English Harbour closed and doesn't pay my $12K account

[Oleg]

I had an account in English Harbour Casino for the two years. It passed with varied success but finally I reached more than $12000 on my balance. But at the end of the last year my account was blocked without any explanations and feedback. For several months customer support told me that my account is under reviewing. At last I managed to get on the phone with manager Mick Sloan. As far as I don't have good english speaking skill I asked to send me a claim by email. Here are our short correspondence (but not fast in time):

'You and I just spoke on the phone. What we talked about was that you claim that you only did what the software allowed you to do, nothing more. What I was asking you was that if you can be honest about your feelings about what the software may have been allowing you to do, as in, didnt you realize that the software may have been allowing you to do something that was outside of the rules of play?
In our initial search into your account's play showed that you were able to rebuy in the tournament in situations that should have been impossible. You heavily exploited this feature, which is a clear violation of our rules.'

'Could you specify your claims to me in detail? Do you mean roulette tournament and two consecutive rebuys that I was able to do? That sometimes I bought 100 chips for $6 instead of 50 chips for $3? It didn't give me any dishonest advantage. May be it just did the game a little faster. Every player was able to click Rebuy button and I'm sure many other players used it. So I do not think that it was any violation of your rules and hope that my account will be activated in the near future.'

'Please allow me some time to get back to you on your comments. I thank you for your patience.'

Last Mick's message was sent on June 3d. I sent him another letter but haven't received nothing more. As far as they going to be closed on August 1st I've realized that they stalling time on purpose to not pay me out. Since I can't log in so I can't request a withdrawal.

Have you any ideas how I can return my money?

[Nifty29]

So, you cheated in tournaments to the tune of $12k.

You should absolutely be paid, no question.

[LHofsdal]

I had an account in English Harbour Casino for the two years. It passed with varied success but finally I reached more than $12000 on my balance. But at the end of the last year my account was blocked without any explanations and feedback. For several months customer support told me that my account is under reviewing. At last I managed to get on the phone with manager Mick Sloan. As far as I don't have good english speaking skill I asked to send me a claim by email. Here are our short correspondence (but not fast in time):

'You and I just spoke on the phone. What we talked about was that you claim that you only did what the software allowed you to do, nothing more. What I was asking you was that if you can be honest about your feelings about what the software may have been allowing you to do, as in, didnt you realize that the software may have been allowing you to do something that was outside of the rules of play?
In our initial search into your account's play showed that you were able to rebuy in the tournament in situations that should have been impossible. You heavily exploited this feature, which is a clear violation of our rules.'

'Could you specify your claims to me in detail? Do you mean roulette tournament and two consecutive rebuys that I was able to do? That sometimes I bought 100 chips for $6 instead of 50 chips for $3? It didn't give me any dishonest advantage. May be it just did the game a little faster. Every player was able to click Rebuy button and I'm sure many other players used it. So I do not think that it was any violation of your rules and hope that my account will be activated in the near future.'

'Please allow me some time to get back to you on your comments. I thank you for your patience.'

Last Mick's message was sent on June 3d. I sent him another letter but haven't received nothing more. As far as they going to be closed on August 1st I've realized that they stalling time on purpose to not pay me out. Since I can't log in so I can't request a withdrawal.

Have you any ideas how I can return my money?

He only did what the software allowed him to do. That is not his fault. And it should not have taken this long for it to be sorted out. I honestly don't think the OP cheated. He can hit rebuy if is allowed, and obviously it was.

I admit, there is a part me of me that thinks something is missing, just can't put my finger on it.

LH

[Nifty29]

He only did what the software allowed him to do. That is not his fault. And it should not have taken this long for it to be sorted out. I honestly don't think the OP cheated. He can hit rebuy if is allowed, and obviously it was.

I admit, there is a part me of me that thinks something is missing, just can't put my finger on it.

LH

I am certain that the complainant, as always, is being 100% honest.

However, whether the software permits a particular action is irrelevant. Can you play video poker with a slots bonus? Yes. Will your winnings be legit? No. I can quote a dozen other examples. Rules exist for a reason, and if they state only one rebuy is allowed at the time, then if someone rebuys twice they are breaking the rules.

Regardless, it's a greedy online casino who is out to scam everyone so they should be made to pay. Rules should be ignored when players win.

I do wonder why one would allow one's balance to reach $12k before cashing in....almost as if the player knew that what they were doing was......ah never mind.

[KasinoKing]

Have you any ideas how I can return my money?

Pitch-A-Bitch and let Maxd decided if you are entitled to receive the money or not.

This is CasinoMeister's FREE service to help players with problems at non-rogue casinos.
To submit your PAB, click here: Pitch-A-Bitch
Be sure to read ALL the terms for submitting a PAB, including the Frequently Asked Questions here: PAB FAQs

KK

[Seventh777]

Have to agree with Nifty on this one, although theoretically you have not swindled the casino by receiving more for less, you have gained an advantage over other tournament players by having a larger starter balance.

Let`s say for argument sake you are playing in an MGS tournament with 10,000 coins and 10 minutes per rebuy, you can quite comfortably use these coins in say under 5 minutes, however you have noticed that you can buy x2 rebuys for twice the cost, you can now play with 20,000 coins per 10 minutes, this would give you an extreme advantage over other players and therefore breaking the rules, even though you have not swindled the casino out of money you have created a leading edge over the other players, thus the cash you have accumulated has been amassed curtsey of a software glitch = no matter what casino you play at in the world, if your winnings have been made whilst there is any form of software bugging then your winnings will be placed under strict scrutiny and in most cases will be made null and void.

However, if there is no cap on the rebuys you can make at any certain given time during a tournament ie - you can purchase several in one visit, then you would have a strong case.

[Oleg]

Thanks a lot for all your comments.

Nifty29 - did you play at English Harbour? If you did you should know their Tournament Schedule. In a monthly tournament the winner got $50K and 2nd - $20K, etc. So I was able to lose $3K on one day and win $4K on another for example. It was a high-rolling casino.

Seventh777 - You are mistaken, in English Harbour tournaments 'minutes per rebuy' rule does not apply.

To my mind this is not a Software Glitch, but a stupid mistake made by software developers and careless software testing. Probably they did this on purpose, maybe it is just some kind of trap for players to click on buttons "which are against the rules" and in case of winning it is a good explanation not to pay money won.

[kavaman]

I for one have been using this trick to rebuy for many months, and they said i have done something wrong. Im sure dozens of tournament players have clicked the rebuy button many times, and it just gives them two rebuys, but costs twice as much.
I dont think the advantage is huge it just allows to make half bigger bet in the beginning and costs twice as much.
The software allows this to be done to every player and its not really hard if you were a huge tournament player. The software allows this to be done, and i am sure many players used this "trick".

[Nifty29]

I for one have been using this trick to rebuy for many months, and they said i have done something wrong. Im sure dozens of tournament players have clicked the rebuy button many times, and it just gives them two rebuys, but costs twice as much.
I dont think the advantage is huge it just allows to make half bigger bet in the beginning and costs twice as much.
The software allows this to be done to every player and its not really hard if you were a huge tournament player. The software allows this to be done, and i am sure many players used this "trick".

In other words, like the OP, you cheated.

It doesn't matter how many others did it, it is still wrong.

[footdr]

They never reimbursed me for the last check they sent that bounced. I was told they would reimburse me the $12.00 fee. I redeposited the check and it seems it has cleared o.k. But they charged me 65.00 to send the check instead of the 35.00 I had been charged previously and the least they could have done was pay me the 12.00 or put it into my account. It bounced on July 8 and the cashier was aware that it bounced and in fact contacted the processor to find out if I should redeposit it. So they knew my $12.00 fee was real when I attached a copy of my bank statment, part showing the fee, to my email.

Guess when you are closing you don't care about ripping players off. Nothing to lose they must think. Oh Well , nothing can be done now.