Well, I've been playing at Party Casino for some years, and was annoyed by this. I thought I'd contact them and see what's what.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Topic - Accrue party points equivelent to 15% of your deposit before withdraw - User xxxxxxxx
From: Matthew Lee Lee (xxxxxx@hotmail.com)
Sent: 24 July 2009 19:06:05
To:
info@partycasino.com
Hi,
I've been playing at Party Casino for some years - Username xxxxxx
I've made many deposits, and some withdraws, but it's been pointed out to me a condition of withdraws at Party Casino is to accrue party points equivalent to 15% of your deposit, which on immediate reflection would seem to be a huge amount.
I've never had a problem here, depositing and withdrawing, and I think I've only ever taken 1 bonus a month if that.
Can you confirm the requirement above is true?
If so, a Casino I considered to be safe and honorable is in fact taking advantage of genuine players (who don't even play with bonuses most of the time).
I hope you to hear from you soon.
Regards,
Matthew Lee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reply from them (Standard 'can't be bothered, here I'll cut and paste some stuff')
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for contacting Customer Service.
I am sorry about your disappointment with our policies, but in our Terms and Conditions it is stated that if a player wants to cash out their funds, he or she has to earn PartyPoints greater than or equal to 15% of the amount deposited. You can check the following link (Point 4.2):
Link Removed ( Old/Invalid)
Therefore once you deposit, you need to earn the required amount in PartyPoints and then request your cash-out. You can see how PartyPoints are accumulated from the How To Earn section of the PartyPoints tab in the Lobby. You can also see how many points you have earned from the statements portion of the same tab.
We are very secure site and have stated these conditions as security measures to prevent unfair activities with funds on our site, such as money laundering.
I checked your account and unfortunately, at the moment you are not targeted for any bonuses. Please check for updates in your PartyCasino Lobby for our new offers. Please go to the My Account, and select the Bonuses tab. There you can see the bonuses targeted for you.
New bonus offers are introduced frequently and details of these offers are sent either through e-mails to your registered e-mail address or as a pop-up message. Keep in mind that we introduced a New Loyalty Program that allows you to purchase bonuses and cash vouchers, along with tournament entries. You can find more information on all the benefits and rewards our New Program has in store for you through the following link:
Please do not hesitate to contact us back, in case you have any further queries. We will be more than happy to assist you.
Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site.
xxxxxxxx
Customer Service
Have Fun and Gamble Responsibly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yawn, not what I'm looking for. So I replied -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi xxxxxxxx,
I'm not requesting more bonuses, I'm pointing out (from an account member who you have no doubt made profit from), your withdraw terms are unfair and unrealistic for normal deposits.
Making someone play through x1 their deposit is reasonable, after all you have costs for processing deposits, as well as worrying about laundering.
How many times the deposit does 15% in party points equal?
This is the behaviour of a rogue casino, make no mistake.
You can give me a reasoned response to this, or you can fob me off and cut and paste your reply again.
If you chose the latter then close my account. There are many honest Casino's that don't apply these draconian and borderline criminal T+C's that I can play at.
Regards,
Matthew Lee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not much later I recieve -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for contacting us.
I can see from our records that you have requested cash outs previously, I can even see one cash out request, approved back in October 2007. I can assure you that exactly the same rule has applied to all cash out requests before this date and I am glad to confirm you have always managed with ease to fit into this rule.
So, as you have assured yourself with your previous cash outs, this rule has been met, so it is reachable. Indeed earning Party Points, equal to 15% of the deposit in USD is not the same as simply wagering 15% of the deposit. Still, it has reason to request turn over of the initial deposit amount and even above. If it is to prevent money laundering, all funds that have been put into the account, should pass through gaming activity. Otherwise, the purpose of the deposit turn out to be just investing money and use the site as a transferring company to make it difficult to track.
Besides, wagering does not equal loosing. The turn over is made without even noticing or pushing your normal gaming activity. This rule in particular has its reason and it is required for any respectable site that wishes to provide security and prevent unfair uses of the services. It is not a new addition to our Terms and Conditions and it is management decision that is not likely to be changed soon as it is really implemented to ensure security on the site.
As you mention that this rule might lead you to close your Party Account, let me just start off with telling you we would really regret to hear such decision of yours. I can assure you this rule, even though the numbers appear to be high or unrealistic in the beginning, are achievable and it is truly implemented to provide security and respective attitude over the financial details of the players that are using our services for their sole purpose. Yet, if you have come to a final decision, we cannot stop you, but I would request you to send a confirmation for the account closure request, along with the reason to
accountclosure@partyaccount.com .
In case you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to help you.
Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site!
Kind Regards,
xxxxxxxx
PartyCasino.com Customer Care
Have Fun and Gamble Responsibly
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thats not really the point is, just because I can meet the requirements (and have), why should I?
My final reply -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi xxxxxxx,
Thank you for your reasoned response, it's appreciated. The reason for the irritation is the feeling we (the average player), are being unfairly penalized.
My last question and I'll quit bugging you; If I deposit 50 Euros (my currency, with no bonus), how much would I have to play through before being able to cash out?
Thanks again for your time.
Regards,
Matthew Lee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trying to decipher the exact playthrough is my main concern, their reply-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Matthew,
Thank you for contacting us.
I can perfectly understand your point, yet please do understand that these cash out requirements are valid for all players and we are not trying to penalize our customers in any way. Regarding your question please note that 50 EUR will be converted to 68.99 USD according to the todays' exchange rate. If we round that number up to 70 USD just to stay on the safe site you will have to earn 10.5 points in order to be able to cash out.
In case you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to help you.
Thank you for choosing us as your online gaming site.
Kind regards,
xxxxxxx-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, now you have to refer to the chart for accruing Party points. I really only play slots. So I get 1 Party point for every $10 wagered. So I guess for a 50 Euro deposit I'd need to wager $105 (73.88 Euro). Not so bad eh? However the more you deposit, the worse it gets obviously. And if you play table games, it gets far harder to accrue the points (for blackjact you need to wager $200 for each point?). You could be there till the end of time. The conversion chart is below for your perusal. Surely the system would be far better if based on cash playtrough, rather than Partypoints. Draw your own conclusion.