nickpicky
Dormant account
- Joined
- Aug 2, 2006
- Location
- San Francisco
On 8/17 I engaged to play Pontoon at Sci-Fi Casino which operates using the RTG platform. I lost $500 and deposited another $500. Then the situation took place...Those people who understand the game of Pontoon will clearly understand my situation. For those who are unfamiliar with Pontoon but would like to understand my situation, then you may review the game at the Wizard of Odds.
I placed the max bet of $250 on the table and I received a pair of 4s, so I hit and received an Ace. The soft nine dictated that I double, which I did and received a 7 for a 4-card total of 16. As some will know, the most valuable part of Pontoon for a player is successfully receiving 5 cards without busting because then your bet will be paid 2 to 1. Since I had already doubled that meant the hand was worth $1000 to me if I was able to hit. Just before I pressed the 'HIT' button, the casino server went down. I was unable to access my account for about an hour but the CS agent assured me my hand would be there when I came back to play. Surprisingly, when I came back to play, the hand was not there and neither was my money!
I immediately contacted support and I'll leave that whole experience to another thread but their ultimate resolution a day later was to declare that the hand never happened and simply refund the $500 that was riding on the hand. Supposedly this decision was passed down from RTG, yet their reports acknowledge that my situation was exactly as I have described it. Sci-Fi will not go back to RTG and show them how I am being robbed by not being allowed to play the hand out or receiving appropriate compensation based on the odds I had to win the hand.
Simply put, if I had been allowed to finish the hand, all I needed to do was draw one more card without busting and I almost assuredly (unless the dealer successfully drew 5 cards) would have received $1000 in addition to the $500 I had on the line. From an expected value standpoint, RTG stripped me of a significant amount of money with their decision.
I placed the max bet of $250 on the table and I received a pair of 4s, so I hit and received an Ace. The soft nine dictated that I double, which I did and received a 7 for a 4-card total of 16. As some will know, the most valuable part of Pontoon for a player is successfully receiving 5 cards without busting because then your bet will be paid 2 to 1. Since I had already doubled that meant the hand was worth $1000 to me if I was able to hit. Just before I pressed the 'HIT' button, the casino server went down. I was unable to access my account for about an hour but the CS agent assured me my hand would be there when I came back to play. Surprisingly, when I came back to play, the hand was not there and neither was my money!
I immediately contacted support and I'll leave that whole experience to another thread but their ultimate resolution a day later was to declare that the hand never happened and simply refund the $500 that was riding on the hand. Supposedly this decision was passed down from RTG, yet their reports acknowledge that my situation was exactly as I have described it. Sci-Fi will not go back to RTG and show them how I am being robbed by not being allowed to play the hand out or receiving appropriate compensation based on the odds I had to win the hand.
Simply put, if I had been allowed to finish the hand, all I needed to do was draw one more card without busting and I almost assuredly (unless the dealer successfully drew 5 cards) would have received $1000 in addition to the $500 I had on the line. From an expected value standpoint, RTG stripped me of a significant amount of money with their decision.
