Gambling Grumbles

Slots of Fortune
Payment refused, inquiry ignored
by Steve Russo
July 2010

David H, of Heusenstamm, Germany, can be excused if he thinks this casino should be called the "Sluts of Fortune" but he would be at least half-wrong. It may be cheap, but it is definitely not easy. Not easy, that is, when it comes to paying out. David received a bonus from Slots of Fortune, played, and eventually cashed out 1178 Euros. What he actually got, however, is a message telling him, "Regrettably your withdrawal has been denied due to bonus abuse. Your last deposit has been funded back to your account and you may log in to withdraw this." "Bonus abuse", as has been discussed elsewhere on Gambling Grumbles, can mean just about anything that a particular casino wants it to mean on a given day. What, however, it often translates to is "we would rather keep your money." David spoke to the casino's Live Chat and asked on what basis it believes that he has abused a bonus and was told, "examples of irregular betting patterns may include and not limited to placing, single bets equal or in excess of 30% or more of the value of the current bonus credited to the players account, until such time that wagering requirements have been met. Placing maximum bets with the bonus funds until big wins occur, then switching their betting patterns by placing minimum and/or low bets in order to clear the wagering requirements". David denies doing any of these. "I had a bonus of 105 € and my biggest bet was 20 €," he told us. "The majority of my bets was 1 € and I often changed the slot and played with other (smaller) bets. I had a bad run and made maybe some 0.20 € bets . But not longer then 5 minutes. In the end of the wagering I tried to get another high win and played with a progression strategy, started with 1 € and increased to 5 € then 10 € and 20 € spins in the end . I was not successful with this strategy and lost 500 € of my winning . "As you can see I have not played low risk or something like that. And I have not bet more then 30 % of my bonus credited to my account! "I have not broken their rules and these guys establish situation where only the casino can win . I lost 2 deposits before my win and of course these rogues took my money and if I win they confiscate the winnings. This is a casino where the player cannot win." You may have noticed that we have only given you David's side of the story. That is not the way that Gambling Grumbles likes to work. Our first choice is to serve as a mediator and come to an agreement which is fair to both sides. Failing that, we at least want to present the casino's viewpoint. In this case, we were unable -- it completely ignored our inquiry.