I'm getting robbed!

[Vito7]

I recently signed on to a casino called Carnival.com. It was offering a 100 percent sign up bonus but when my credit card was refused they upped the offer to two hundred percent if I came back and tried a different deposit method. So I put in three hundred and they matched it with six. I played off and on for about a week, mostly roulette, and after a lot of ups and downs I got that total up from 900 to two thousand. But when I tried to withdraw it a bulletin came up telling me I'd forfeit my bonus money. I wrote and email inquiry and they told me the bonus was strictly for betting and could never be withdrew and that I had to have bet 7200 before I could withdraw anything. So I did the math and had already bet over 7200 so I continued with the withdrawal. It put the withdrawal through but just as said my bonus had dissapeared and my withdrawal was down to thirteen hundred. That was all acceptable to me. Then I got and email telling me I was ineligible for the withdrawal because I had not surpassed the 7200 in allowed games. When I inquired further they said that roulette was not an allowed game to meet my betting requirements after receiving a bonus. I was livid. I wrote back that this was fraud. How could it say "playing for real money" in the corner and I was certainly able to loose my money but couldn't win any. They basically said sorry but those were the rules, go play a different game and you can have your winnings. So I tried a game called pontoon. I kept track. Surpassed the 7200 mark and then tried to withdraw the now only 875 in my account. They wrote back and said that pontoon didn't fufill any of my bet requirements either. They said no form of roulette, craps, blackjack or baccarat. I feel totally cheated. I feel they should have to pay me the thirteen hundred I originally tried to withdraw, but at this point I'd be happy with the five hundred total I've deposited but I tried to just withdraw 300 since that was my original deposit and it was declined as well. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[spearmaster]

You should have read the rules before signing up, unfortunately. Roulette and blackjacks are banned at practically every online casino, especially on a sign-up bonus.

Unless the terms and conditions do not state this, I have this bad feeling you're outta luck...

[KasinoKing]

Agreed.
Hard to have any sympathy with a player who did not take 2 minutes to read the T&C's.
Even though this is a PlayTech casino (most of which are 'dodgy') you can't blame them for your oversight.
Although I do have some sympathy about the Pontoon play - in my book that is NOT BlackJack.
You have learned your mistake the hard way - please take more care in the future.

[Linus]

If you're going to play at internet casinos, you have to spend some time learning the rules. It's also a good idea to take a look at Bryan's banned casinos list. There are quite a few dishonest/unscrupulous outfits out there, and you need to know who they are, so you can avoid them. Internet casinos aren't regulated by anybody, and anyone can set up shop and start sending out "bonus" offers, if they want.

If you're just playing for fun, you're really better off going to Vegas, or any land-based casino, where the rules aren't complicated, and you don't have to worry about getting ripped off.

Sorry about your experience.

Good luck.

[caruso]

Carnival is part of the Joyland group. Very bad indeed, still owing a $20,000 royal payment to one player.

[Reef]

Should have done your homework. Now you're SOL

[jetset]

Originally Posted by caruso

Carnival is part of the Joyland group. Very bad indeed, still owing a $20,000 royal payment to one player.

Sorry about your bad experience, Vito 7. This is a truly bad news group, I'm afraid and unfortunately it is still being vigorously promoted by some webmasters (I noticed just a couple days back someone pushing Joyland hard at the other site).

They have claimed to have produced some of the biggest progressive winners on the Internet - the latest of almost $2 million about 10 days to 2 weeks back. However the lack of real publicity on this sort of record breaking win at Carnival leaves me feeling uncomfortably cynical.

[chuchu59]

Vito 7,

I would suggest that you go back to live chat and ask the CS rep what games can be played to meet the WRs and how much more you need to wager exactly. Keep a copy of this live chat so that there will not be any arguments in future as to what constitutes a valid game. Not trying to rub salt in your wounds but when you spoke with them last time you should have asked whether pontoon was allowed. With the 875 you still have just continue playing to the eXact dollar of the WRs and withdraw immediately. Remember not to reverse withdrawal and redeem all your comp points in the cashier's section. May be worth 20 or 30 quid. Good luck.

[Zoozie]

Originally Posted by Vito7

. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I would suggest playing "Jacks or Better". It is the easiest Video poker
variant to play optimal and also the one with lowest variance. (still a lot higher than BJ though)

If the JoB paytable really sucks (98% etc.) you might want to try one of the
other Video poker games. Be warned though that you HAVE to invest some time
in learning to play VP (semi-optimal) unless you want to give the casino your money.

Read www.wizardofodds.com for info about videopoker.

Zoozie

[chuchu59]

I just visited their site and it is stated that play in any form of JOB cannot be used to meet WRs. I suggest playing paikow poker at $10 a hand. The number of pushes should be enough to see you through. If you play your hands correctly, I would expect you to be able to withdraw about $650-$700.

Well,at least its much more than your deposit of $300.