Need your input: When Should a Casino Be Named & Shamed?

[Webzcas]

Aside from official 'Casinomeister Warnings' which are handled by @maxd as seasoned players and industry watchers, we know not every bad experience at an online casino is worthy of public exposure.

But when does a casino cross the line from "annoying" to "unacceptable"? At what point do we, as a community, have not just a right, but a 'responsibility' to call them out?

To this extent where would you draw this line. We all have had experiences that have not gone the way we would expect, for me it would be if I am being made to jump over more hurdles than Sally Gunnell in an Olympic 400m Final.

 

[SYPlayer95]

I think if you have a bad experience you should share it regardless. People need to make informed decisions on what operators they play at, as some are a lot better than others!

 

[dunover]

I tend to have experienced that it's a binary thing - a casino is either good in all facets of its operation eg. game choice, cash-outs, bonuses, customer service and game connection or it isn't.

 

[conker]

Typically, when @maxd issues a 'Casinomeister Warning', there is stacks of evidence that a casino or casino group has not been meeting the standards players should expect.

Evidence is critical in this industry, where often players can call foul, but the reality is far from the truth. Operators are not exempt from criticism and have been known to lead our team on merry little dances before in a bid to deflect attention from their bad practices.

So rather than 'when', I would be inclined to say 'how much'. How much have we heard about bad experiences from a certain casino will ultimately be the clearest determinant of rogue behaviour in my opinion.

 

[maxd]

… when does a casino cross the line from “annoying" to "unacceptable"? At what point do we, as a community, have not just a right, but a 'responsibility' to call them out? ...

At the risk of having this thread dominated by those of us behind the curtain at CM I’d have to say that this is an incredibly timely question.

For example, we have a situation on our hands now regarding a casino group that we have serious questions about. Our strong suspicion is that they are actually running other casinos on the side, a “good” group and a “very much not so good” group if you will.

Now ATM we do not have concrete, 100%, no-question-about-it proof on hand. There is some highly irregular stuff, some fairly convincing circumstantial stuff, and some pretty strong gut feelings from having spent 26 years in the business BUT that’s not proof and as such I’ve held off on blowing the whistle on this.

Needless to say there is our responsibility to the player and CM readers that looms particularly large here. That’s what keeps me coming back time and again over the past several weeks to exactly the question that is being asked here: "At what point do we, as a community, have not just a right, but a 'responsibility' to call them out?"

That said, there is also a responsibility to be fair, honest and even-handed with the casinos. I personally take the CM motto quite seriously, “Fair Play For All” and that absolutely does include the casinos. They deserve to be treated and dealt with in the same respectful way that players are, and for decades now I think we’ve done exactly that. Of course if the proof says “rogue!” then so be it, the die is cast, just as when we catch out a player as a fraudster. But until there is proof … it’s back to the big question at hand.

- Max

 

[CryptoG82]

Maybe when a casino and their dodgy debit card payment practices cause you to have £20000 of assets frozen and each of the fake merchants and casino don't respond for 10 months - I'd say that has slightly crossed the line

 

[maxd]

Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good candidate.

- Max

 

[dunover]

Maybe when a casino and their dodgy debit card payment practices cause you to have £20000 of assets frozen and each of the fake merchants and casino don't respond for 10 months - I'd say that has slightly crossed the line

Yeah, there's a few small hints of rogueishness there.

 

[CryptoG82]

Yeah, there's a few small hints of rogueishness there.

Subtle hints of it...there will be many others out there.

 

[Jono777]

Nothing wrong with a "friendly" warning, even if eventually it turns out to be fruitless and panic was needless.

Name and shame from the start, better to protect (whether needed or not) than trying to mop up the mess afterwards.....

 

[mulven]

Maybe players can submit PSA warnings for consideration to be posted. If not to staff, perhaps a committee of minions perchance.

For example A network of sites (BruceBet, MrBet, SpinCity) silently added a 200% max bonus redemption term in march. Despite this, the date of the terms update was May 2023 - as it had been for ages - until the 28th of March (10 days later) after it was called out by players on another website. This network was already a bit of a mess to deal with and get your money out of but it was possible if you knew what to do. With this term added, people should avoid it like the plague if they weren't already.

A PSA could be posted warning all forum members that the terms have recently been changed to a 2-3x bonus max win. Obviously the existing advice would have been to avoid playing there in the first place but people don't read or ignore that so a public PSA could help make people aware of important to changes to sites they may or may not play at. A lot of casinos have started adding x10b caps to reduce CAC and general bonus exposure. Good casinos do a "log out or agree to new terms" popup but this is the type of term that isn't rogue behaviour but if not clearly conveyed to the player, is worthy of a PSA.

I think if people can submit stuff with evidence that isn't the level of full scam casinomeister warning but is above a general grievance, there should be something for that. Sudden dodgy term changes, pattern of payments drying up, invasive KYC requests for very little money (esports entertainment are an example of this).

 

[L&L-Jan]

Any good of bad should be shared, as long as its a realistic experience. Not people that lost 20gbp and played 66 spins on one of the most volatile game to state you cant win at this casino. Like 99% of our 1 star Trustpilot reviews.