Bally Casino voided £6900 winnings.

[o3nur94]

Hi All, i’m just after a bit of advice really as this has been driving me up the wall. In September I opened an account at Bally’s Casino I deposited a total of £400 and was lucky enough to win £6900 which I immediately withdrew. Once I withdrew my account was immediately blocked. I was told my details were linked to an account on Gamstop. I have never registered with Gamstop, I sent the casino all my ID documents, I also sent these to gamstop who confirmed my details were not registered on their database and forwarded this to the casino. The casino refused to accept this and was certain I had a gamstop exclusion and previous account with Virgin games. After going through their complaint process they said the winnings were void and their decision was final and sent me the details of accounts on gamstop exclusion. The details they provided are of a family member that has a similar name and coincidentally the same date of birth. Even though I provided my drivers license, bank statements and cards showing my name and a selfie they claimed they were unable to verify my identity and stated their terms and conditions. I have now raised this with Ecogra and am waiting for a response but what is the likelihood I will get my winnings? They don’t appear to have great reviews

 

[Webzcas]

Well eCOGRA is BallyCasino.co.uk's nominated ADR. Unfortunately you will have to wait for them to proceed with your complaint. Just ensure you provide them with everything that they request of you.

I can see the casino's dilemma here though. You have exactly the same date of birth of the family member who did register with Gamstop and also have a similar name to them.

All you can do therefore is wait and let eCOGRA do their thing.

Not what you want to hear, but this is the situation you are unfortunately facing.

 

[o3nur94]

Yeah its a complicated one, they accused me of trying to circumvent gamstop by changing my last name and the spelling of my first name when signing up. But I assumed ID documents would have resolved this accusation

 

[Webzcas]

Players have done a lot worse I am afraid. As they are UKGC licensed and eCOGRA is their nominated ADR, whatever decision eCOGRA arrives at, BallyCasino.co.uk will abide by it.

Hence it is absolutely essential you provide eCOGRA with everything that is asked of you and more, to be able to make your case and to prove you are not the person registered with Gamstop.

 

[jasonuk]

Ballys Casino (UK) seems to be run by Gamesys, who don't have the strongest of reputations.

It seems like they're falsely accusing you of circumvention (which would forfeit winnings), and if GAMSTOP have confirmed you're not registered and they are still giving you the talk to the hand treatment, then ADR is the necessary next step. As you say, documents should resolve this - but I guess they're holding firm in the (mistaken) belief that you are the same person, e.g. you've tweaked your name.

When it comes to eCOGRA - I think it would be prudent to speak to your family member, see if they are willing to supply their ID (to prove beyond doubt you are two different people) and if they are willing to confirm they either self-excluded from a site in that group or registered for GAMSTOP.

It's possible that eCOGRA may want to talk to them (whether phone or email) and that will add significant credibility to your case.

As with all ADR cases, be aware it'll take a few weeks to go through - and once started ADR providers usually have a no publicity clause so you won't be able to talk about it until it's concluded. Hope you get it sorted though!

 

[dunover]

Hi All, i’m just after a bit of advice really as this has been driving me up the wall. In September I opened an account at Bally’s Casino I deposited a total of £400 and was lucky enough to win £6900 which I immediately withdrew. Once I withdrew my account was immediately blocked. I was told my details were linked to an account on Gamstop. I have never registered with Gamstop, I sent the casino all my ID documents, I also sent these to gamstop who confirmed my details were not registered on their database and forwarded this to the casino. The casino refused to accept this and was certain I had a gamstop exclusion and previous account with Virgin games. After going through their complaint process they said the winnings were void and their decision was final and sent me the details of accounts on gamstop exclusion. The details they provided are of a family member that has a similar name and coincidentally the same date of birth. Even though I provided my drivers license, bank statements and cards showing my name and a selfie they claimed they were unable to verify my identity and stated their terms and conditions. I have now raised this with Ecogra and am waiting for a response but what is the likelihood I will get my winnings? They don’t appear to have great reviews

Well, it's understandable if they took their course of action. We have seldom seen this issue and now twice in a few days it's come up, 'false' Gamstop markers. I reckon the only way out of it for you would be to provide, along with this family member, both sets of documents. (With the other person's permission of course!) If all is good they should be able to separate the two identities. But by what you have said in your OP, it would look highly sniffy to me if I were part of the checking team. So you can see why the issue has occurred.

 

[o3nur94]

Ballys Casino (UK) seems to be run by Gamesys, who don't have the strongest of reputations.

It seems like they're falsely accusing you of circumvention (which would forfeit winnings), and if GAMSTOP have confirmed you're not registered and they are still giving you the talk to the hand treatment, then ADR is the necessary next step. As you say, documents should resolve this - but I guess they're holding firm in the (mistaken) belief that you are the same person, e.g. you've tweaked your name.

When it comes to eCOGRA - I think it would be prudent to speak to your family member, see if they are willing to supply their ID (to prove beyond doubt you are two different people) and if they are willing to confirm they either self-excluded from a site in that group or registered for GAMSTOP.

It's possible that eCOGRA may want to talk to them (whether phone or email) and that will add significant credibility to your case.

As with all ADR cases, be aware it'll take a few weeks to go through - and once started ADR providers usually have a no publicity clause so you won't be able to talk about it until it's concluded. Hope you get it sorted though!

Yeah, providing my family members ID won’t be an issue, however she is also looking to now proceed with a complaint as she feels her data has been breached by all the information they have provided me about previous accounts and deposit amounts that they believe were me. It’s a bit of an annoying case to be honest. I’ve never faced this issue with any other gaming account i’ve used

 

[L&L-Jan]

Did operators stop checking gamstop, because I never have these issues, only when a player on purpose amend details to be able to bypass any check during registration or login.

 

[o3nur94]

Honestly no idea, I don’t understand why this flagged only when I wanted to withdraw the money. Hopefully the ADR will close the case in my favor when they see the names are clearly different and everything on my ID matches the registration details. If not I may need to go to small claims but will probably end up being worse off. Lesson learned, I think I will only stick to land based casinos moving forward.Or maybe join whatever site you’re working for

Did operators stop checking gamstop, because I never have these issues, only when a player on purpose amend details to be able to bypass any check during registration or login.

 

[jasonuk]

Well, it's understandable if they took their course of action. We have seldom seen this issue and now twice in a few days it's come up, 'false' Gamstop markers.

I'm a little surprised we don't see these cases more often - because pattern matching isn't an exact science and the more data you have then the more risk of a false positive. To the credit of the two players in question, they are both being proactive about proving their innocence, providing the necessary information and documents to try and clean up the situation at the first opportunity.

Admittedly the two diverge at that point because Betfred cannot act yet (because it's a GAMSTOP issue) and Gamesys can (because it's their own error).

Yeah, providing my family members ID won’t be an issue, however she is also looking to now proceed with a complaint as she feels her data has been breached by all the information they have provided me about previous accounts and deposit amounts that they believe were me. It’s a bit of an annoying case to be honest. I’ve never faced this issue with any other gaming account i’ve used

This is why companies are super careful when there could be different people involved - if you provide the data to the wrong person, that falls foul of data protection laws.

As said before, documents normally resolve this - but Gamesys seem to be doubling down on their error.

Did operators stop checking gamstop, because I never have these issues, only when a player on purpose amend details to be able to bypass any check during registration or login.

That seems to be what they are alleging, that the OP is the other family member and is circumventing checks. If they'd "accidentally" registered with the wrong details (which happened to line up with the other family member), that would be a reason for confiscation - but if they haven't, Gamesys appear to be adding 1 and 1 and getting 3.

 

[o3nur94]

I'm a little surprised we don't see these cases more often - because pattern matching isn't an exact science and the more data you have then the more risk of a false positive. To the credit of the two players in question, they are both being proactive about proving their innocence, providing the necessary information and documents to try and clean up the situation at the first opportunity.

Admittedly the two diverge at that point because Betfred cannot act yet (because it's a GAMSTOP issue) and Gamesys can (because it's their own error).



This is why companies are super careful when there could be different people involved - if you provide the data to the wrong person, that falls foul of data protection laws.

As said before, documents normally resolve this - but Gamesys seem to be doubling down on their error.


That seems to be what they are alleging, that the OP is the other family member and is circumventing checks. If they'd "accidentally" registered with the wrong details (which happened to line up with the other family member), that would be a reason for confiscation - but if they haven't, Gamesys appear to be adding 1 and 1 and getting 3.

Honestly I found the location of their offices in the UK and even offered to turn up in person with my cousin with both our IDs…and even that offer was rejected. But they don’t want to accept their error. I understand their due diligence in these things, but it just doesn’t seem very fair when in my eyes i’ve done nothing wrong but sign up to their website

 

[johnnymcc1966]

So this is a cousin with the same first name and family name? This is not uncommon of course and can easily happen. I assume you both live at different addresses and have different DOBs?

 

[o3nur94]

No different first and last name but similar, we have the same date of birth. E.g (these are not our real names) her name is Kayleigh white and my name is Kay lee.

 

[dunover]

No different first and last name but similar, we have the same date of birth. E.g (these are not our real names) her name is Kayleigh white and my name is Kay lee.

Yes, kinda like Marie Lion and Marillion. I get it.

 

[o3nur94]

Had an update a month ago from Ecogra that evidence from both sides had been received and the case file was ‘complete’ and they were investigating. Emailed numerous times for updates with no response, why is it impossible to get information from Ecogra when they said they would update regularly -_-

 

[conker]

Most ADR services operate in this way. They don't have the resources to respond to inquiries and questions sadly. The good news is the Ecogra are a reputable outfit from what I know and have been around for donkey's years. Your case will be going through due process, you will just have to be patient.

Normally with ADR you get a login and some sort of information about progress, however I don't know if Ecogra provide this.

 

[o3nur94]

Most ADR services operate in this way. They don't have the resources to respond to inquiries and questions sadly. The good news is the Ecogra are a reputable outfit from what I know and have been around for donkey's years. Your case will be going through due process, you will just have to be patient.

Normally with ADR you get a login and some sort of information about progress, however I don't know if Ecogra provide this.

Thank you no sadly Ecogra don’t provide the log in or tracking of progress, guess I will have to wait. I’m pretty hopeful they will rule in my favour as I provided them with plenty of evidence regarding my identity

 

[jasonuk]

It's going to be slow - ADRs frequently talk about 20 to 30 working days (4-6 weeks) and complex cases will take longer than that.

If they ask for information then obviously respond to that as soon as you can - otherwise asking for occasional updates (like once a month) is fine, but they can get a bit grumpy if you keep asking them for updates.

 

[conker]

Thank you no sadly Ecogra don’t provide the log in or tracking of progress, guess I will have to wait. I’m pretty hopeful they will rule in my favour as I provided them with plenty of evidence regarding my identity

Let's hope so, its a lot of money at stake.

Keep in mind the time of year is not great either, office parties, people taking leave for Christmas. If you get lucky they will sort it out before the festivities start, but if not then it will push into next year easily.

 

[o3nur94]

Honestly would be so nice to have this settled before xmas, one can dream. Sadly I reckon they will push it to the 90 days