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Hi ▇▇▇ - welcome to CasinoReviews.com!

Unfortunately there's nothing we can do to assist you with this issue.

You are agreeing to abide by the terms of use of any operator you sign-up to. Subsequently saying you didn't read the terms doesn't invalidate the terms.

While we may agree that the operator would be wise to take personal circumstances into consideration, that's not an enforceable position and it would be entirely at the operator's discretion whether they choose to overlook an infraction on not.

Many gambling operators are now including similar restrictions on VPN usage due to the high volumes of fraudulent traffic accounts that are registered via these tools.

All we could suggest would be ensuring that you read the terms and conditions of any operator you sign-up to and avoiding using a VPN when you play online. No matter whether they are explicitly prohibited or not, they will result in more invasive security verification checks being required.

Sorry we could not be of further help,

CasinoReviews.com Complaints Team

I expected this and to be honest I’m not really looking for redress - more to have it published as a warning for others. So if you could publish it with a reply saying what you’ve just said rather than not publishing it that would be great.



What do you think about the wider point at the end about the way they handle VPN usage?



It’s a slightly obscure point but I think an important one.



They could easily block VPN usage like bet365 do. Or at a minimum they could scan daily and warn you. But instead they’ve chosen only to check for VPN usage in their logs when you try to withdraw.



I think it’s deliberate. What it means is they’re deliberately allowing people to play using a VPN and since the vast majority will lose, they’ll never be checked since they won’t be withdrawing. So they’re collecting the money from the 90%+ of players using a VPN who lose. But if someone wins and tries to withdraw they’ll then run a check and confiscate their winnings if they used a VPN even if only briefly.



They must actually be rubbing their hands with glee if someone uses a VPN. It’s a no-lose situation for them. They collect the money from anyone who loses and don’t have to pay the winnings of anyone who wins.



It also allows them to breach the conditions of their license. People can use a VPN to play from jurisdictions where they don’t have a license and if they lose they’ve got their money since they won’t be checking for VPN usage unless they try to withdraw.



Seems to me they’re using the VPN policy and the way they implement it very much to their advantage in a very unfair way.



▇▇▇

Hi ▇▇▇,

All complaints, regardless of outcome, receive a published complaint report.

While we appreciate your view point on VPNs, having experience in this area we can say that it's far from as straightforward as that.

VPNs are exceptionally hard to detect. The tools that we are aware of that claim to be able to do this are simply buying subscriptions to the major VPNs and cycling through the IP addresses available via them to compile their databases. This sort of manual process in unreliable and subject to significant gaps.

Where operators are deploying VPN detectors, this is being used in conjunction with term prohibitions. Meaning that where their systems fail to detect a VPN, they can still rely on their terms to void play. It is an additional protection, not an absolute restriction.

And this is also a scaling issue. As regulators have not currently required licensees to enforce this type of restriction automatically, it falls to the operator to choose whether to do so. Operators with a larger footprint in the sector will find that the additional costs to buy in such a service are more easily faded against their larger player bases.

So whilst we would broadly agree that in a perfect world this is a restriction that should be enforced automatically, in the real world there are clear challenges to doing so.

Thanks,

CasinoReviews.com Complaints Team

Thanks for publishing the review anyways



I do wonder what would happen if someone used a VPN and lost - would the casino refund their money then?

Hi ▇▇▇,

It's a legitimate question, but ultimately where the player accept terms and conditions it is the player's responsibility to ensure they abide by them. This term is not inherently unfair.

While I don't disagree with you that it's on the individual to check terms and conditions, My point is from a wider perspective. If I was a regulator looking at this I would be worried.

The way they have implemented their VPN policy - only checking when someone tries to withdraw winnings - means they are turning a blind eye to anyone using a VPN who loses - even those betting from outside their licensed jurisdictions.

Whether they do this deliberately to allow them to take customers from outside their license and be guaranteed not to lose I don't know. Maybe it's just a happy accident for them. But my guess would be that this is deliberate.

If they get challenged that they've allowed players from outside their license to play they'll say “oh but we check use of a VPN and void bets if we detect it”. If reminded that they only do this for people who've won and they get to keep all the money from losers no doubt they'll say “oh sorry, we didn't realise”.

I emailed them in January and made it clear their VPN policy does not block people breaching their license - as long as they lose. Obviously they've not changed anything since so my assumption is they're aware of this and happy to get away with it. And as I messaged the regulator and they either didn't understand it or just didn't want to be bothered, they'll continue to get away with it too.

Anyway, my rant is over. To me this is another example of gambling sites pushing the limits and getting away with it because of weak or complicit regulation.

Hi ▇▇▇,

The operator are not "turning a blind eye to anyone using a VPN who loses - even those betting from outside their licensed jurisdictions". Outside of the UK market we act as this groups ADR. Not only is there a very low volume of complaints against this particular licensee, we have not encountered any in recent times from players in non-approved jurisdictions. While your claim is that this would be hidden if the player lost, if this was a widespread practice there would be winners as well complaining about not getting paid. That isn't happening. The data simply doesn't support this claim.

We understand that you feel aggrieved by this situation, but there's nothing further we can do to assist you with this matter.

CasinoReviews.com Complaints Team

Lol. You know as well as I do that hardly anyone wins at a casino - it's a tiny fraction vs the players who lose. The fact that you've had no complaints doesn't change the fact that the setup factually allows the casino to happily take the money of people who use a VPN and only void winners. it's set up to be a no lose situation for them and they're aware of it.

It may indeed be a small volume of players who use a VPN and therefore you don't see the fraction of those who might complain. But that doesn't change the fact that the setup by definition allows the casino to take the money of losing VPN players when in fact it should be blocking them.

Just to add - otherwise the casino is a good one. It doesn't surprise me you receive few complaints. But on this point they're in the wrong.

Hi ▇▇▇,

We're sorry you feel that way. There's nothing further we can do to assist you with this matter.

CasinoReviews.com Complaints Team

Found for the Operator - The player has used a VPN which is prohibited by the operator's terms of use. As such there's nothing that we can do to assist them.

While on a cruise holiday in the Carribean I used Casino Casino for sports betting and won just over £600. When I tried to withdraw they confiscated my winnings and just returned my initial deposit because I had used a VPN some of the time when playing.

It turns out that using a VPN is against their Ts & Cs (does anyone really read those details?). But obviously the reason for those terms is to protect them from people trying to hide their identity or gamble from a location outside the license of the casino. Neither of those is true in my case.

All the places I travelled to were covered by the casino's operating license. I simply used a VPN so I could use the ship's wifi rather than pay ridiculous roaming fees. My location was no secret as whenever I could I used local wifi in the countries I was in and occasionally used 4G in the countries where roaming was included in my plan.

I explained this to the casino but they weren't interested - it was a great excuse for them to avoid paying out my winnings.

I don't expect this complaint will result in anything other than a “you should have read the Ts&Cs” response. But perhaps it will serve as a warning to others that even if you use a VPN for completely legitimate reasons, casinos like Casino Casino (or others in the L&L Europe group) will jump on any excuse to withhold your winnings.

It also brings up a very important point.

They could have easily prevented me using their site through a VPN (Bet365 and other gambling sites do this). Or they could simply have alerted me at any point that they had detected me using a VPN and warned me off.

But instead, they didn't check for VPN usage until I asked to make a withdrawal and it was only at that point that they ran the check and told me it wasn't allowed.

This means that had I lost instead of won (and therefore not needed to withdraw) they would have happily taken all my money.

This actually allows them to breach the terms of their license by accepting players from outside their license who use a VPN and keep their money if they lose - but magically discover the use of a VPN if they win - so it's no risk to them.

Very suspicious - I'm sure they know this is going on. If it's against your Ts&Cs to use a VPN it should be blocked or altered immediately - not only if the player wins.

Anyway, as I say I have no doubt this will all just be dismissed so let it serve as a warning that casinos aren't interested in fairness or the spirit of their Ts&Cs - only for any excuse to withhold your profits.

CasinoCasino - Winnings confiscated for using VPN (validly)

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