Betway confiscating winnings on absurd grounds

xaxik

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Jan 28, 2010
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.ru
[pab-in-progress]I recently played at Betway, claiming their sign-up bonus of $250 and thus having a total of $500.
Among other games I played multi-hand blackjack sometimes making 5 bets (playing 5 hands) of $70 for a total of $350.
I met the wagering requirements, cashed out and received the 1st part of withdrawal promptly. However, there was a delay with the 2nd part, though it was shown as "sent" in the account history.

I contacted my bank for them to search for a lost payment, then I contacted betway support and was told they confistacted my winnings for violating T&Cs (although they had processed the 1st withdrawal exceeding my deposit). Note that I hadn't even been contacted by them informing me of this situation. They didn't even bother writing to me saying they are confiscating nearly 1k$! Nice support quality, betway!

But here comes the craziest part: after waiting for a few days for betway to state what was/were the term/s I broke I was told I violated the rule prohibiting SINGLE bets exceeding 30% of bonus:
"Other examples of irregular game play include but are not limited to, placing single bets equal to or in excess of 30% or more of the value of the bonus credited to their account until such time as the wagering requirements for that bonus have been met, unless that is allowed in the specific term of a campaign"

So their brilliant idea for *solving their cashflow problems* confiscating winnings is that 5 bets/hands in Multi-hand blackjack are in fact a SINGLE bet. Thus, when placing 5x$70 bets I actually placed a single bet of $350, which is greater than 30% of bonus, while $70 isn't big enough to confiscate winnings.
5 bets at MH BJ are not a single bet by any means not matter what psychedelic substances you take. Their argument is that total risk is $350 and you can lose or win as much as $350 when playing this way hence it's a single bet. One could argue that you could won or lose $350 when playing 5 consecutive hands on single hand blackjack, so this isn;t really relevant. Also, when several players play blackjack at land-based casinos you wouldnt say that they as a group are placing a single bet overall? Blackjack at land-based casinos is similar in this way to multi-hand blackjack at online casinos.

Was really surprised to come across such behaviour from a casino thought to be reputable.

Comments are welcome.[/pab-in-progress]

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Well we all know why you were betting like that. I know it, you know it, and the casino knows it.

Their 30% rule was obviously meant to prevent this style of advantage play, but they either didn't take the multi-hand game into account, or in their minds 5-hands betting against just 1 dealer hand is just one bet.

You could try Pitching a Bitch with Max, but personally I think your chances of success are low because it boils down to a matter of interpretation of the rules.

Good luck!
KK
 
I know I was betting like that because I wanted to gamble. You KNOW something different?
Anyway, the "why" question is completely irrelevant here. It's about facts, what was "meant" or what they "didn't take into account".
Betway could have easily limited max bet size as have many MGs. and if they want to use this rule with the multi-hand game they must have taken it into accountand made it clear what this rule meant.

That's a nice try of inventing excuses for a casino.

Thanks for wishing luck, anyway!

Well we all know why you were betting like that. I know it, you know it, and the casino knows it.

Their 30% rule was obviously meant to prevent this style of advantage play, but they either didn't take the multi-hand game into account, or in their minds 5-hands betting against just 1 dealer hand is just one bet.

You could try Pitching a Bitch with Max, but personally I think your chances of success are low because it boils down to a matter of interpretation of the rules.

Good luck!
KK
 
Clearly, there is a loophole that needs to be closed regarding the interpretation of this rule when multi-hand games are being played, and also when games with multi-stage betting is allowed, such as 3-card Poker (is it 30% on pair+ and another 30% on ante, 30% overall, or 30% including the play bet as well).

Even if a PAB were to succeed, this kind of play will earn a lifetime bonus ban.

It is not the same as placing 5 consecutive bets of $70 on single hand BJ, because this strategy is higher variance, and works because of the possibility of the dealer busting, making all 5 bets winners, and equivalent to a single bet of more than 100% of the bonus balance.

Since MGS now offer limit reduction when bonuses are in play, operators have a responsibility to USE IT, protecting the unwitting player from falling into a trap due to such problems, and ALSO to outwit the clever player who seeks out loopholes. This would prevent the smart-ass player from even TRYING it on, and would thus prevent them from making an issue about any subsequent confiscation of winnings.

The PAB (if accepted), would have to consider whether placing 5 bets on a multi-hand game is covered by the term limiting single bets to 30% of bonus balance.

The 30% term itself has been discussed, and passed as an acceptable defence against the excesses of advantage play, provided it is made CLEAR to players in the BONUS terms, and not buried away in the "legalese".

There are MANY casinos taking this clear percentage of initial bonus max bet approach, rather than using the outdated "by management decision" approach.
 
That's a nice try of inventing excuses for a casino.

You asked for input, KK offered his, no need to be crusty toward him because you didn't like what he had to say. "Thanks, but I don't see it that way" would have been perfectly sufficient.
 
Clearly, there is a loophole that needs to be closed regarding the interpretation of this rule when multi-hand games are being played, and also when games with multi-stage betting is allowed, such as 3-card Poker (is it 30% on pair+ and another 30% on ante, 30% overall, or 30% including the play bet as well).

Indeed, the casino needs to make their rules airtight before using them to confiscate player's funds. As there is considerable ambiguity here, they shouldn't be trying this.

There are too many complexities - double and split bets in blackjack, odds and other post-come out roll bets in craps, additional bets in various poker games - for them to rely on this clause.

Even if a PAB were to succeed, this kind of play will earn a lifetime bonus ban.

Possibly, but I think that would depend on the player's overall behaviour. If he goes back and redeposits without a bonus and plays the same way, or he goes a way over the wagering requirement, they might well decide that he's just a gambler, and a good customer.

In any case, the casino's business decision about whether to offer further bonuses is irrelevant to their quasi-legal decision to pay the player.
 
The OP had only a bankroll of 500 Dollars and placed a bet 5x70 dollar in a Blackjack game . He placed a single bet of 350 dollar in one gaming round and this is the important point where he breaks the Casino rules . It was an error from the Casino to process the first withdrawal of winnings . They may have not made any necessary gaming investigation before releasing the funds .

Besides its obvious he wanted to abuse the bonus with these large bets.......


Possibly, but I think that would depend on the player's overall behaviour. If he goes back and redeposits without a bonus and plays the same way, or he goes a way over the wagering requirement, they might well decide that he's just a gambler, and a good customer.

This is an important point . Alot of Casinos which limit the betsize ,if a bonus is included, allow loyal customers to make larger bets with their bonuses if the request it . Anyway only the minority of players will do that . If you are a player for entertaining purpose you wouldnt place bets bigger then 50 % of your bankroll because you dont want to loose your bankroll within 2 minutes .
I doubt the OP would place a 350 dollar bet with a bankroll of 500 dollars without a bonus.
Additionally he lives in a country known for a high rate of bonus abuse .

In my point of view Betways decision is correct , because the 30 % rule was broken .
 
Besides its obvious he wanted to abuse the bonus with these large bets.......

.

Why is it everytime someone has a big bet, they are abusing a bonus. I sometimes play 300-500 a spin on live roullete without a bonus so whys that.
 
The OP had only a bankroll of 500 Dollars and placed a bet 5x70 dollar in a Blackjack game . He placed a single bet of 350 dollar in one gaming round and this is the important point where he breaks the Casino rules . It was an error from the Casino to process the first withdrawal of winnings . They may have not made any necessary gaming investigation before releasing the funds .

This is not really accurate.

He placed five single bets of $70 in one gaming round.

Not one $350 bet.

The five bets are somewhat correlated, but this is not the same thing as for instance betting $4 on each of numbers 1-18 in roulette and then $72 on '1-18' - in that case, you have effectively bet $144 on '1-18', meaning you will either double or bust - there is no other possible outcome.

In this case however, it is possible (for example) to win 2 bets, lose 2 bets, and push 1. Which is potentially no different from making 5 successive bets at $70/hand, on single-hand blackjack. It is clear that this is not one single $350 bet from this fact. If I go to the bookies, and I bet $70 on five different players scoring home runs in the course of a baseball game, each of my five bets can win or lose, and no one would suggest they are anything other than five single bets, even though the outcomes are correlated (a strong opposing pitching performance means my bets are more likely to all come off losers, just as the dealer turning over a 20 means all five blackjack bets are likely to lose also).

The player generates about 1/3 more standard deviation per dollar bet using this strategy, but given that the house advantage on blackjack is so low, the practical edge gained is negligible - essentially rather than betting a total of $1000 before reaching a high enough balance to go off to play something else (blackjack counts only 2% to wagering, so I doubt he played it to completion), he would expect to bet $1500 instead. An extra $500 bet at a house edge of somewhere around 0.3% amounts to an extra $1.50 going to the house on average.

This should not be considered material - a 30% of bonus max bet limits players to $74 bets, and if you've ever played any amount of blackjack, you will realise that you can easily get your balance to high levels.

Besides its obvious he wanted to abuse the bonus with these large bets.......

What does this mean? If I am walking through a casino in Las Vegas with $100 in my pocket, and I throw it all down on one hand, are they going to get upset? No, of course not. But the reality is I have a much better chance of winning by doing that than if I bet $10/hand.

So what. The player is entitled to want to win ('abuse the bonus' as you put it). If he breaks the rules, those rules having been explained clearly in advance, the casino can decide not to pay him, otherwise they have to pay him. 'abuse' is a nonsense word.

This is an important point . Alot of Casinos which limit the betsize ,if a bonus is included, allow loyal customers to make larger bets with their bonuses if the request it . Anyway only the minority of players will do that . If you are a player for entertaining purpose you wouldnt place bets bigger then 50 % of your bankroll because you dont want to loose your bankroll within 2 minutes .
I doubt the OP would place a 350 dollar bet with a bankroll of 500 dollars without a bonus.

I've seen it done. Walking through the casino, table shows 10 reds in a row, player puts everything on black. What is this 'entertaining purpose' - if you want to play for entertainment, you don't deposit money, you just play in free play mode.

The only reason to play for money is because you can win.

Additionally he lives in a country known for a high rate of bonus abuse .

racist.

In my point of view Betways decision is correct , because the 30 % rule was broken .

it wasn't. Five separate bets on five separate events. All five of them had a separate chance to win, lose, or push, just like making five bets one after another.
 
Did the OP double down any of those $70 hands making one of the 'single bets' a $140 hand?
Seems irrelevant given what's been said I guess, I've just been caught out on this one before.
 
Did the OP double down any of those $70 hands making one of the 'single bets' a $140 hand?
Seems irrelevant given what's been said I guess, I've just been caught out on this one before.

IMO, that would then be a 'double bet'.

I think the 3cp a+p/casino hold em-type scenario, where you must place the additional bet to play is trickier, however.
 
In this case however, it is possible (for example) to win 2 bets, lose 2 bets, and push 1. Which is potentially no different from making 5 successive bets at $70/hand, on single-hand blackjack. It is clear that this is not one single $350 bet from this fact. If I go to the bookies, and I bet $70 on five different players scoring home runs in the course of a baseball game, each of my five bets can win or lose, and no one would suggest they are anything other than five single bets, even though the outcomes are correlated (a strong opposing pitching performance means my bets are more likely to all come off losers, just as the dealer turning over a 20 means all five blackjack bets are likely to lose also).

Well its also possible that the dealer busts and the player wins all 5 hands. Some doubles or splits may increase the bet .

The Variance is much bigger with those 5 x 70 Dollar bets then 1x 70 Dollar . The player knows that and he plays more hand to increase the expectet value of the bonus . Its not the same like a single 350 dollar bet but its obvious he wants to exploit the given bonus with one of the biggest possible variance bet .


What does this mean? If I am walking through a casino in Las Vegas with $100 in my pocket, and I throw it all down on one hand, are they going to get upset? No, of course not. But the reality is I have a much better chance of winning by doing that than if I bet $10/hand.

This is a poor comparison .

In Vegas you dont have any kind of bonus . So you will loose the long run . Note that every online casino will give you probably a Vip status if you make similar bets without a bonus . If you make it with bonus...... well they will confiscate your winnings .

If you are a card counter in vegas and make large bets during a positive count they will ask you to leave the casino .

I've seen it done. Walking through the casino, table shows 10 reds in a row, player puts everything on black. What is this 'entertaining purpose' - if you want to play for entertainment, you don't deposit money, you just play in free play mode.

The only reason to play for money is because you can win.

Its called progression :)


You cant compare that to online bonus play . I have alot of friend playing Roulette in landbased Casinos and nobody goes to a Casino buys chips for 1000 bet the hole amount on Black or Red and leaves the Casino after he have won or lost .

Gaming is entertainment ! And the majority of players gamble because its fun.



This is a mediocre comment . You often read "The Sun" newspaper arent you ? :thumbsup:




it wasn't. Five separate bets on five separate events. All five of them had a separate chance to win, lose, or push, just like making five bets one after another.


This is not correct . Its la total bet of 350 and therefore against the rules .

If you play 100 hand Videopoker with a 10 bet . Its will be counted at 10 bet and not 10 cent .

The term "single bet " means nothing more then the total bet played in a single round . The player has broken this rule and Betway has confiscatet a part of his winnings . This guy is lucky he received the first part of his cashout so he shoud not complain .
 
Surely 5 bets of $70 are exactly that....5 separate bets. I would only consider them to be a solitary bet if there was no way to get a different win/loss result on one bet different to the others. If the rules say there is a maximum amount you can bet per round of play then that would be different.
 
Additionally he lives in a country known for a high rate of bonus abuse .

Do you really mean that you are from Germany and you think it`s a good idea to discuss what people from different regions are known for? Isn`t this called discrimination?

It doesn`t matter if a player comes from the moon or if he likes wearing red socks to his pink shoes.

Seriously, I am tired of those bonus abuse accusations against people from certain countries.

Casinos are giving away bonuses to get customers but they are afraid of advantage play.

Bonus abuse is when players start several accounts and things like that. Advantage play is NOT ABUSE.
 
Do you really mean that you are from Germany and you think it`s a good idea to discuss what people from different regions are known for? Isn`t this called discrimination?

It doesn`t matter if a player comes from the moon or if he likes wearing red socks to his pink shoes.

Seriously, I am tired of those bonus abuse accusations against people from certain countries.

Casinos are giving away bonuses to get customers but they are afraid of advantage play.

Bonus abuse is when players start several accounts and things like that. Advantage play is NOT ABUSE.

Yes i think its a good idea because it can help to find out if a player made just a mistake with his betting patterns or it was his purpose to exploit a promotion .


So all casino operators discriminate people because they exclude cetain countries and regions from their promotion knows for a higher rate of abuse ?

Its far away from discrimination its just business.

Before you use such words you should understand them .

"Advantage play" ? :lolup:

If a player makes large bets to a high target and then starts grinding out the wager requierements to cash out as soon as possible i call it abuse .

Besides the player have broken the rules of the casino so it is indeed abuse
 
Well its also possible that the dealer busts and the player wins all 5 hands. Some doubles or splits may increase the bet .

The Variance is much bigger with those 5 x 70 Dollar bets then 1x 70 Dollar . The player knows that and he plays more hand to increase the expectet value of the bonus . Its not the same like a single 350 dollar bet but its obvious he wants to exploit the given bonus with one of the biggest possible variance bet .

The difference is very small. You can generate just as much variance by playing a couple of extra hands on single hand (at an expected cost of around 0.2% of the additional wagering, which is nothing really) as you do playing multihand. And actually by playing 5 hands @ $70, you have a risk of not having enough to cash to make all the doubles and splits, so the expected value may actually be lower.


This is a poor comparison .

In Vegas you dont have any kind of bonus . So you will loose the long run . Note that every online casino will give you probably a Vip status if you make similar bets without a bonus . If you make it with bonus...... well they will confiscate your winnings .

There are plenty of casnos that don't scrutinise your bet sizes, and have never been heard confiscating winnings.

This is a mediocre comment . You often read "The Sun" newspaper arent you ? :thumbsup:

One national stereotype not enough for you? Am I supposed to respond with stereotypes about Germans? Give it up.

This is not correct . Its la total bet of 350 and therefore against the rules .

If you play 100 hand Videopoker with a 10 bet . Its will be counted at 10 bet and not 10 cent .

The term "single bet " means nothing more then the total bet played in a single round . The player has broken this rule and Betway has confiscatet a part of his winnings . This guy is lucky he received the first part of his cashout so he shoud not complain .

If it means 'total bet', they should write that. But they didn't.

So they have no grounds for confiscating funds.
 
So all casino operators discriminate people because they exclude cetain countries and regions from their promotion knows for a higher rate of abuse ?

Its far away from discrimination its just business.

No, you made the claim. You are not the/a casino operator are you? So you really have no idea how Russian players play, on average.

And anyway, you are attempting to rationalise a decision of discretion on the basis of the player's nationality. That is definitely discrimination. Excluding them up front is a different thing.

"Advantage play" ? :lolup:

If a player makes large bets to a high target and then starts grinding out the wager requierements to cash out as soon as possible i call it abuse .

You can call it what you like, but the bottom line is the casinos have free will to offer (or not) bonuses, and needs to live with the consequences of that decision, which means paying winners (like I said, if you want 'entertainment', go play on your Nintendo, not at a casino).

Besides the player have broken the rules of the casino so it is indeed abuse

Not proven.
 
The difference is very small. You can generate just as much variance by playing a couple of extra hands on single hand (at an expected cost of around 0.2% of the additional wagering, which is nothing really) as you do playing multihand.

Its actually not very small . 5x 70 have a similar variance to 1x 160 . Its a big difference .

And actually by playing 5 hands @ $70, you have a risk of not having enough to cash to make all the doubles and splits, so the expected value may actually be lower.
Im sure the OP would have had decreased the betsize in this case .


There are plenty of casnos that don't scrutinise your bet sizes, and have never been heard confiscating winnings.

The number is increasing and it will increase in future too .



One national stereotype not enough for you? Am I supposed to respond with stereotypes about Germans? Give it up.

Youre the one starting with stereotypes . So what do you expect? ;)


If it means 'total bet', they should write that. But they didn't.

So they have no grounds for confiscating funds.

Its not necessary to write that because its obvious. As i said with the Videopoker example . Imagine you make a Slot spin with 30 lines with 1 cent per line . Now take a look at Playcheck . It will state you made a 30 cent bet .
 
How effective are these maximum bet limitations anyway because you could circumvent them by playing higher variance game with lower bet size to get the same advantage - for example playing video poker and doubling up wins (0% house edge!) until reaching target bankroll. There are many different ways to play to get an advantage from a bonus and the bet size limitations don't have any effect on most of these.
 
No, you made the claim. You are not the/a casino operator are you? So you really have no idea how Russian players play, on average.

And anyway, you are attempting to rationalise a decision of discretion on the basis of the player's nationality. That is definitely discrimination. Excluding them up front is a different thing.

Take a look at the Terms and conditions of some casino bonuses and take a look at bannend countries . You dont need to be a opeartor to know that . But you need a brain ;)

Its just a indicator not more not less as i said in post . Is ridiculous i have to tell you that again . You dont understand the word discrimination . Youre the one who discrimates people here . Germany is a multicultural Country and there is no discrimination against foreighn countrys . There is no difference in a straight up exclusion from a opeartor and my comment . If you are not able to see that i feel sorry for you .
 
Yes i think its a good idea because it can help to find out if a player made just a mistake with his betting patterns or it was his purpose to exploit a promotion .

Well, I can see the similarities with a store who have signs that says gypsies and spanish people have 10% higher price because so many of your people only buy our lower price goods or are stealing.


So all casino operators discriminate people because they exclude cetain countries and regions from their promotion knows for a higher rate of abuse ?

Its far away from discrimination its just business.

It`s of course both business and discrimination. Yes, the casinos who say people from China, Sweden and Italy are not allowed to have any free money or bonuses over 20% discriminate people. They do it for a reason, they want to earn money.

The easy way for many rogue casinos is to give away a lot of bonuses to have more customers. The risk they take is that some customers use (don`t ABUSE) their bonus to gain advantage. The rogue casinos then removes regions from their bonus offers, they are then of course discriminating people from those regions.

.
Before you use such words you should understand them .

I do believe that you don`t know the difference between race discrimination and discrimination.

You can discriminate people in a lot of ways. Male/female, rich/poor and russians/germans. I hope you understand.

"Advantage play" ? :lolup:
If a player makes large bets to a high target and then starts grinding out the wager requierements to cash out as soon as possible i call it abuse .

I call it advantage play as long as the player doesn`t break the rules.
Many of the rogue casinos have removed regions for abuse when they mean many people from your region have managed to cash out real money from free chips.

Besides the player have broken the rules of the casino so it is indeed abuse

According to the casino!

In this particular case it`s a bit tricky. Did he break the rules or not?
I am surprised that he was allowed to play BJ with the bonus at all.

He actually placed 5 different bets. I understand those who think that you can call it a single bet also because it was in one round.
 
How effective are these maximum bet limitations anyway because you could circumvent them by playing higher variance game with lower bet size to get the same advantage - for example playing video poker and doubling up wins (0% house edge!) until reaching target bankroll. There are many different ways to play to get an advantage from a bonus and the bet size limitations don't have any effect on most of these.

Sooner or later they will close all loopholes.
 
Sooner or later they will close all loopholes.

Yes! And then they have to find new customers in other ways. Like better software, better support staff, quicker payments and other things.

The casinos have to compare in a more serious way, like 3Dice have done with the chat system/community/screenshots etc.
 

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