Ok, I've dug extensively into this case, received all the supporting evidence I could ask for from the casino, and as I see it it all comes down to the timeline, namely who did what and when.
The date of primary interest is, of course, the day of the player's mistake, play and winnings. That was the 24th of August and here's the timeline of that day as I understand it:
??:?? player deposits, receives bonus.
02:39 first bet at the casino as a new player plays a disallowed game, wins a little.
02:41 tried to contact Support via Live Chat, failed.
02:46 went on to play slots.
02:48 tried to contact Support via Live Chat, failed.
03:39 stopped playing after jackpot ($6000+).
03:46 player is in contact with Support via email regarding KYC for a withdrawal; no mention is made of any game errors nor requests for assistance regarding same. ...
13:25 ... KYC docs submitted.
18:18 player posts to the forums "for assistance".
09:09 (next day) Support re KYC: "Your documents have been added to your file".
Here's what I glean from that sequence of events:
a) the player broke the Terms. On those grounds alone I would have supported the casino's decision against this player. I'm not personally over-joyed that this casino is so strict about their Rules but I cannot and will not discredit them for being so. They may be strict but they are not dishonest and that's a damn sight better than can be said for a great many of the other operators in this business. And before we leave this point I just want to re-iterate that the player's first bet ever at this casino was on a disallowed game during bonus play. Is that a coincidence? Just asking the question.
True, the player did break the terms, and we can argue that the casino has a technical right to confiscate winnings. Whether or not they should though... I really don't see how playing this game could have given a player the advantage.
b) contrary to this player's oft-repeated claims that he was unable to reach Support he most certainly was because I've seen the email exchange between them regarding KYC docs for withdrawal. That took place on the day and into the next. As you can see from the timeline that conversation spanned about 30 hours. I believe it is important to note that never in that email conversation did the player say anything about a game "mistake", not a single word. And furthermore the player has never thought to mention this conversation at any time since. These are lies of omission and that is the second case of necessary and sufficient grounds to rule against this player, not to mention kicking him to the curb for being deceitful.
I know a poster or two actually called out OP for this - that OP was inaccurate in saying he never got a hold of support. He responded something along the lines that he was just talking about when he made the error he couldn't reach support. Sloppy with his words? Absolutely. Worth pointing out? I would say so. But didn't ring to me as intentionally dishonest or having a substantial impact on any of the relevant factors.
In terms of not bringing it up to support after the fact (when he had already won the "jackpot"), wouldn't it have basically been too late anyway? He'd already played it through, either they were going to confiscate his winnings or they weren't - it was past the point that they could simply void a bet or reset him to baseline.
c) this player was awfully fast to jump on the forums and "ask for advice." I have two major issues with this:
i) it's a flat out violation of our zero tolerance
Posting Complaints policy which states that players MUST contact the casino rep before hitting the forums with their complaint on pain of being banned for violation of said rule. This is a second instance of grounds to kick this player to the curb.
ii) that post can as easily be read as a deliberate attempt to pressure the casino as it can as a innocent plea for help. And who posts their case on the forum "asking for advice" in that manner _while_ they are waiting for confirmation from the casino on their KYC docs? Something is not at all right here.
Maybe a player who won a big amount to them and is freaked out they could lose it? I'll admit it is pretty weird to post on the forum AFTER playing through it all but BEFORE getting any sort of denial - but maybe he realized at that point he had already ****ed up by playing it through.
Over the next few days the following significant events were added to the timeline:
d) when the player's withdrawal was denied his deposits were immediately returned. He never mentioned those returned deposits anywhere. Not on the forums, not in the many exchanges we've had since, nada.
I always assumed he got his deposit back, don't recall if he stated it. Having what you believe to be $6k reverted to a $100 or $200 deposit - yeah you might focus more on the $6000 than the much smaller deposit, and an emotional person may use the word "stolen" in that situation. Unless he specifically lied about this somewhere I am forgetting?
...f) immediately after the player's so-called "trouble" with iNetBet the player went to their sister casino, deposited several times, played it all away, and over the following days took the comp points they offered and played them away too. These are hardly the actions of a player who has been mortally mistreated by this casino group.
Yeah that's pretty damn weird, but not criminal or dishonest. Only reasonable excuse is if he didn't know they were related.
g) over the following weeks the player and I were in contact many times regarding the PAB in progress. At no time did the player mention the returned deposits or the original email exchange with the casino. All he ever said was "they stole my money" and "I was never able to contact them". IMO this is a case of continued deceit. Again, 4th count, curb-worthy behaviour.
This is a tricky one, the same thing as addressed above, where I said some people called him out. Dishonesty through stupidity or malevolence? Some people are just bad with semantics. It's tough to defend if he literally says "I was never able to contact them." He may well have meant "I was never able to contact them [right after playing the term breaking spin]". But that's why semantics are important.
Item (iii), the forum shit-storm: yup, that one is on us. We could have nipped this in the bud and we didn't. Our bad, though it was the weekend. Apologies to those who were mislead or needlessly maligned by the furor that ensued.
Completely get where you're coming here. You want to keep the forums free from being a mess of unsubstantiated, disorganized, chaotically thrown accusations. Especially since a lot of the time complaints truly are just due to player error, "rigged" game theories, or even fraud. The rest of the members of the forum may be given faulty, incomplete, or blatantly dishonest information and you don't want witch hunts.
But I think this thread had valuable comments that would never have seen the light of day if it were just clamped down early. Just a different preference for things I guess, neither way is necessarily right or wrong.
Ultimately in this case, it does seem to break down to "He broke the terms," and then some additional points of why he doesn't deserve leniency. But most of those additional points seem pretty arguable to me. Maybe there is some email or communication that proves dishonesty on the player's half more than could have been expressed here, some context that we onlookers are lacking.
But the end result does seem support the idea that accredited casinos are allowed to confiscate winnings for ANY term violation - even if such term violation is unintentional. So while I absolutely respect that you guys offer this service to players - one that pretty much no one else does - this is probably one result I still have a few misgivings about.
But we did our damnedest to be fair, and I feel that we made the right call here. We didn't just pull this out of our asses.
