INTERCASINO ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING PLAYERS IN THE USA

[ryan_hartley]

Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act on September 30th 2006, InterCasino are no longer accepting wagers from residents in the United States. We regret to inform you that from 11am EST on 3rd October, 2006, we will be closing all US gaming accounts.

However, please rest assured that we will give back the remaining balance to all our US players, minus any uncleared bonuses. This will be done by check in the next 3 to 4 weeks.

As the worlds oldest and most respected online casino, we very much hope in the months to come that the USA will see fit to license and regulate online gaming so that we can once again service our US clients. In the mean time, we look forward to continue providing a great service to all our current and future Non-US customers.

As the worlds oldest and most respected online casino, we will be celebrating InterCasinos 10th birthday on the 23rd November 2006 with our loyal International player base and we have a great birthday surprise in-store for next month.

We apologize for any inconvenience and express our sincere thanks for your continued support.

Yours truly,



Ryan Hartley
Casino Manager

 

[thelawnet]

It's generally considered courteous to announce things before you actually do them....

We regret to inform you that from 11am EST on 3rd October, 2006, we will be closing all US gaming accounts.

That date already happened.

You'd think they'd give people at least say 24 hours notice to play off their bonuses.

I wonder who lost the most.

 

[chucho]

I wonder who lost the most.

I think intercasino lost the most. I agree that is unfair that they would not allow people to finish their bonuses. And what about comps? Ryan, are you going to treat the pending comps as a cash balance which is what they are and send the US players checks based on their unclaimed comps?

 

[trips to win]

I am saddened and feel the loss already. Yes- it would have been kind to have given at least a 24 hour notice so USA players could have gone in and blew their gambling wad.

 

[thelawnet]

I think intercasino lost the most.

However they are a business and chose to enter the market in the face of regulatory risk. Wagerworks, and others, did not.

It is not correct to compare a consumer with a business operating in the face of known risks.

 

[ryan_hartley]

It's generally considered courteous to announce things before you actually do them....



That date already happened.

You'd think they'd give people at least say 24 hours notice to play off their bonuses.

I wonder who lost the most.

Under any other circumstance, absolutely we would endavour to give as much notice as possible and we apologise to all our US players for the short notice. However, this decision was made in the light of the ban and we are refunding all our US players the remainder of their balance.

I would also like to explain why we stopped US players from receiving their bonuses on Sunday afternoon. We felt strongly that it would be unfair for US players to obtain a bonus only to be told they could not play two days later; therefore not being able to meet the wagering requirements in time. It is for this reason that we felt it was the right thing to do, to stop bonus payments to players in the US and most importantly to tell all our players immediately.

We had messaged our players and as a courtesy, also posted the announcement on the forum so that we could reach as many of our players, as quickly as possible, given the short time frame. The ban has many implications for us all and we sincerely apologise to all our US players for any inconvenience caused

 

[The Dude]

Thanks Ryan,



It's a real shame to see stellar operations like Intercasino, VIP Casino, the Sands, etc. wave goodbye to the US player. I hope this is merely a temporary policy, and that sometime in the near future you'll be able to welcome these players back.

 

[vinylweatherman]

?

Under any other circumstance, absolutely we would endavour to give as much notice as possible and we apologise to all our US players for the short notice. However, this decision was made in the light of the ban and we are refunding all our US players the remainder of their balance.

I would also like to explain why we stopped US players from receiving their bonuses on Sunday afternoon. We felt strongly that it would be unfair for US players to obtain a bonus only to be told they could not play two days later; therefore not being able to meet the wagering requirements in time. It is for this reason that we felt it was the right thing to do, to stop bonus payments to players in the US and most importantly to tell all our players immediately.

We had messaged our players and as a courtesy, also posted the announcement on the forum so that we could reach as many of our players, as quickly as possible, given the short time frame. The ban has many implications for us all and we sincerely apologise to all our US players for any inconvenience caused

I am sure at least one US player thinks this stinks.
They posted the fact of the bonus ban, and when they queried this they were told by CS that they "were not at liberty to explain". This allowed the player to fall into a misapprehention that it might be a problem to do with bonus abuse, and that playing without bonuses this month would not be a problem. They then find today that the funds have been trapped for 3 to 4 weeks, whereas if they had been allowed to know that it was very likely that Intercasino would stop accepting wagers from US players they could have withdrawn their cleared funds immediately while their accounts were still open. In many cases, this would have meant 1 to 2 DAYS to receive the funds.
Because of this move, other operators should not be surprised if their US players withdraw en-masse at the slightest hint of a ban on accepting US players, such as additional rules or less bonuses. This will hurt those who want to still accept the wagers, but just need to reposition themselves in the market to make this possible.
Further, if players had been told in advance, they would have had 24 hours to play out the bonus.
The reason given by Ryan for blocking bonuses was that the decision to cease accepting wagers had already been made at that point, so the ban on CS telling players about this until it was too late for them to take action stinks far more than the decision itself, which is understandable.

 

[ryan_hartley]

I am sure at least one US player thinks this stinks.
They posted the fact of the bonus ban, and when they queried this they were told by CS that they "were not at liberty to explain". This allowed the player to fall into a misapprehention that it might be a problem to do with bonus abuse, and that playing without bonuses this month would not be a problem. They then find today that the funds have been trapped for 3 to 4 weeks, whereas if they had been allowed to know that it was very likely that Intercasino would stop accepting wagers from US players they could have withdrawn their cleared funds immediately while their accounts were still open. In many cases, this would have meant 1 to 2 DAYS to receive the funds.
Because of this move, other operators should not be surprised if their US players withdraw en-masse at the slightest hint of a ban on accepting US players, such as additional rules or less bonuses. This will hurt those who want to still accept the wagers, but just need to reposition themselves in the market to make this possible.
Further, if players had been told in advance, they would have had 24 hours to play out the bonus.
The reason given by Ryan for blocking bonuses was that the decision to cease accepting wagers had already been made at that point, so the ban on CS telling players about this until it was too late for them to take action stinks far more than the decision itself, which is understandable.

The new bonus code system that has been in place at InterCasino before the ban, states that before depositing any money, no bonuses would be given.

Due to the imminent passing of the Federal Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act on the September 30th 2006, it is strictly forbidden to take wages from any US player which his why we have take this decision.

Of course I am truly upset that InterCasino are no longer able to serve our US players but we hope the the USA see fit to change this legislation so that we are once again able to provide a great customer experience that players have come to expect from us.

Regards
Ryan Hartley

 

[freezer]

It's not often I have praise for Party Poker but at least they are treating their US customers right:

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

It is really unfortunate that Crypto/Ecash have decided to do things the way they have but I'm not surprised given their track record.

Interpoker was my favorite Crypto skin to play on. Too bad they couldn't use their influence to do things right.

 

[Simmo!]

It is really unfortunate that Crypto/Ecash have decided to do things the way they have but I'm not surprised given their track record.

Don't rule out them coming back. It may be an interim statement to keep shareholers happy and to try and share value steady while a longer term decision is made. Same goes for the other casinos that have pulled the USA. Look, I'm no expert, but if I was a director of a PLC and my shares were in freefall, I'd sort that problem out first, and sharpish, before I considered the longer term view!! As I said elsewhere, you can't fight your corner if you don't have one to fight for!

 

[trips to win]

Amen

keep shareholers happy

shareHOLERS hits it right on the head - money money money - always about the money.

What gets bigger the more you take away?????? A HOLE
Dig it deep enough and you'll never be able to climb out.

 

[Simmo!]

shareHOLERS hits it right on the head - money money money - always about the money.

What gets bigger the more you take away?????? A HOLE
Dig it deep enough and you'll never be able to climb out.

LOL. Me and my spelling For one moment there I thought you were calling me an "A Hole" Mind you, you wouldn't be the first

 

[trips to win]

hehehe you crack me up Simmo!!

 

[chucho]

Whilst I am a perhaps one of the last "bonus pimps" out there and therefore have been out of a job for some time now, it appears that, with all due respect, Intercasino could have "cashed out of the USA" in better form.

They could have sent an email prior to locking US accounts thus giving players a chance to play out their bonuses and/or give an explanation as to what will happen to their comp points which can be substantial if you wager enough. In the end, Intercasino was/is a top notch internet casino and it is not their fault, much their desire to see their US players blocked by a bunch of "deciders"

Having said that, the whole thing is just another reason to barf at the current US administration and their priorities. If they/Bushwhackers hand not already played too many "aces in the hole", they would have probably given Halliburton exclusive internet gambling rights in the US. Had done that, they could have created enough rebuild New Orleans or invade Iran.

 

[David2000]

Under any other circumstance, absolutely we would endavour to give as much notice as possible and we apologise to all our US players for the short notice. However, this decision was made in the light of the ban and we are refunding all our US players the remainder of their balance.

I would also like to explain why we stopped US players from receiving their bonuses on Sunday afternoon. We felt strongly that it would be unfair for US players to obtain a bonus only to be told they could not play two days later; therefore not being able to meet the wagering requirements in time. It is for this reason that we felt it was the right thing to do, to stop bonus payments to players in the US and most importantly to tell all our players immediately.

We had messaged our players and as a courtesy, also posted the announcement on the forum so that we could reach as many of our players, as quickly as possible, given the short time frame. The ban has many implications for us all and we sincerely apologise to all our US players for any inconvenience caused

Right now bonus is not a big issue, inter casino and all of support I talked to very nice. take care.

c u soon

 

[freezer]

Don't rule out them coming back. It may be an interim statement to keep shareholers happy and to try and share value steady while a longer term decision is made. Same goes for the other casinos that have pulled the USA. Look, I'm no expert, but if I was a director of a PLC and my shares were in freefall, I'd sort that problem out first, and sharpish, before I considered the longer term view!! As I said elsewhere, you can't fight your corner if you don't have one to fight for!

I do hope they are able to one day feel comfortable in coming back but I will not be back as a customer. Crypto/Ecash has left a bad taste in my mouth. If Interpoker/Intercasino came back with a different poker network and different casino software then I would be happy to be a customer again some day.

My issue really isn't that they are leaving the US market but how they left their customers high and dry. I'll refer again to PartyPoker's approach to this that I linked to in my previous post. It's a lot more friendly way of doing business and makes me want to be able to play again there some day.

 

[Stanford]

RENEG

However, please rest assured that we will give back the remaining balance to all our US players, minus any uncleared bonuses. This will be done by check in the next 3 to 4 weeks.

As the world’s oldest and most respected online casino, we very much hope in the months to come that the USA will see fit to license and regulate online gaming so that we can once again service our US clients.

Well you where the most respected.

The word for changing the terms midway through a deal is "reneg". It is the worst thing a gambler can do.

So no... the balance less the uncleared bonus is not the proper thing to do. You should return the deposit AND the uncleared bonus. At the very least, you should ensure those with a remaining balance are made whole up to their original deposit. In other words, you take the losses off the bonus first and send the balance. You don't take the losses of the deposit and then remove the bonus.

The decision to cut short the game is yours. It isn't forced by anyone. There is no law to prevent you from continuing. If you don't, that's your decision but you should not RENEG.

It is a shame to leave the US market without your honor. And you have.

imho,
Stanford.

 

[chuchu59]

Well you where the most respected.

The word for changing the terms midway through a deal is "reneg". It is the worst thing a gambler can do.

So no... the balance less the uncleared bonus is not the proper thing to do. You should return the deposit AND the uncleared bonus. At the very least, you should ensure those with a remaining balance are made whole up to their original deposit. In other words, you take the losses off the bonus first and send the balance. You don't take the losses of the deposit and then remove the bonus.

The decision to cut short the game is yours. It isn't forced by anyone. There is no law to prevent you from continuing. If you don't, that's your decision but you should not RENEG.

It is a shame to leave the US market without your honor. And you have.

imho,
Stanford.

Hi Stanford,

How are you?

What a coincidence. Ten minutes ago I was reading an article on the top universities in the world and where stanford was among the first ten. And I was thinking where the heck are you as I havent seen you posting for quite some time. Then I logged in and you have just posted. Surprise! Surprise!

 

[Stanford]

Hello Chuchu

Hi Stanford,

How are you?

What a coincidence. Ten minutes ago I was reading an article on the top universities in the world and where stanford was among the first ten. And I was thinking where the heck are you as I havent seen you posting for quite some time. Then I logged in and you have just posted. Surprise! Surprise!

I have been good. I have been out of the online world for awhile and scheduled to come back in the new year. I still expect to do that.

I think this dust up is going to be an irritant but not a death knell. I don't even think we are going to have to open foreign bank accounts to continue.

I still see a lot of familiar names here. Glad yours is one of them. How have you been?

Stanford