This was approximately a year ago, and I would like to share a recap of what occurred.

In late June of last year, I had a fortunate sports betting experience and won around $6,000 in LTC (120 LTC). Following my win, I promptly requested a withdrawal, but unfortunately, it was denied. This surprised me since Stake is typically known for their quick withdrawal times. To understand the situation, I reached out to their support team for an update.

Upon inquiring about the denial, I was informed that this was a routine check and they requested me to undergo KYC verification up to level 4. Level 4 is the highest level of KYC, which involves providing a picture of my Passport/ID, a personal banknote to demonstrate proof of funds, and a bill to verify my residency. Initially, I found this request rather unusual and tried to obtain a valid reason as to why I was being singled out for verification when I simply wanted to withdraw my winnings. However, the support team was unhelpful, claiming they didn't know the reason or attempting to avoid the question by insisting on KYC verification.

After submitting the required documents, I received a notification stating that the documents I had provided were insufficient. They cited poor image quality, unclear details, and sometimes even failed to provide a reason, leading me to believe they were deliberately prolonging the withdrawal process.

Interestingly, despite the withdrawal issues, I discovered that I was still able to place bets on the platform. Unfortunately, like any other addict, I continued gambling until I lost all my winnings within four days. I attributed this to sheer bad luck, convincing myself that it was solely responsible for my losses.

However, I later spoke to a friend who underwent the same KYC procedure and learned that his verification process took less than a day, enabling him to withdraw his funds instantly.

Curiosity led me back to stake.com to review my betting history and investigate what had truly transpired. To my surprise, the tickets had disappeared, and when I questioned the support team about this, they attributed it to a platform issue, stating that neither party could access the tickets and that nothing could be done about it (refer to the images below).

1st image: [https://ibb.co/nmxBBG8]
2nd image: [https://ibb.co/1qSqgS2]

I don't wish to dwell on this matter any longer, but I would appreciate hearing your thoughts. Personally, I feel that this is a highly questionable practice, allowing users to continue gambling while demanding verification for withdrawals, and then conveniently erasing the tickets and evidence. It appears to be nothing short of shady and potentially predatory to me.

**CLOSED