Actually this is not a retrial because nothing will be done about it, so don't get your feathers ruffled Max. I was never asking for a retrial. You sure are quick to jump on the casino side here. You should be backing the main point in my entire argument here: safeguards to prevent this sort of thing happening should be in place via programming within the casinos code. That's my main point here. It's one Id think you'd back me up on as fervently as you are trying to discredit me here.
Well, yes and no. TBH when I was in my early days of doing the Complaints gig here at Casinomeister -- 2008ish -- I was as thoroughly convinced as many players are that casinos obviously can and should implement exactly the kind of safe-guards that you're referring to here, namely software-enforced Max Bet limits and region blocks.
As it happens I took this argument to more than one operator over those early years and slowly became convinced otherwise, at least partially. Now your average reader is going to say "well yeah, of course, you're in cahoots with them" but it's not nearly as simple as that. The fact is that I get paid a flat contract fee for what I do. There are no bonuses and no significant gifts from anyone at any time. In other words I don't have a dog in the race, so to speak, I just do what I do more or less in spite of whatever else is going on with anyone's cash flow, including Casinomeister. It's been that way for 15 years.
So why was I "convinced otherwise"? The short answer is that (historically at least) geo-blocking players created more problems for players and casinos than it solved. Most players travel, many extensively, and they get royally pissed off if they find they can't play while on the road. So that was a pretty decent argument
back in the day for not automatically geo-blocking. Of course we're well into the 21st Century now and that discussion could probably use a re-visit. For instance I've heard the idea floated of players having to deliberately turn off auto-geo-blocking which sounds like a promising idea but I admit it's been a while since I've had any serious discussions on the topic.
As to software-enforced Max Bet limits things get a little fuzzier. 10 years ago there was a passingly convincing "it's too complex" argument that one often heard and coming from a software background myself I could at least empathize a little for the issues involved there. But obviously we're in a different age now and I suspect the complexity argument is on rather shakier grounds than it once was, especially since some software providers have already done it, or so I hear. I don't play so I can't pretend to be 100% up-to-date on player-side issues.
And finally to the "discredit me" problem. IMHO you discredited yourself when you failed to mention above that you were consistently VPNing when you were accessing the casino, your IPs were bouncing around (IIRC) between France, Germany, the UK and yes, all over the US. I believe now as I did then that any player who uses a VPN is setting themselves up for the problems that will sooner or later surface: they and they alone are the creator of those problems. So when you said "I did nothing to hide my nationality" I'm sure you can see where there is ample cause to take objection to the way you were
now presenting your case.
All of that is pretty much secondary to the problems we've seen here in this thread. IMO if the casino's Terms say "these countries are restricted" then the player needs to act accordingly. Similarly if the Terms say "this is the Max Bet" limit then ditto, it's on the player to act accordingly. Is this ideal and the way it should be? In these specific instances probably not but until the industry evolves a little and provides saner versions of those rules then the Terms in place are the Terms that apply and it's the player's responsibility to comply.
- Max
