Royal Plaza - Beware

[ketzzz]

Hello,

I signed up to Royal Plaza about a month ago. I did NOT claim a promotion. I am also from Australia.

I deposited a total amount of 2000 EUR (this was from several smaller deposits) thinking that it was okay because I have read on forums that this grp was pretty reputable.

I got my balance up to ~5800 EUR and cashed out.

I tried to login to my account a few days later and it was locked. I emailed support many times and I did not really get any type of response except that they were looking into it.

I finally got a response today, basically saying because I signed up in Euro I my account was locked and all my winnings were confiscated. Here is their email:

"The Royal Plaza Casino Registration Terms and Conditions clearly state:

- only residents of the European Union will be able to open an account
in Euros.

- All accounts opened not according to our Account Currency Policy (i.e.
Euro accounts opened from a non-EU country) will be locked: should you
have made a deposit before the account is locked, the Casino cannot be
held responsible for any action taken afterwards.

In accordance with these terms and conditions, the Royal Plaza Casino
regretfully informs you that it has closed your casino account and
confiscated any winnings due to you.

Regards, Royal Plaza Casino"

I guess it is my fault for not reading these rules, but I had no intention of claiming a bonus. I generally never use bonuses.

I wanted to give a heads up to everyone, I am going to every board I can find and am writing this experience there, because this is thievery plain and simple. I would possibly be able to understand had I claimed a promotion, but I claimed nothing whatsoever. I played with my own money, it should be my choice which currency I want to use.

I will also Pitch a Bitch. I hope this thread helps other people to not get ripped off by these thieves.

[Nifty29]

Yep - you should have read the Terms. Pure and simple.

Most online Casinos have rules of this kind these days.

Why not just deposit in USD? You could have saved yourself a world of hurt - and you may have been several $k dollars better off courtesy of Royal Plaza Casino.

Put it down to a learning experience and move on - and think seriously about using USD exclusively.

Cheers

[happygobrokey]

but then, take a country like bulgaria that is not in the eu but probably has a lot of their economic traffic in euros. why can't they use euros as that is the closest/most natural currency to them? for that matter, why are USD the default when online gambling is illegal in the states? they should start by prohibiting the casinos from dealing in american dollars.

yes definitely it makes no difference what currency you play in if you're not getting any leverage on a promotion. it's all chips anyway. you assume essentially the same risk playing GBP5 per hand with a 50-unit stack as USD10 a hand with 100-unit stack. perhaps they should create a standard (site-by-site or universal) value of a chip, where one chip equals x.xx USD, x.xx GBP... eliminates separate currency issues with wagering requirements or residency, use your own currency to buy chips of a set value, and then they just convert it back in-house when they pay out or at neteller.

[GrandMaster]

Originally Posted by Nifty29

Yep - you should have read the Terms. Pure and simple.

Most online Casinos have rules of this kind these days.

Why not just deposit in USD? You could have saved yourself a world of hurt - and you may have been several $k dollars better off courtesy of Royal Plaza Casino.

Put it down to a learning experience and move on - and think seriously about using USD exclusively.

Cheers

The T&C say "only residents of the European Union will be able to open an account in Euros". Despite this, the casino allowed him to open a euro account and accepted his deposits while knowing full well that he was Australia. The casino's actions indicate that it has waived the currency restriction for this player and therefore should pay the player in full. As the player did not take any bonus, so the only difference to the casino is it can expect to win about 30% more from the player than if had played in US$.

I recommend filing a complaint with ecogra and you should also fill in eCOGRA GLOBAL ONLINE GAMBLERS SURVEY 2006 to tell them what you think of them.

[Nifty29]

Yes, I agree that he was allowed to play - but the way I understand it is that he made several deposits totalling EUR2000 in one session immediately after opening an account. I would assume that this information may only have been detected by the Casino during a daily audit ( assuming they dont employ someone full time to monitor the full details of every single deposit). Would the casino have closed the account and returned the deposits if the player had not cashed out?....we'll never know so there is no point speculating.

I'm not saying that this doesnt suck for the player, but the terms are clear. Personally, I'm from Australia and I know not to use EUR or Pounds at online casinos - as I said, it is very widely known to avoid doing this.

It may be to the Casinos detriment, but that is immaterial. It is every players' responsibility to read the terms before they deposit funds and anyone who isnt prepared to accept this reponsibility should not be playing online.

The player is at fault here (by their own admission) and he should leave it at that and let ECOGRA deal with legitimate cases where people really have been ripped off by rogue or incompetent casinos.

Its nothing personal, its just a point of view.

[BBKPoker]

I agree as well. Pretty much the entire reason of banning players from playing in a currency other than their own countries is the abuse of playing bonuses in pounds to make more money. Assuming this player did not request or claim any bonus (which you have to do manually and accept the terms on Royal Plaza) there is no particular reason why the casino should have an issue with him playing in a differing currency. It was a big mistake to not follow the rules and deposit in the right currency but this is one of the very few situations in which a player breaks the rules where I think they should be paid regardless (and play further with the knowledge they will be banned from bonuses or given the option to open a new account in the correct currenct).

I've made the mistake once each of opening accounts in Euros or Pounds before (misclicking) and I've been invited to open a new account in the correct currency and have my balance convereted and transferred there. Once I had claimed a bonus and once I had not. There doesn't seem to be a legitimate reason why the casino should take issue with doing this assuming the player's account of what happened is factual.

[Nifty29]

The solution of having the balance converted to a USD account and being restricted from future bonuses would be a good outcome.

Great suggestion BBK

[just play]

Originally Posted by happygobrokey

why are USD the default when online gambling is illegal in the states? they should start by prohibiting the casinos from dealing in american dollars.

Since when?

It's not illegal in the states.

[ketzzz]

I will email them with that suggestion, but I do not think it will happen. They have not been very helpful whatsoever in this situation.

Their Rep Pm'd me and I gave him my details. He said he may be able to help me, so we will see.

I also have not received my deposits back as of yet, and I deposited on the 4th of Sep.

Nifty, I find your position on this situation strange. Basically you are saying because I signed up in Euro (without claiming any bonuses) that the casino has a right to steal my money. This makes no sense, they should have offered me to change my currency or they should not have allowed it in the first place. My neteller account is also in Euros, the euro is much more stable than US dollars and thats the currency I feel most comfortable with. I have played at quite a few casinos and I have NEVER had a problem before.

Anyway, Ill update if I hear anything.

[GrandMaster]

Originally Posted by Nifty29

I'm not saying that this doesnt suck for the player, but the terms are clear. Personally, I'm from Australia and I know not to use EUR or Pounds at online casinos - as I said, it is very widely known to avoid doing this.

There is no need for daily audit. If the casino is so concerned about players playing in the wrong currency, then it should not offer the disallowed currencies as a choice. As I recall, the choice of currencies is one of the last things when signing up, it certainly comes after the address, it should be easy to do with a minimal amount of programming. Confiscating players' money for playing in a disallowed currency is the sort of thing that a court might strike down as an unfair and unforceable contractual term.

If the casino is consistent then it should apply the T&C to losing players, too. I am yet to hear from anybody who deposited in the wrong currency, lost and was refunded his deposit.