to fall for it. Even Partycasino will learn the lesson, eventually

Try looking for a slots system, only a very few casinos are guarding against this

[jod5413]

Over and over again, we see players show up here with the "Casino stole my money" complaint. Most of the complaints seem to be stemming from players NOT reading the rules and regulations of the casino.

No matter what one thinks of the rules, if you sign up and take a bonus, you MUST read and follow the rules.

I have to say, after screwing themselves out of one payout, I would say that the player will not make the same mistake again.

One would hope.