MG Tournaments - proceed with caution

[everyday]

Apparently MG can cancel a tournament within 10 minutes of completion of a 24 hour tourney. Just happened to me. Joined the 24 hour "Extender" yesterday and checked my position at the 23hr 45min mark and was in 5th place to receive $100. Checked back in 10 min after "completion" to find $15 in my account and the tourney listed as "cancelled".

Called the casino who got MG on their line who said it was cancelled and everyone who entered it (about 130 of us) have received their stake back. Nothing anyone can do about it. Well, I'm stunned that they can do that. Luckily it wasn't the "weekender" or "monthly tourney" but I don't think I will chance the tourneys ever again. The casino will be requesting the reason for the cancellation in writing from MG and will send me a copy of the email which I will post here when I get it. We could probably all use a good laugh

In all the years I've been online gambling with MG casinos, this is a first. So, proceed at your own risk is all I can say.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Apparently MG can cancel a tournament within 10 minutes of completion of a 24 hour tourney. Just happened to me. Joined the 24 hour "Extender" yesterday and checked my position at the 23hr 45min mark and was in 5th place to receive $100. Checked back in 10 min after "completion" to find $15 in my account and the tourney listed as "cancelled".

Called the casino who got MG on their line who said it was cancelled and everyone who entered it (about 130 of us) have received their stake back. Nothing anyone can do about it. Well, I'm stunned that they can do that. Luckily it wasn't the "weekender" or "monthly tourney" but I don't think I will chance the tourneys ever again. The casino will be requesting the reason for the cancellation in writing from MG and will send me a copy of the email which I will post here when I get it. We could probably all use a good laugh

In all the years I've been online gambling with MG casinos, this is a first. So, proceed at your own risk is all I can say.

This is ROGUE. I have seen cancelled tournaments, but these have been cancelled before they start because less than the minimum number of players have joined. Given that MGS make a far greater amount when MORE players join because none of the extra buyins are added to the set prize pool, they should take the hit when fewer than the expected number of players join. Above all, cancelling a tournament a mere 15 minutes from the end is not just poor, it is ROGUE. They have taken the bets, players have played, and the end positions have more or less been decided. If a technical mishap has caused cancellation at this late stage, prizes should be paid on current positions, or the tournament extended.

MGS tournaments are not as popular as they once were, and there are already feelings that they are "rigged". This is only going to make things worse, as it looks like MGS cancel tournaments that have already taken place because they don't like the outcome.

If this is MGS central, the casino concerned can come here and elaborate, and most of us here will know it is not their fault, but that of MGS.

I also think you should make a formal PAB on this as you were affected by the loss of your prize. Bryan has contacts direct to MGS, as well as through casinos. I fear that otherwise MGS will try to "whitewash" this case as they believe they are dealing with a single player complaint through one operator. I expect other players affected will make a fuss, but it will be spread throughout a number of casinos. Some may be "bought off" with a free chip.

I HAVE seen major tournaments listed as cancelled, but have always assumed this happened before the start, not when players were already playing. Each lists a "minimum players" in the rules, and provided this is met and the tournament starts, it should NEVER be cancelled except under the most extraordinary circumstances.

Players suffering this are bound to lose confidence, since when they won more, they found the event cancelled and the lesser sum of their buyins refunded, but when they LOSE money in a tournament, or suffer technical problems such as server lag, they find it impossible to get their money back.

 

[the_riz]

I have saw tournaments being cancelled all the time but always before they begin. I have however saw , just a few nights ago , a *one shot* be cancelled even though it had the minimum required players entered. I would be major pissed if i was sitting in the money and nhave it cancelled on me. I doubt id ever actually play at that casino again unless the paid out on the prizes as it was standing when cancelled.

On the subject of the tournaments being rigged... Well, i dont think i;m alone in my feelings that there is certainly something fishy regarding these tourney leaderboards and as such i will only enter the free ones just to pass some time and the *one shots* which on the whole seem very fair.

 

[everyday]

This is ROGUE. I have seen cancelled tournaments, but these have been cancelled before they start because less than the minimum number of players have joined. Given that MGS make a far greater amount when MORE players join because none of the extra buyins are added to the set prize pool, they should take the hit when fewer than the expected number of players join. Above all, cancelling a tournament a mere 15 minutes from the end is not just poor, it is ROGUE. They have taken the bets, players have played, and the end positions have more or less been decided. If a technical mishap has caused cancellation at this late stage, prizes should be paid on current positions, or the tournament extended.

MGS tournaments are not as popular as they once were, and there are already feelings that they are "rigged". This is only going to make things worse, as it looks like MGS cancel tournaments that have already taken place because they don't like the outcome.

If this is MGS central, the casino concerned can come here and elaborate, and most of us here will know it is not their fault, but that of MGS.

I also think you should make a formal PAB on this as you were affected by the loss of your prize. Bryan has contacts direct to MGS, as well as through casinos. I fear that otherwise MGS will try to "whitewash" this case as they believe they are dealing with a single player complaint through one operator. I expect other players affected will make a fuss, but it will be spread throughout a number of casinos. Some may be "bought off" with a free chip.

I HAVE seen major tournaments listed as cancelled, but have always assumed this happened before the start, not when players were already playing. Each lists a "minimum players" in the rules, and provided this is met and the tournament starts, it should NEVER be cancelled except under the most extraordinary circumstances.

Players suffering this are bound to lose confidence, since when they won more, they found the event cancelled and the lesser sum of their buyins refunded, but when they LOSE money in a tournament, or suffer technical problems such as server lag, they find it impossible to get their money back.

I couldn't agree more VWM as I feel once the tourney starts that we have a contract of sorts as the requirements for the tourney have been met by the players. The fact that only the top 5 will win anything probably makes MGS think this will stay relatively quiet. Luckily I did grab a screenshot of the first page of the players list within 10 seconds of the tourney disappearing off the tourney list (it disappeared very quickly) and perhaps I should send it to Bryan for future reference in case this happens to others again. The casino did not comp me in any form as I had a nice withdrawal pending and I'm sure they felt that I was compensated with the return of my stake.

Even if this was a tech. issue, I just wanted to warn players not to bank on their possible win until the funds actually appear in their casino account as we can see anything can happen at the last moment. Trust in this online system is getting harder to hold on to.

 

[Seventh777]

This really is a poor show, these tournaments have a min/max amount of players, if the minimum wasn`t reached before it began, then surely this should be the time to cancel it.

Agree 100% this is a piss poor show .

 

[nikantw]

It happens all the time. Just avoid tournaments. After all, most of them are like an auction for 100 credits were betting starts at 100 credits!

"Here we have a wonderful piece of 100 bonus credits. Do I hear 200, 300, 450 yes 599, going once, twice... sold to the gentleman at the back for 600 cash!"

 

[incrediblestuff]

I had the same issue

as mentioned here:

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/connection-issue-at-32red.48600/
Says 32red but it is in Red Flush, i posted it in the wrong thread but it died before a mod could put it in a correct topic.

Luckily that was a freeroll, but i was still in the prizes, and the tourney had run for loads of players.
I felt pretty screwed too.
Im not down all too big a sum in that casino, but nevertheless...
What about the chat convo in the linkback?
Is it MG's fault? I personally would think the operator was responsible, at least for unique ones.

 

[everyday]

as mentioned here:

https://www.casinomeister.com/forums/threads/connection-issue-at-32red.48600/

Luckily that was a freeroll, but i was still in the prizes, and the tourney had run for loads of players.
I felt pretty screwed too.
Im not down all too big a sum in that casino, but nevertheless...
What about the chat convo in the linkback?
Is it MG's fault? I personally would think the operator was responsible, at least for unique ones.

Read through your chat with the casino and that is exactly the same problem that happened with me, although I did snatch a screenie before it disappeared. Yours occured about Feb 1, another player saw this happen one day last week and mine was yesterday. So this is becoming a habit for MGS. The casinos are not at fault as all tourneys are controlled by MGS, whether private or casino wide under the MGS umbrella. I had to pay for the tourney I joined as well as the other players. MGS appears to be cancelling "inplay" tourneys at will and is not abiding by the tourney rules. Contacting the casinos won't help at all, only MG can correct this issue.

 

[PaaskeDenmark]

I must say I find it a Joke, that lot of the tournaments. You "only" win prizes as bonus money. Even At GoWild they have one of the free tournaments. And they call it "Free Cash Tournament" I managed to finish number 7. But received prize as a "bonus" ???

Best advise is to only play the 1 shot tournaments. Seems like its the same people always using Rebuy's because they are exploring the tournaments, to make some easy winnings. But this is the joke with unlimited rebuys and Continue at MG.

 

[Cristian]

Same thing happened to me yesterday . I was playing some freerolls at Gaming Club ( Belle Rock Entertainment ), and finished 1st in 100$ shootout ( daily tournament ) . I was like ... finally i actually won something . I know , i know its free so i can`t do much about it , but it`s also frustrating to play daily and not manage to win anything or even get close to the top 10 players . Anyway , i was waiting for my prize to be credited , and guess what happened , yea .. the tourney got cancelled 10 minutes after it was over . And for about 2 minutes you could see the tourney listed as "Canceled" then it just disappeared . I contacted support and asked about this problem and the op had no idea about it . She asked me for the tourney id , but i couldn`t find it since it was not listed anymore .
Although i am greatful for the free daily tourneys , Mg should get their s*** together . Too many glitches , disconnets out of the blue and other bugs . Oh well ...

 

[09237653]

Strange things been happening on MG tourneys all week, I was playing addons on one avalon tourney, I had 21 free spins ready for my addon to hopefully take first place, sudenly the tourney dissapears, 3-4 hours later it comes back, my addon was still there but the free spins (which could have won first place) were GONE, after complaining to live chat, the tournament dissapears once again and I couldnt even play my last addon before it ended.

 

[bsilva028]

i saw a few times that too
tourneys being canceled after start
it happened with me too

but i did not claim nothing because it was a free tournament, i was not on any prize and i was not making addons, do i didnt lose nothing

but it only has happened to me this year (that i repaired)

 

[vinylweatherman]

Same thing happened to me yesterday . I was playing some freerolls at Gaming Club ( Belle Rock Entertainment ), and finished 1st in 100$ shootout ( daily tournament ) . I was like ... finally i actually won something . I know , i know its free so i can`t do much about it , but it`s also frustrating to play daily and not manage to win anything or even get close to the top 10 players . Anyway , i was waiting for my prize to be credited , and guess what happened , yea .. the tourney got cancelled 10 minutes after it was over . And for about 2 minutes you could see the tourney listed as "Canceled" then it just disappeared . I contacted support and asked about this problem and the op had no idea about it . She asked me for the tourney id , but i couldn`t find it since it was not listed anymore .
Although i am greatful for the free daily tourneys , Mg should get their s*** together . Too many glitches , disconnets out of the blue and other bugs . Oh well ...

I thought this could not get any worse. I was wrong

Once over, placings are finalized, and provided the tournament rules have been met, there is NO excuse for retrospectively voiding the prizes. Even worse is the fact that MGS are trying to hide this from players, and having CS trying to convince players they have "imagined it" when they complain.

It seems that MGS are struggling with a SERIOUS issue, but are trying to play it down, and we are only seeing the tip of this proverbial iceberg with the random cancellations of in-play, and even completed, tournaments despite there being the correct number of players. The "hiding" of these tournaments from view, and then expecting players to come up with information such as tournament IDs to support a complaint makes this whole affair look VERY dodgy indeed, even though it is merely how the system has always worked.


Incidentally, once you buy in through a continue or rebuy, there IS a way to access the tournament information, even if it has been removed from the lobby. Go to Playcheck and find the transaction where you purchased a continue or rebuy, then click on "details" for the transaction. You will see the tournament scoreboard and ID, and when concluded or cancelled, this will prove what position you were in, and what prizes were paid. Where the scores are non-zero, it is proof that the tournament was cancelled after it started.

I discovered this when trying to find out WTF happened to my prize during one of the BelleRock loyalty point tournaments, where players could purchase add-ons. The tournament was removed from the lobby long before the prizes were credited, and I was beginning to think the prizes had been voided and all evidence of the tournament removed for some reason. I was expecting the prizes to turn up a few hours after the tournament was over, as is usually the case.

 

[BustedFlush]

I have been tempted to enter pay tourneys but thus far only entered free ones. My best was 5th. only to see buy-ins relegate me to 13th. on that awful Loaded slot. Seems often the leader has a massive score, double that of even second place and virtually unattainable even with max extensions or buy-ins.

 

[everyday]

Ok well I tried to PM Bryan with my screenie of the tourney but it didn't work for me, guess I'm not very good at that . But I do know how to post it here so here goes. Perhaps Bryan will see it and maybe he can help out by contacting MGS for an explaination. As you will note, the "Reloader" seemed to work fine, not so with the "Extender" which requires 5 "continue buys" to get a better position on the board. But as mentioned in this thread, other tournies have been affected as well. Please note again that the casino is not at fault and has no control over this issue. Any winnings are history as the stakes have been returned, but I'm so curious as to why this is happening.

 

[Cristian]

I thought this could not get any worse. I was wrong

Once over, placings are finalized, and provided the tournament rules have been met, there is NO excuse for retrospectively voiding the prizes. Even worse is the fact that MGS are trying to hide this from players, and having CS trying to convince players they have "imagined it" when they complain.

It seems that MGS are struggling with a SERIOUS issue, but are trying to play it down, and we are only seeing the tip of this proverbial iceberg with the random cancellations of in-play, and even completed, tournaments despite there being the correct number of players. The "hiding" of these tournaments from view, and then expecting players to come up with information such as tournament IDs to support a complaint makes this whole affair look VERY dodgy indeed, even though it is merely how the system has always worked.


Incidentally, once you buy in through a continue or rebuy, there IS a way to access the tournament information, even if it has been removed from the lobby. Go to Playcheck and find the transaction where you purchased a continue or rebuy, then click on "details" for the transaction. You will see the tournament scoreboard and ID, and when concluded or cancelled, this will prove what position you were in, and what prizes were paid. Where the scores are non-zero, it is proof that the tournament was cancelled after it started.

I discovered this when trying to find out WTF happened to my prize during one of the BelleRock loyalty point tournaments, where players could purchase add-ons. The tournament was removed from the lobby long before the prizes were credited, and I was beginning to think the prizes had been voided and all evidence of the tournament removed for some reason. I was expecting the prizes to turn up a few hours after the tournament was over, as is usually the case.

Well , like i said i closely monitored the tourney . I managed to win 150k+ credits and there was no need to use the rebuy / continue option till someone got ahead . So basically i did not continue , my score was holding up . There were 750+ players , and i also checked how many did not play .There were like 20-30 players that registered but didn`t start playing . So , i cannot find it via playcheck , and support apparently cannot give me the tourney id .

I did not get any info from support via email but i contacted them again today . Ill post if anything happens . To be clear : its not like im desperate for that 30$ prize , and i don`t blame the casino for the glitch . But if this thing happened in a buy-in tourney , i would be pissed . The strange thing about this issue is that apparently i am the only one that reported it. Thats what support tells me anyway ... Funny thing ...

 

[vinylweatherman]

Ok well I tried to PM Bryan with my screenie of the tourney but it didn't work for me, guess I'm not very good at that . But I do know how to post it here so here goes. Perhaps Bryan will see it and maybe he can help out by contacting MGS for an explaination. As you will note, the "Reloader" seemed to work fine, not so with the "Extender" which requires 5 "continue buys" to get a better position on the board. But as mentioned in this thread, other tournies have been affected as well. Please note again that the casino is not at fault and has no control over this issue. Any winnings are history as the stakes have been returned, but I'm so curious as to why this is happening.

It's pretty clear. Players have to pay $3 to enter, and the tournament clearly got underway. For some reason, MGS decided to renege on the prize fund and refund the stakes, rather than issue the prizes based on the scores at the time some kind of issue caused the tournament to be cancelled.

I have known tournaments to have encountered issues in the past, and MGS have extended tournaments after fixing the issue to give affected players a chance to complete their turns. They have also paid prizes based on scores at the time an issue has ocurred, and given that two cases involved a cancellation within the last 15 minutes of a 24 hour tournament, and 10 minutes AFTER the scheduled ending of another, there seems no reason for MGS to have cancelled, rather than paid prozes based on current standings, or even extend the time.

I have noticed numerous tournaments recently where the status is cancelled, so this is no longer an exceptional circumstance. I had assumed these tournaments had failed to reach the minimum number of players before the start, so had been cancelled. I had no idea that in-play tournaments were now routinely being cancelled by MGS.


There are enough problems already with this product that MGS have done little to address, and now they seem determined to kill any remaining confidence among the ranks of "hardcore" MPV players that persevere despite the many issues. For me, extreme server lag and repeated disconnects are the major two problems. Now, a third major problem has joined the ranks, that of the seemingly random cancellation of in-play tournaments with refund of stake, but not of time wasted in playing.

Once a tournament has begun, and money taken, players need some certainty that the tournement will conclude, and prizes based on standings will be honoured. Not only do we not have this, but all we can get out of casino CS is "dunno" when asking for an explanation.

 

[steveh35]

I have just gone back to playing MG tourneys after a long absence and have to say what issues there are.

I played Blackjack Tourney and the unreal faults in this game mean the tourneys should be void when playing the game yesterday and today on two different sites the dealers card has a fault today the dealer had a 5 then when his cards were revealed a 7 was turned over and a queen which was 22 bust but it dealt another card which was a 2 and it finished at 14 for the dealer. Clearly a fault which changed the result of the game.

I also played a Thunderstruck II Tourney on Go Wild and they only gave everyone 2100 coins at 300 coins a spin which meant the tourney lasted 21 seconds.

Not really a lot of point in the tourneys when they are like this.

 

[maphesto]

You could try to lower your betsize to 30/spin. Can you explain that BJ thing more?

 

[Cristian]

So after a chat with live support i pretty much heard it all :
1. Must have been a connection problem ( thats not the case and its not even relevant )
2. The tourney never took place ( i must have been drunk or something but i doubt it )
3. The tourney must have been invite only ?! ( not the case since i am playing it daily , won a few times , played my winnings and also withdrawn a little )
4. I did not finish 1st . ( uhm lol , but she couldnt tell me in which place i actually finished up , and also i thought that there was no tourney in the first place!? im really confused now )
5. I am the only user that reported the issue . I doubt it ..
6. Tourneys don`t just get cannceled out of nowhere , however i can see one in the lobby right now that has a cancelled status .
The way in which the tournament got canceled after it finished and dissapeared is still a mistery .
I did not get a straight answer , instead i was given the run-around . Cover-up if you ask me . Anyway i won`t waste my time further for a stupid tourney win . This is just ridiculous ...

I used to think that MGS is actually decent . Not anymore ...

 

[trebord]

Had the same thing happen to me last night. I was a bit angry because i lost quite a lot of money in these tourneys lately and I was 4th place with a rebuy left in the Avalon 3 day survivor tourney with One hour to go. So I finally get lucky and finish in the win column. Then after midnight I log into my 32 red account and I was refunded 61 pounds (the amount itself was an indication of my commtment to the tourney) I asked a rep what was going on and she said that it was an error and she couldn't comment but would send an email.

I'm not blaming 32 red, I don't believe it is their fault. Nonetheless I was kinda counting on the money!

 

[everyday]

Had the same thing happen to me last night. I was a bit angry because i lost quite a lot of money in these tourneys lately and I was 4th place with a rebuy left in the Avalon 3 day survivor tourney with One hour to go. So I finally get lucky and finish in the win column. Then after midnight I log into my 32 red account and I was refunded 61 pounds (the amount itself was an indication of my commtment to the tourney) I asked a rep what was going on and she said that it was an error and she couldn't comment but would send an email.

I'm not blaming 32 red, I don't believe it is their fault. Nonetheless I was kinda counting on the money!

So the problem persists. Sorry you lost your win too. If and when you receive an email from the rep could you let us know what they had to say?

 

[trebord]

Yea , will do but not heard anything as yet.

 

[nikantw]

I am just saying, that maybe, there is a cancelation order, for every tournament that doesn't return profit!

 

[vinylweatherman]

I am just saying, that maybe, there is a cancelation order, for every tournament that doesn't return profit!

This would be rogue practice, since when a tournament is MORE profitable than expected, NOTHING gets added to the prize pool. This means that the RTP can fall WELL below the 95% paid on lobby slots, yet when the RTP rises to compansate in some tournaments that make less profit than expected, MGS cancel them and refund the bet. This is nothing different to MGS "charging back their losses, but keeping their wins".

It could be worth UK players in MGS casinos that advertise on TV to make formal complaints to trading standards when "in play" and even "completed" tournaments are cancelled. The "cannot say" attitude from 32Red CS suggests that MGS has imposed a degree of secrecy over what is going on. Either casinos haven't been told, or they have been told to withhold this information from players.

This problem seems to have become an epidemic with a considerable minority of "in play" tournaments being cancelled.

It is possible to make a good estimate of the total income generated by a tournament based on the finishing scores, and the assumption that the game payout is close to 95% of continues' coins ending up in the winbox.

In popular tournaments, the RTP comes down to around 50%, which should be circulated back to players via tournaments where the prize pool ends up being greater than the income. By cancelling the tournaments that give back something from the low RTP popular tournaments, yet not adding anything to the prize pool when the RTP is driven down due to popularity, MGS are running games with an RTP much lower than the accepted 95%. If anything, the RTP could be closer to that seen in lotteries and UK land fruit machines.

Tournaments will become even LESS popular now, and this will lead to a vicious circle of even more cancellations and even more players accepting the whole thing is a "rip off" and giving up on MPV.

Rather than cancelling tournaments where players have paid, they should reduce the number of freeroll events that consistently fail to make a profit, rather than show them and then cancel them in-play.