has online gaming gone to the dogs?

Are you being served better or worse by online casinos now compared to when you started?

  • More or less the same. I see no significant change.

    Votes: 12 7.0%
  • I'd say better. Maybe you need a vacation.

    Votes: 4 2.3%
  • A bit worse maybe but not a big deal IMO.

    Votes: 30 17.4%
  • Worse, much worse. Maybe we both need vacations.

    Votes: 118 68.6%
  • "Online Casino"?!? I thought this was a pizza delivery service.

    Votes: 8 4.7%

  • Total voters
    172
Yeah I am not missing it at all. Stopped watching streamers as well although would still watch the Bandit if he posts something up. Games are just too high variance now, balances are going faster than ever. Then you have all the other shit. SOW and AML. Some casinos are using this to delay withdrawals as well which the UKGC seemed to specifically say was not to happen. However, when confronted they will back the operator saying "the operator has to comply with various checks blah blah blah". Its really shit now and doubt I'll ever go back.
 
Wow... years ago I used to envy U.K players for their plethora of online casino selections and freedom. It seemed like their government
were on top of things and knew what they were doing. Fast forward to 2021, after reading about all of these verification issues, INVASIVE SoW inquires, (unbelievable) removal of bonus buys, removal of fast play, bet size limits, ridiculously low RTP settings and upcoming shorty, disabling auto spins.. I'm just in disbelief. The U.K. market is becoming a wasteland for online gambling. It's completely crashing and burning before my eyes.

I swear, I must of seen like 50+ SoW threads in the past year.
 
Kudos to the U.K players for putting up with these godawful rules set forth.. I, personally, wouldn't accept the requests for some pencil-neck unknown dipshit at some online casino requesting my personal banking data to see how much money is in my savings/checking account, what my paychecks look like, what I spend my money on and then have the nerve to ask questions about my transactions.. all while they hold winnings that are rightfully owed to me. Fuck that... I would completely quit online gambling and take up carpentry as a hobby.
 
There might be one or more good online casino's nowadays. But the majority treat their customers like this..




That's what it feels like anyway.
 
There might be one or more good online casino's nowadays. But the majority treat their customers like this..




That's what it feels like anyway.
100%. Particulary with these doc requests. I'm still unsure as to how the UKGC are taking no action against some operators who are clearly using these requests to delay withdrawals. Allowed to deposit as much as possible but the second it comes to a withdrawal its documents galore in a load of places before they pay out. This was against all guidance from the governing body...but yet they get away with it.
 
Because they're only interested if it can be accompanied with a press release.

Pretty sure they get loads of folk emailing them telling them such and, given the responses i've seen personally, little wonder casino's chance their arm when it's clear the UKGC are totally disinterested in those types of things.
 
Because they're only interested if it can be accompanied with a press release.

Pretty sure they get loads of folk emailing them telling them such and, given the responses i've seen personally, little wonder casino's chance their arm when it's clear the UKGC are totally disinterested in those types of things.
It's a bit like HMRC their bark is worse than their bite. They seem to want to take a "tough stance" with some of their legislation and LCCP provisions but in reality they will not do the follow up work.
 
It's way worse now. I've actually stopped playing online, because instead of it being a fun hobby it's become a chore. Now when you win something big your first thought is will I get paid and will it take for ever to get all of it.

I mean I used to play a lot at Guts back in the day. My biggest win of 40k€ was paid to my bank account in about 12 hours. No hassle. Now they'd probably keep it as hostage and ask for pay slips and my grandmothers birth certificate because she once put a tenner into my account in the 90's. :D
 
Ok, I'll admit that's a bit of a click-bait title, but the intention behind it is genuine. Allow me to explain.

In my work in Complaints I find that I'm dealing with a lot more pissed off players than I used to. They often don't get much satisfaction from the casinos they frequent. More and more these players -- and me too when I'm trying to help them -- are hitting brick walls when they seek to have an issue resolved. And that brick wall often seems to be some form of corporate BS.

Perhaps the casino has farmed out their Customer Service to a call center in Mumbai and players are forced to run a seemingly endless gauntlet of CS reps who don't know anything and can't make the decisions necessary to get things resolved. Result? Pissed off customer.

Or the casino has implemented ridiculous KYC rules that have nothing to do with customer safety or satisfaction and everything to do with the casino making the withdrawal process as painful as possible in the hopes that Joe/Jane Average Player will get so frustrated that they just reverse the withdrawal and end up playing their winnings away. Result? Pissed off and poorer customer.

Or the casino's legal department has jumped the shark and forced the CS people to claim that they can't talk to anybody but the player because of "data protection laws". See here for how much bull-crap that is: Casino Industry Myths: The General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR") - Casinomeister - Forum Result? Player pissed off and issue unresolved.

Or the casino has set up an "internal complaints department" that is supposed to handle all player complaints. This is the old "self regulating" shell game that has been repeatedly proven to be exactly what it is: BS. If there is money on the table at Casino X and a person employed by Casino X is in charge of deciding what happens to that money then the end of that process is fairly predictable: a pissed off customer because most times, one way or another, that money will end up flowing back to Casino X. To the surprise of absolutely no one.

I could go on but I think I've made my point: as the casino industry has become more and more "industrialized" -- as our fearless leader puts it -- the customer has simply become a revenue stream. With few exceptions the personal touch is long gone, the mantra of "customer care" is chanted ad nauseum when the opposite is the norm, and the vast majority of the online casino business has just become a big fat money hoover for anonymous casino group owners and shareholders.

Or maybe that's just my jaded view after 13 years of processing player complaints. Is it? See the poll above and let us know what you think. And feel free to comment below.
Bottom line is especially for Australians do not bother wasting your money or time at any online casino they are all at best licenced with a dodgy curico ( unregulated ) licence and they are all out to rip off and scam Aussie players.
I find it funny how easy is to deposit and then to take the money out your account but to make a withdrawal there that many terms and conditions and excuses and bullshitt let's involved with trying to get money from them, all part of the scam.
They are all in one way or another linked either through data shared on a network or they are partnering with each other.
I would never ever waste any more money on ne curico licenced casino online.
God I miss the microgaming days and malta licenced casinos.
But I guess those days are gone for good
 
Bottom line is especially for Australians do not bother wasting your money or time at any online casino they are all at best licenced with a dodgy curico ( unregulated ) licence and they are all out to rip off and scam Aussie players.
I find it funny how easy is to deposit and then to take the money out your account but to make a withdrawal there that many terms and conditions and excuses and bullshitt let's involved with trying to get money from them, all part of the scam.
They are all in one way or another linked either through data shared on a network or they are partnering with each other.
I would never ever waste any more money on ne curico licenced casino online.
God I miss the microgaming days and malta licenced casinos.
But I guess those days are gone for good
It's freaking sad. And it takes its toll on our community. We once had a load of Aussie members (don't get me started on our US traffic) who were a lot of fun, engaging, amicable and even troll-like. But whatever, it was a chunk of our community that has diminished because they are effed out of playing at any legit online casino. Breaks my heart thinking about it - when this industry was a load of fun. Now it has gone to the dogs.
 
In the UK it's an absolute shambles out with a handful of the biggest operators. Companies like Genesis, Aspire, Jumpman can just operate loads of different brands and hit customers with the same old crap over and over. It's absolutely incredible that these crooks can still run casinos here. Kudos to some who were good and have left the market, such as Betsafe group. There is nothing in it for them here anymore. There is plenty in it for the rogues though...offer utterly pathetic RTP versions of slots, average player doesnt understand RTP and spunks fortunes away. Then when someone dares to withdraw from one of these places they are waiting weeks for any sign of money. It's a true disgrace and the whole sector is in a serious mess.
 
I really thought that there were several single casinos only who changed their promos, rtp, behav... etc to the worst.
but after checking also my other online casinos I played at for the last 6 years plus these fake streamers out there I really have to excuse. It’s not a single casino. It’s the whole industry that gets worse and more worse day by day.
Such a shame. And scam all over the place
 
It’s so bad that I’m using self-exclusion more than ever before.

I have not used SE in a while but do close down accounts. Lots of them the past year or so!

Im down now to 2 casinos - 21casino which i have just re-opened - and videoslots which is open but no deposits. And soon as I get a SOW I see that as my time to quit a casino. Never again will I give my personal financial information out. It is intrusive and I personally find it really disrespectful. One casino very well know name I wont mention asked me "how can you justify a £100 daily deposit limit ?" the tone and context pissed me off greatly! Probably some 21 year old cs rep decades my jr trying to question what I earn and where. I dont and wont justify anything anymore to anyone. If that means no more casino play under the UKGC then so be it.

Just wait until October when the next set of "rules" come into force. Expect some big names to leave the UK. Its not all the casinos fault - as Casinomesiter said in his excellent pod cast - the UKGC have become a political body.
 
@Deeplay

Yeah, I’m down to Video Slots and PlayOLG and I’m on a one month self-exclusion break on both of them. I might have to bid adieu to VS if this talk about PlayOLG finally getting the European slots is happening this week.

I just can’t win any more. $100 deposits are eaten in less than an hour. The slots are way too tight everywhere and I’m not having fun gambling these days. I don’t expect to win every time but losing 90% of the time is ridiculous.
 
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'Has online gambling gone to the dogs'?.....Yes, for sure, the joy has been completely sucked out of it.

We are constantly treated either like children or potential money launders, with constant pop up warnings about how long you've been playing, 'we have safe gambling tools' 'why not set a deposit limit?' 'when the fun stops ,stop' to name but three, and of course the dreaded SOW of which has caused me to leave many a casino I have played at and liked, and am now in battle with one of them to get them to pay me the £548.36 they owe me.

Added to this, I joined a casino just three days ago as they had the two games I play the most, I made two deposits, one of £200.00 and one of £500.00. I lost both, that's fair enough, that's gambling for you, but then this morning I get an email from the casino saying that they will have to suspend my account as four and a half years ago I self excluded from Sky BET Group (SBG) and they now own SBG. How was I meant to know this when I signed up and why didn't their system flag it up at the time? Is a player supposed to know who owns who now days? It's a fuc***g minefield!

And also, had I won and made a withdrawal request, do you think it would have been paid?....I think we all know the answer to that one, but while they would have been happy keeping any winnings you can be sure they won't be returning my deposits. What a great earner for the casinos, let everyone sign in and create an account, check a few days later and if they find the player is excluded within the casinos group they can then suspend / close your account and keep your winnings (if you won) and keep your deposits too if you lose. They say you can't have your cake and eat it, but that's Bullshit in the online casino industry, these guys are woofing that cake down!

It's getting to the point in my opinion where the stress and hassle you go through for something that is meant to be a lesiure activty are making me think long and hard if I want to continue slotting...I would miss it, I won't lie, but I would be better off for sure!
 
I'd like to add that it irks me when the "Support Team" parrots the same BS when I complain that their slots are tight. They regurgitate the same "slots are random" dreck every time and believe every gambler doesn't know how they work. It's insulting.

This "lucky bloke of the day" trash needs to end.
 
Personally i will be glad when the land based casinos reopen.Nearest one to me is an hours drive each way but at least if i have a lucky night i will be able to walk out with my winnings without having to worry about having to supply Source of Wealth documents.Although once the UKGC have finished with destroying the online gaming industry they will probably turn their attention to bricks and mortar.
 
I started playing back in about 2006 and the last few years have been absolutely awful when I look back. I'm down to two casinos now and will likely close those accounts soon.

I don't bet big or use autoplay very often so some of the new rules coming in won't affect me too much. What has affected me most is the shocking customer support! It genuinely seems like casinos couldn't care less anymore.

I've had lots of bad experiences over the last year but my most recent was at Buzz Bingo. When I noticed cashback I was owed had not been credited to my account, I figured I'd just get on live chat as usual and it would be sorted. How wrong I was, it seems they too have abandoned any kind of customer care. ? They ignored me on live chat for a few days then ignored my emails for a few weeks. I finally managed to speak to a CS agent on chat and they told me they would investigate. Since then that agent has also ignored me so I've given up with them altogether. They have even ignored my request to make a complaint.

So yeah, I'll be getting my coat any minute, it's just depressing now.
 
I think it is worse also, to the point where I don't play much if at all any more. Just started playing at 3dice again, had a few nice hits but still don't play like I used to. They have only bitcoin to deposit if you're from the US. I don't use bitcoin. Vegas Crest is a place I played at all the time. Just my gut feeling, but it takes an act of god to get a feature since they did some updates. Games just don't play like they use too. I get many emails from players where it is taking over 300 spins to get a feature on Rival slots to get paid 40 cents. Game Art games are now Lucky Games and they aren't lucky at all. A friend of mine sent a video to someone who works for IGT, had over 700 spins on a slot with no feature. This happened 4 times in a row for him. IGT told him not to put in another penny because he would just be wasting his money, the payouts are so low they felt is was comical.

I do miss the days when I first signed up here on CM. I loved reading posts while having my morning tea and seeing everyone joke around. I still visit CM every now and then. I like to see the screen shots of games I can't play and keep up with what is going on in the industry.

I wish you all the best!
LH
 
I've played a lot of gambling casinos, it was poker, blackjack, slots. So that is why I decide to write compare article about online gambling for all players. I hope <snip> information will helpful for all.
 
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