I played a welcome bonus on the casino and in the terms and conditions it stated that you can use certain games on a 0% wager like Megaways etc. After a while i wanted to withdrawl my money and they told my i couldn't withdraw because i used the Megaways game.

Dear dannyvo,

Thank you very much for submitting your complaint. I’m sorry to hear about your problem. We think that restricted games for bonus play should be blocked, and this rule enforced at software level, i.e., that the casino's software or website shouldn't let players place bets on the games that are not allowed to be played while completing the bonus wagering.

Meanwhile, I have checked the general bonus terms and conditions, and this is what I found (here):

"2.8.    Different games and game types contribute towards fulfilling wagering requirements to different extents. For instance, if a game type delivers 100% towards wagering, it means that if you bet €1, €1 will count towards completion of the wagering.

Below are the games’ bonus wagering contribution rates:

Slot games: 100% (aside from list below which contribute nothing)*

All other games: 0%

 *Slot games:

5 Lions, 5 Lions Gold, Ankh of Anubis, Betina Bingo, Black Mamba, Big Bad Wolf, Blood Suckers, Book of Dead, Castle Builder, Castle Builder 2, Celebration of Wealth, Coins of Egypt, Cowboys Gold, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dazzle Me, Dead or Alive, Dead or Alive 2, Demolition Squad, Deuces Wild, Devil’s Delight, Diamond Vortex, Doom of Egypt, Eggomatic, Feline Fury, Forsaken Kingdom, Fruit Shop, Fruit Shop Christmas Edition, Gold Volcano, Gonzo’s Quest Megaways, Greek Gods, Guns N’ Roses, Hercules and Pegasus, Holiday Season, Honey Rush, Hook’s Heroes, Hope Diamond, House of Doom, Hugo 2, Immortal Romance, Jackhammer 2, Jimi Hendrix, Jungle Spirit, Koi Princess, Legacy of Dead, Legacy of Egypt, Leprechaun Riches, Lost Relics, Lucky Angler, Max Damage Slot, Money Train 2, Moon Princess, Perfect Gems, Pimped, Planet Fortune, Rainforest Magic, Rainforest Magic Bingo, Reactoonz, Reactoonz 2, Riches of Robin, Rise of Merlin, Rise of Olympus, Robin Hood - Shifting Riches, Royal Masquerade, Safari King, Sahara Nights, Scrooge, Secret of the Stones, Secrets of Atlantis, Simsalabim, Solar Queen, Sweet Bonanza, Temple of Wealth, The Dog House, The True Sheriff, Victorious, Wild O’ Clock, Wild Wild Riches, Zombies, Table/Live casino games.

Book of Ra (all versions), Jack and the Beanstalk, Gonzo's Quest, Immortal Romance, The Love Guru, Big Bad Wolf, Crime Scene, Demolition Squad, Greedy Goblins, Jack Hammer, King of Slots, Mythic Maiden, Queen Of Atlantis, Reel Rush, Secret Code, Secret of the Stones, Steam Tower, Book of Dead, The Angler, Victorious, Wild Turkey contribute 50% of a stake towards completing the wagering.

2.9.    We reserve the right to update this list and forfeit any winnings if bonus funds are wagered on these games."

I hope we will be able to help you to resolve your problem as soon as possible. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

Petronela

Wow the last rule i didnot see. Well that's for clearing it up. Its really unfair tot be honest. I hope you guys can Let other people know this casino isnt fair.

As I mentioned earlier, safe casinos should implement measures that prevent players from accidentally doing something against the rules or their own best interests. Casinos should actively prevent players from accidentally breaking the T&Cs, Bonus T&Cs, or doing anything else that might jeopardize the money in their player accounts. Namely, including but not limited to, enforcing maximum bet sizes, restricted games, and other bonus conditions.

I will now transfer your complaint to my colleague Adam ([email protected]) who will be at your assistance. I wish you best of luck and hope to see your problem being resolved to your satisfaction in the near future.

Hello dannyvo,

I have reviewed your case and understand the situation. I will try to contact the casino to see if I can help.

We would like to ask BetOriginal Casino to reply to this complaint. We are extending the timer by 7 days. If the casino fails to respond in the set time frame, the complaint will become ‘unresolved’ which may negatively affect its rating.

Dear dannyvo,

I tried to contact the casino repeatedly but without success. I’m afraid there is not much that can be done without their cooperation.

As previously mentioned, we believe that access to any restricted games should be blocked by the software to prevent situations like this from occuring.

I will mark the complaint "unresolved" in our system. I understand this isn't a satisfactory solution to your issue. However, the decrease in rating caused by unresolved complaints could help to change the casino's approach. If the casino decides to react, we will reopen the complaint and you will be notified by email.

In the meantime, I recommend you to contact the Malta Gaming Authority (https://www.mga.org.mt/support/online-gaming-support/) and submit a complaint to them. It's a good licensing authority and has better options and tools to help players. Please let me know if you need help with filling out the form and how the MGA responded ([email protected]).

I wish I could be of more help.

Best regards,

Adam

We’ve reopened this complaint as per the casino's request.

We would like to give this case one more chance to get resolved and help both involved parties to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

I dont understand why it's reopend? Did the casino respond or only on the message about it's reputation

Hello dannyvo,

It appears that the casino is having problems replying to the thread, I am attempting to resolve this via email with them now.

Dear Adam and dannyvo,

At BetOriginal, we strive to provide a safe environment for players. As you know we operate under an MGA license, which, as you mentioned before is "a good licensing authority". Therefore we would like to stress that it is safe and fair to play on our site since we follow every aspect of the MGA regulation to ensure player protection.

Part of this safety is provided by the Terms and Conditions that all players agree to upon signing up. These terms inform the players, of all the rules that both parties- BetOriginal and player- must abide by to provide and receive services.

In dannyvo's case, sadly, he did not observe the terms and conditions for the bonus, voiding the winnings by playing 2 games that contributed 0% to wagering requirements: Gonzo's Quest Megaways and The Dog House. And as your colleague Petronela correctly informed dannyvo, it is stated on terms and conditions that it can result in voided winnings.

We understand the frustration dannyvo is suffering, and we also receive as good feedback the suggestion of making the software block players from breaking the rules, but we also would like to appeal to a sense of responsibility while gambling as not everything can be friendly blocked when trying to safeguard the players, so it is always recommended to double-check terms and conditions.

From our side, we are sorry that dannyvo didn't have a good experience due to this, we also understand that this is not the answer he was looking for but we truly hope we can continue to have him as a player, as we would like to remind you that, BetOriginal, offers you a safe environment to play responsibly, providing you with tools to keep your gaming in control, safe payments platform, friendly 24/7 customer support, and the backing of a highly regarded regulator as MGA.

Its clear Betoriginal doesn't contribute to a fun experience and this is obviously there business model. Making bonus terms hard to understand + available to play with bonus. They did not even try to compensate or approach me with any solution. The ammount recieved from the bonus initially was 1000 euro's and when playing further i eventually reached 8.500 euro's. With the deposit i made i should have at least got 295 euro's or so but they simply took all the money away. I would still suggest others to stay away.

Hello BetOriginal Casino,

Thank you for your detailed response. To clarify our position, we consider it unfair to confiscate winnings for playing excluded games when those games could be blocked by the software or just contribute 0% to the wagering.

Could I ask you -

If the games in question do in fact contribute 0% to the turnover of the wagering requirement, has the player actually obtained any advantage by playing these games in this instance?

Hi Adam,

In regards to your question: If the games in question do in fact contribute 0% to the turnover of the wagering requirement, has the player actually obtained any advantage by playing these games in this instance?

The answer to this depends on your point of view. If it relates only to the wagering requirement, no he does not get any advantage to play the game. But it was already explained and shown in terms and conditions.

But if you see it from the player protection side, players get from all games the same thing they should always get when they gamble: entertainment.

Remember that gambling should always be for fun and entertainment, never meant to be a source of income, and keep in mind that slot machines are games of chance, so you win or you lose, it is part of the thrill.

Thank you for your response BetOriginal Casino.

I am not sure that I understand your statement regarding player protection.

Unfortunately, the player missed the terms stating that winnings would be forfeited for playing the 0% games.

However, as access to these games is not actually restricted it is easy to understand that mistakes can be made. If access were restricted the player would be protected from this scenario ever occurring.

Additionally, if the player has gained no unfair advantage by playing these games we feel that they should be entitled to their winnings.

I dont think the Casino understands the problem Adam. How long untill the case is closed and does this effect there reputation?

Hello dannyvo,

If there is no further response from the casino the complaint will be closed as 'unresolved' upon expiry of the timer. This will also have a negative effect on the casino's rating.

We understand your opinion, and as we said before, we will take it as feedback for future improvements.

We explained to you both in detail our Terms and Conditions and the reasons why these winnings can not be awarded to the player.

If the player is not satisfied with the outcome he can always refer this case to an independent ADR which will act as an independent mediator as is stated in our Terms and conditions.

This is our final answer and we consider the case to be closed, however as stated before, the player can place a formal complaint in ADR as it is his right as a consumer.

Dear dannyvo,

As explained, we feel that while you did breach the terms of the casino, as you gained no unfair advantage from this you should be entitled to your winnings. Casinos should actively prevent players from accidentally breaking the T&Cs, Bonus T&Cs, or doing anything else that might jeopardize the money in their player accounts. Namely, including but not limited to, enforcing maximum bet sizes, restricted games, and other bonus conditions.

However, in this case, it appears that the casino is unwilling to change its position and so the complaint will now become unresolved.

I will mark the complaint "unresolved" in our system. I understand this isn't a satisfactory solution to your issue. However, the decrease in rating caused by unresolved complaints could help to change the casino's approach. If the casino decides to react, we will reopen the complaint and you will be notified by email.

In the meantime, I recommend you to contact the Malta Gaming Authority (https://www.mga.org.mt/support/online-gaming-support/) and submit a complaint to them. It's a good licensing authority and has better options and tools to help players. Please let me know if you need help with filling out the form or how the MGA responded if you do this on your own ([email protected]).

I wish I could have been of more help.

Best regards,

Adam