So what the hell happened to Fortune Lounge? Well, they got nailed pretty hard by a bunch of bonus players who found that they could play certain games a certain way - and they made a killing.
Situation: Several groups of players - from Canada, the UK, and Western Europe - opened accounts at the Fortune Lounge casinos, deposited $50 and received a bonus up to $200. Then they would wager the $250 once on one bet on a low risk game such as Blackjack or Baccarat. Depending on the outcome of the game, they would then go on and wager on Roulette, Red or Black / Odds or Even in order to meet the wagering requirements until they cashed in.
The casino locked over 4000 accounts that exhibited this behaviour - and apparently there was some fraud involved. Actually I'm tending to believe that there was a LOT of fraud involved, and fraudulent players deserve to be tossed into the crapper. Fraudulent accounts = faked IDs, doctored utility bills, etc. And we've seen a case like this early last summer where several groups of players tried to pose as many players and tried to screw over the Bellerock casinos. Most of these fraudsters were busted out mainly because they made some stupid mistakes while forging their docs. Coincedently, these player groups were from Canada, the UK, and Western Europe. The MiniVegas group was also hit by groups of players from the same regions last fall.
Here we have what seems to be the same problem, but some of it has nothing to do with fraud - at least so far. The casino group has pegged most of these players as bonus abusers, and sent them emails stating so.
Many of these players have been told that it's not the games they played, but how they played them that cost them their winnings. The only problem with that is that if the casino doesn't outline in their terms and conditions that a player can't make a single bet on BJ or baccarat, then this is irrelevant.
They have also told many of these players the following: Your game play was highly unnatural and improbable for any bona fide player with intent to play with us in future. Similarly, placing all your money on one single bet is also highly unlikely for any serious gambler.
Well, I have a problem with that - it's too subjective. The casino looks at the player's play activity as abuse - the player looks at this as beating the house. Don't get me wrong, the casino has every right in the world to pick and chose who their customers are. But once the casino makes the offer, accepts the bet, and the player plays according to the terms and conditions meeting the wagering requirements, then the casino ought to honor the winnings. It's the casino that is responsible for making the rules. If they make mistakes by forgetting to say that making a single bet on Blackjack is not allowed, then it's allowed.
In my opinion, subjective language has no place in enforcing the rules. They can enforce policy by disallowing these players access to the casino or bonuses in the future. But it is unacceptable to enforce this after the fact.
We understand that the casino wishes to bring in new players who will remain loyal to a casino by offering bonuses. But the bottom line is that they write the terms; they are expected to abide by them.
It pains the hell out of me to remove Fortune Lounge from the "Accredited" section - we've had a relationship that goes back a number of years and there are some really good people working at FL. And I don't like seeing this company getting drug through the mud either. But in the same breath, casinos listed on this site are expected to abide by their terms and conditions, and until this is cleared up I have no choice but to suspend their listing.
And what about player fraud - well I think there was a lot of it involved. I'm pretty good at getting a sense of the severity of issues by watching traffic in the forum for example. So far, I have received about seventeen complaints for the Fortune Lounge group - and I feel it's safe to say eCOGRA has received about the same. So far out of the seventeen, four are deemed fraudulent = players connected by computer IDs, faked documents, or whatever.
Now several months ago, eCOGRA conducted a survey that indicated that about 40% of online gamblers visit message boards. I would feel safe to say that players who are bonus savvy frequent message boards more often. But let's keep this figure at 40%. 40% of 4000 accounts is 1600. So realistically speaking, I should have a significant peak in traffic from these 1600 or more players coming to Casinomeister to bitch and moan. Looking over my stats for both the forum and the main site, it's virtually unchanged. There is no indicator that activity has increased except for a slight increase of new forum members, many of whom began participating in a thread that is concerned with this issue.
In other words, it's business as usual.
So where are the 4000 aggrieved players? They're not here that's for sure, and I don't think they are complaining at eCOGRA either.
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Grab yo' self a hot cup o' java and listen to this:
*Asia *What's up with Fortune Lounge? *What's up with Virtual Casino Group? *What's up with RTG? * Vortran007's Casino Warning
Don't have time to listen to this stuff while sitting in front of the computer? Hell - download it to your iPod (or other MP3 player), and you can listen to me and Vortran while at the gym, at church, or shopping at Walmart:
MP3 File Download For your iPods and other MP3 players. http://casinomeister.com/mp3/23march2007.mp3 To download the MP3 file: right click the link, then "save target as...", then chose a place on your hard drive and save.
It's been months since RTG promised to have their "Montana Disputes" replaced by "Hastings Disputes." It's still not up. There is a site, but it's non-functional.
So in the meantime, I've set up a page that lists all RTG casinos, their status at Casinomeister, licensing jurisdiction, and points of contact (if any). Players can use this as a guide to choose which casinos they wish to patronize, and as a way to contact the casino if or when they have problems.
An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost
everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could
move apart and then slide back together again.
The boy asked,"What is this, Father?"
The father (never having seen an elevator) responded, "Son, I have never
seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is."
While the boy and his father were watching with amazement, a fat old lady in
a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls
opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched the small circular
numbers above the walls light up sequentially.They continued to watch until
it reached the last number and then the numbers began to light in the
reverse order.
Finally the walls opened up again and a gorgeous, voluptuous 24-year-old
blonde woman stepped out.
The father, not taking his eyes off the young woman, said quietly to his
son, "Go get your mother."
DISAPPOINTING NEWS FROM LONDON
Remote Gaming Tax rate announced by Chancellor Brown is discouraging
Wednesday's budget speech by Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown has been initially met with disappointment by many online gambling companies expecting a better tax incentive for moving to Britain and seeking regulation under the new Gambling Act.
Speculation on what the British government would offer as an incentive for remote gambling companies to move to Britain ranged down as low as 2 percent, and the Chancellor's announcement of a 15 percent rate of taxation is discouraging.
The Remote Gaming Association (RGA) was the first to express disappointment at the 15 percent rate for the new remote gaming tax, which has been set at the same rate as gross profits tax payable by UK-based bookmakers.
The chairman of trade association Remote Gaming Association, John Coates said the 15 percent rate means the UK government has “effectively turned its back on the industry.
“Under this regime, with the additional VAT and corporation tax for most companies, it would be almost impossible for a UK-based operator to compete with offshore businesses, especially those located in other EU jurisdictions,” Coates opined.
His chief executive took a more lenient view, however. Clive Hawkswood said there was some good news for the industry from the budget. Contrary to some fears that the chancellor had plans to levy VAT on participation charges, such a measure was not introduced.
“The VAT issue was the scary one, but it has been put to bed for now,” said Hawkswood.
Dear Reader,
