Piggs casino issue with US players

[winbig]

How is this not stealing money?

Say you were a customer of theirs before they closed shop for USA players. You had $19 in your account when they closed it.

You would expect your money back, correct?

Nope. They won't return any money unless your balance was >= $20.

I would expect this from a rogue group, NOT one that is accredited.
edit: Oops, I got them confused with Piggs Peak casino, imagine that. How original of them to rip off the name of an accredited casino.

edit: They chose to close the accounts, not the players. They need to do the right thing and eat these so-called "Bank charges" and give players their money back.

Hi there Brian,

Thank you for the email.

Account: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The minimum amount we are able to process as a withdrawal is $20, due
to
bank processing charges.

Should you require further assistance, feel free to contact Piggs
Casino
support desk, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Kindest regards,

xxxxxx
The Palace Group Support


________________________________

From: Brian
Sent: 24 January 2007 07:52 PM
To: The Palace Group
Subject: Re: Notification of Account Closure


Hah.

So if I were to have $19 in my account, it would be a donation to your
casino?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Piggs Casino <piggscasino@email.thepalacegroup.com> wrote:

Dear Brian

I regret to inform you that, in line with our terms and
conditions, we will be forced to close your casino account,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx, with immediate effect.

This is due to uncertain legislation in your state with
regards to online gaming.

Please note that any funds in your account balance greater
than $20 will be refunded back to you via a payment
method of your choice.

On behalf of all at Piggs Casino, I thank you for your loyalty
up to now and we hope to be able to provide you with a premier
online gaming experience sometime in the future.


Regards,

xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Casino Manager

[winbig]

This is getting funny. I didn't know it was illegal to gamble online now!! Oh my, I'm going to jail!

Hi there Brian,

Thank you for the email.

Account: xxxxxx

The decision to have all US accounts closed, was not made by the
Casino.
The reason your account has been closed is because of the Unlawful
Gambling Act, which was passed in your country on October 13th, 2006.
We
can understand your frustration with the situation, but please
understand that as much as this affects you, it affects our business
completely as our primary market was United States.

Should you require further assistance, feel free to contact Piggs
Casino
support desk, which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Kindest regards,

xxxxx
The Palace Group Support

====================================

My response:


No, the reason for closing USA accounts at this casino came from your group. The UIGEA in no way makes it illegal to gamble online. It merely forces banks NOT to allow online gaming transactions.

If what you were saying is true, then the 50%+ online casinos that are still accepting wagers from players in the USA are blatantly breaking the law, and will soon be shut down. I don't think so.....

The main issue here is about the players that have balances of <= $20 in their account. They had no option of trying to get their balances high enough to cash out. Your group should bite the bullet and pay these players, bank fees or not. It's not your money to do with as you please.

More to come, I'm sure....

[jerrylee]

let's give credit where credit is due
winbig on a decent post. you'd figure if their cutoff was $5 then ok, but $19 is still something
tip: rather than arguing the legal issue, I'd ask them to make an exception for you and provide them with a moneybookers or some other electronic wallet account. their processor should be able to grant you at least that.
but keep the focus on the money, nothing else,and give them an easy solution. don't give them a reason to ignore your emails if it goes off tangent and gets too argumentative

[Palace Group]

Hi,

Please send me your account number via PM Winbig.

Just to clarify a few things, Piggs Peak is the South African Rand casino where Piggs Casino is the non SA rand casino. They were part of the same group until The Palace Group took over the casino as well as Mummys Gold and Jackpots in a Flash last year.

We closed off USA account last year October/November due to possible implications.

Let me see what I can do Winbig.

Kind regards,

The Palace Group

[Casinomeister]

renamed thread: "stealing" is a little over the top.

Cheers!