On top of
having to be lucky at gambling, you also have to pass
their audit. During one weekend, myself, as well as 37
other players, as I found out, didn't, so they took back
the bonus, cashed-in the balance, locked me out, and for
some strange reason I'm in a negative database now, so
that most casinos from the Antigua region won't accept
my credit cards any more. There is no reason for me to
be in that database, I never disputed any charges. Also,
I never was informed of it, nor does anybody admit
having put me in the database. On the other hand, nobody
seems to be capable of removing my name from there. Has
anybody ever had an experience like that?
Golden Palace told me straight in my
face (through the phone) that "they are in the business
of making money", and that "I didn't lose enough", and
that they rather close my account than pay me out. I
guess they figured they wouldn't make as much money on
me as they owed me, or in other words, you only get
payed if you already spent more than what you won, or if
it seems as though you will spend it again, soon. In any
case, why be foolish and play at the Golden Palace, when
there are so many other casinos around who pay you what
they owe, without first auditing your play.
While the above person's
claim can not be proven, after numerous Q&A with
Golden Palace executives, as well as other online casino
support representatives, we have discovered the
following truth: Player abuse of sign-on bonuses
is rampant.
What does this mean? How can someone take advantage
of the Casino? It's quite easy: because most casinos
insist that you first "drop" or put into play the amount
of their Sign On Bonus before you can cash it out,
players are signing on, putting even money on red and
black in roulette, and spinning the wheel. Since they're
more or less guaranteed a push, they've just
qualified to withdraw the bonus.
Example: You receive a sign-on bonus of $30 at
your favorite online casino. You can't
officially withdraw this money until you put at least
$30 or more into "play" in the casino. You can go to
their roulette table, place $15 on red and black, spin
the wheel, and get your money back. You may then proceed
to cash out.
Getting back to our original complaint, executives at
Golden Palace publically responded:
We occasionally offer
promotional weekends where all purchases made by our
clients are given an extra 20% bonus to enhance their
play. This is a gesture of goodwill on our behalf and
according to feedback, is very popular with the players.
Out of hundreds of players who take part, very few are
audited. The audits only happen when players collect
their bonus, play very few hands or none at all, and
cash-in immediately. Therefore, collecting their initial
purchase as well as the bonus. Please understand that
the promotional bonus is given to enhance the play of
our players, and as a means to try out new
games.
So who is right and who is
wrong? Ultimately, it comes down to the casino house
rules. We interviewed several V.P.'s of land-based
casinos who wished to remain anonymous, but were able to
come to some conclusions: if the house has even the
mildest proof that a player is attempting to cheat the
casino, or take advantage of a promotional offer, that
person will be barred from the casino at the very least,
and barred in conjunction with police arrest at the very
most.
Although it is not our attempt to judge the original
poster's complaint above, we can make some
generalizations:
1. If Golden Palace casino did determine that the
player only dropped the bare minimum amount before
trying to cash out with the sign-on bonus, and did it
explicity with craps or roulette so as to not lose
anything, the player is more than likely aware of what
they are doing, hereby referred to as Rossenblatt's
Theory of Sign On Bonuses: if they try it once, assume
they're just unhappy with the casino. If they try it
twice, with separate accounts, assume they're trying to
scam you.
2. Negative database "additions" should only be
processed when a player charges back casino losses on
their credit card, and not for attempting Sign On
Bonus Fraud. It is unlawful to tie the two no-no's
together.
3. Negative databases are often only shared across
casinos owned by the same group of people. Do your
homework. Before you cry out to the world your credit is
ruined, first determine if your credit is ruined only
for a select group of casinos, or many of them. It can
never be ruined for all of them.
Conclusions: The world is indeed filled with scam
artists. Casinos must do their due diligence to
determine who is really interested in playing at their
site vs. who is interested in cheating them for several
hundred dollars and moving on. Because the only real way
to determine a Sign On Bonus Fraud is to analyze the
players drop, casinos must not let roulette or craps
count toward active play, which should force the player
to spend the bonus money on real gambling, and not real
trickery.
Golden Palace has adopted the rule of NO ROULETTE NO
CRAPS for Sign On Bonus drop. This is surely the first
of what will be a decade full of great compromises
as the online gaming industry reacts to issues the land
casinos never dreamed possible.
(Written by Michael
Rosenblatt)
