Duelbits scammed 11.5k winnings because I haven't degened enough

[kalexsuao]

 Previously I made a thread here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5522013.0
about duelbits requesting KYC and closing my account after I won big on slots. After almost 2 months of back and forth, Duelbits eventually requested KYC level 5 from me, probably thinking I wouldn't be able to complete it, but I did as I had nothing to hide, and they had no choice but to unlock my account and release the funds.

After this, given that I had completed KYC level 5 and unlocked the account, I thought it was safe to play here because there is really no way they could do something like that again right, since I have already completed the highest level of KYC and there is nothing more they could do as an excuse to scam me. Well I was wrong.

At first, I was down close to 10k, but that is part of the game of gambling, and I am not complaining. They sent me this email, inviting me to the VIP program and even giving me $350 for free probably because I lost a lot:
https://ibb.co/chkNW76C

This basically enabled me to play in exclusive VIP slot tournaments. I continued to play and managed to win back 30k or so, a large part of which is winnings from leaderboards and tournaments. So I am up around 20k now, and there were two tournaments ending yesterday:
https://duelbits.com/en/tournaments/march-relax-tournament-vip-0103
https://duelbits.com/en/tournaments/march-relax-tournament-0103

Of course I participated in both tournaments, I was very clear 1st place in the VIP one with a prize of $7500 and 4th place in the other one with a prize of $1500. I lost thousands chasing both tournaments, and I would have never played those slots to begin with as I am not a big fan of relax gaming. Then, on the last day of those two tournaments around 6-7 hours before they ended I received this email:
https://ibb.co/NXf3Twx

Roughly translated it means I played only to chase the tournament wins and so they disqualified me, but only after I lost thousands chasing the tournaments and a few hours before they ended. There are a few problems I have with this:
1. If they wanted to disqualify me, they should have done so after those two tournaments ended for the next series of tournaments, not a few hours before those two ended because they had misled me into losing thousands thinking I was chasing the tournament winnings.
2. The purpose of the tournaments is to encourage gameplay and competition. I played to win the tournaments. I really don't see what's wrong with that. It just seems to me they only want players who degen off all their winnings and would disqualify anyone who win on their site.
3. It was mentioned in this email I am only disqualified from VIP tournaments, but this is not the case. I am no longer able to access the tournament page. I get this page when I try to open it when I am logged in: https://ibb.co/wN0ds3bG. In addition, I have yet to receive my winnings of $1500 from the normal tournament that's not VIP even though it ended hours ago. Due to this, I have reason to doubt the accuracy of the email. It is very likely I am excluded from a lot more perks and bonuses than the email lets on. It is very likely my account would be banned or closed already like the first time if I haven't completed the highest level of KYC. Note that also you will not see my name on the VIP tournament page because they removed it, this was the standings a few hours before it ended: https://ibb.co/m5hmWY55

Now, it is very unlikely Duelbits honors the tournament wins because they would just say they have all rights when it comes to bonuses and tournaments, but I just want to show everyone what a scam all these casinos are. Even though these online casinos like to advertise players winning big and them being fair to all players. The matter of the fact is if you win, they will take away all your bonuses and perks at the minimum and even ban you if you don't have the patience and KYC documents to back it up. You only get treated as a normal human being if you lose a lot to these casinos.

[kalexsuao]

Update.

Duelbits paid out my $1500 in tournament winnings from the normal tournament, which gives some credibility to their statement I was simply stripped of my VIP status and that everything else remains normal.

However, I still cannot access the tournament page and get a 404 error when I try to open that page. This prevents me from entering in future tournaments, VIP or otherwise.

[acroman08]

this is not something new, sadly. I've seen casinos ban or accuse gamblers of "abuse" when gamblers focus on joining tournaments or bonuses.

However, I still cannot access the tournament page and get a 404 error when I try to open that page. This prevents me from entering in future tournaments, VIP or otherwise.

have asked their support about it that you are not able to access the tournament page and not just the VIP tournament page?

[Mahdirakib]

~snip~
2. The purpose of the tournaments is to encourage gameplay and competition. I played to win the tournaments. I really don't see what's wrong with that. It just seems to me they only want players who degen off all their winnings and would disqualify anyone who win on their site.

I don't know what was the purpose of Duelbits team there. Casino only brings promotions with such purpose for a newly released game. But those eligible games of the tournament weren't newly launched games. Perhaps, they weren't wanting the users to play those games only for the entire week.

I know how it feels there. But nothing can be done here. You aren't allowed to participate in the further VIP tournaments until they change their decision. They have clearly mentioned it in the email message

We will continue to monitor account activity, and should we observe a change in your gameplay approach, your VIP status may be reconsidered in the future.

[kalexsuao]

~snip~
2. The purpose of the tournaments is to encourage gameplay and competition. I played to win the tournaments. I really don't see what's wrong with that. It just seems to me they only want players who degen off all their winnings and would disqualify anyone who win on their site.

I don't know what was the purpose of Duelbits team there. Casino only brings promotions with such purpose for a newly released game. But those eligible games of the tournament weren't newly launched games. Perhaps, they weren't wanting the users to play those games only for the entire week.

I know how it feels there. But nothing can be done here. You aren't allowed to participate in the further VIP tournaments until they change their decision. They have clearly mentioned it in the email message

We will continue to monitor account activity, and should we observe a change in your gameplay approach, your VIP status may be reconsidered in the future.

Yeah, not expecting anything tbh. I am surprised they even paid out the $1500 for the normal tournament. The purpose of these tournaments which are somewhat regular (maybe every 1-2 weeks) is to promote gameplay and bring people to the casino, which is definitely part of the reason I started playing there, but now all these benefits are being taken away because I don't degen off my winnings and even more like the other gamblers do.

I am just bringing to light some of the very scammy practices these casinos engage in. Disqualifying me in the last hours of the tournament knowing I would have spent thousands chasing first place... Also, it's worth noting it's more likely than not they would have banned my account completely instead of just removing these benefits had I not completed the highest level of KYC. This is exactly what happened the first time which you can read about in the other thread. I was completing a welcome offer and also doing a tournament and had my account completely closed because they suspected me of "multiaccounting" and "can request KYC at any time". I made a complaint on CG which went on for two months because Duelbits would always respond the very last minute during the timer CG gave (which is 1 week each reply) and dragged it on for as long as possible. In the end, once I submitted all the required documents, they had no choice but to release the funds.

And to reply to the other poster, the tournament page which consists of both VIP and normal tournaments is still inaccessible to me. My account is not the same status as a new or non VIP account. For a newly made account that's not VIP, you can access the tournament page but cannot opt in to VIP tournaments. For me however, the tournament page is completely blocked.

[holydarkness]

First of all, thank you for finally letting us know that your previous case got resolved. I'll reflect this update on that case to my list when I update them. That said, this one is kinda resolved too with them paying you for the regular tournament?

[kalexsuao]

First of all, thank you for finally letting us know that your previous case got resolved. I'll reflect this update on that case to my list when I update them. That said, this one is kinda resolved too with them paying you for the regular tournament?

Yeah, previous case is resolved.

This one, however, is not, at least in my eyes. They disqualified me in the last hours of the tournament and scammed me out of $7500. It is unlikely they will ever honor this since it's a promotion and they will claim they have full discretion, but it's still scammy behavior to mislead me into spending thousands only to disqualify in the last minutes.

In addition, I still cannot access the tournament page on my account.


Update on this case.

Duelbits is now going back on its word of only stripping me of my VIP status. I am apparently now banned from all promotions and bonuses:
https://ibb.co/Zp86dGK7
https://ibb.co/Wp4wFFLp

And all for what exactly? That's right, no reason at all. All because I participated in their tournaments without degening and losing, and now they have basically banned my account. This is the same as a ban because nobody would play on an account without bonuses or any perks when there are hundreds of crypto casinos out there who would offer you lots of bonuses for playing. The only reason they haven't banned my account outright like the first time is because I have completed the highest level of KYC and they have no excuse to. I hope this shows you the kind of scammy behavior these casinos engage in. Keep in mind also not everyone posts on bitcointalk. I am sure there are hundreds if not thousands of players who have been scammed this way by Duelbits. Getting big wins then having their casino accounts permanently banned due to "KYC issues".

In addition, I made a withdrawal of $4000 a long time ago and still haven't received it. Support is being unresponsive. They are talking in a very cryptic manner as if I have already reached out, but this is the first time I reached out about this withdrawal.  They have no excuse to request KYC this time, so they will most likely just drag this on forever and not pay:
https://ibb.co/vvLLtmjh
https://ibb.co/Q746jnK2
https://ibb.co/sdS19RNp


In total I got scammed 11.5k:

$7500 from the VIP tournament where I was disqualified last minute after losing thousands to get clear first place (almost double the points of 2nd)
$4000 from the originals tournament where I again lost thousands to get clear first place (again almost double points of second), for this one I was even told I would be paid out since by the email I was still eligible for normal tournaments, but they are dragging out the withdrawal process

I will be making a complaint on casinoguru again soon.


Update once again.

Duelbits finally approved the withdrawal for the $4000 from the originals tournament after more than 2 days of waiting.

The only things left are:
1. If the email I received is correct, then I should be eligible still to participate in normal tournaments. However, this is not possible because I am no longer access the tournaments page. Support is not helpful and just responds with the same robotic response. They are also not responsive by email even though the email says I can email back with any questions. They clearly just don't want to deal with me and want me to stop playing on their site but have no grounds to ban me since I finished KYC level 5.
2. I am still scammed $7500 from the VIP slot tournament which I spent thousands on. To have me believe I was eligible for the prize for the entire duration of the tournament only to take it last second is not only ethnical but basically a scam.

[moderator's note: consecutive posts merged]

[ryzaadit]

@kalexsuao keep contacting them.

I think there has some similar situation regarding tournament, some user from bitcointalk @roycilik got restricted on the tournament. I guess cause win to much ? he getting restricted to play on the tournament but the different from his case with your case his reward and other still being granted based on his position.

BTW, his restricted in tournament is also now being lifted. Hopefully your case can solved too, tbh first time to see someone getting restricted to tournament.

[kalexsuao]

@kalexsuao keep contacting them.

I think there has some similar situation regarding tournament, some user from bitcointalk @roycilik got restricted on the tournament. I guess cause win to much ? he getting restricted to play on the tournament but the different from his case with your case his reward and other still being granted based on his position.

BTW, his restricted in tournament is also now being lifted. Hopefully your case can solved too, tbh first time to see someone getting restricted to tournament.

Thank you, can you link me his thread please?

[Mahdirakib]

Thank you, can you link me his thread please?

Here is the link of the post where 'roycilik' confirmed that Duelbits team have lifted the restrictions from his account (Check Here). However, it looks like the campaign manager of Duelbits has helped him to remove the restrictions of tournament participation. Something similar may not happen for you though. You may request it to "Duelbits_Marketing" by sending a PM to him.

[kalexsuao]

https://ibb.co/YFmWcWdC

Duelbits has now told me I am no eligible to participate in regular tournaments either. Cited no clear reason besides their ToS which pretty much could be anything. Very similar to the first time I got banned for nothing except now they have no excuse to ban me, so they will just restrict my account to the point I quit myself instead.

So not only did they scam $7500 from me by making me losing thousands and taking away my placing in the last few hours, now they basically are forcing me to quit because they can't ban me.

DO NOT play on duelbits. This will happen to you too if you win. Your account will only be in good standing if you lose.

[holydarkness]

https://ibb.co/YFmWcWdC

Duelbits has now told me I am no eligible to participate in regular tournaments either. Cited no clear reason besides their ToS which pretty much could be anything. Very similar to the first time I got banned for nothing except now they have no excuse to ban me, so they will just restrict my account to the point I quit myself instead.

So not only did they scam $7500 from me by making me losing thousands and taking away my placing in the last few hours, now they basically are forcing me to quit because they can't ban me.

DO NOT play on duelbits. This will happen to you too if you win. Your account will only be in good standing if you lose.

Ok, so I finally gave this case a thorough read.

On your opening post, you provide us a ccorrespondencies with them where they explained to you that the reason was because you're chasing umm... winning on tournaments... which... kinda the purpose of the tournament itself. Can you perhaps help us understand why did they accuse your activity on the very root of the tournament itself as abusive? You're utilizing some kind of strategy, perhaps?

Asking because that's probably the root of this entire situation.

[kalexsuao]

https://ibb.co/YFmWcWdC

Duelbits has now told me I am no eligible to participate in regular tournaments either. Cited no clear reason besides their ToS which pretty much could be anything. Very similar to the first time I got banned for nothing except now they have no excuse to ban me, so they will just restrict my account to the point I quit myself instead.

So not only did they scam $7500 from me by making me losing thousands and taking away my placing in the last few hours, now they basically are forcing me to quit because they can't ban me.

DO NOT play on duelbits. This will happen to you too if you win. Your account will only be in good standing if you lose.

Ok, so I finally gave this case a thorough read.

On your opening post, you provide us a ccorrespondencies with them where they explained to you that the reason was because you're chasing umm... winning on tournaments... which... kinda the purpose of the tournament itself. Can you perhaps help us understand why did they accuse your activity on the very root of the tournament itself as abusive? You're utilizing some kind of strategy, perhaps?

Asking because that's probably the root of this entire situation.

It's a slot tournament... The only strategy is spinning slots lol

[holydarkness]

Ok, so I finally gave this case a thorough read.

On your opening post, you provide us a ccorrespondencies with them where they explained to you that the reason was because you're chasing umm... winning on tournaments... which... kinda the purpose of the tournament itself. Can you perhaps help us understand why did they accuse your activity on the very root of the tournament itself as abusive? You're utilizing some kind of strategy, perhaps?

Asking because that's probably the root of this entire situation.

[...]

It's a slot tournament... The only strategy is spinning slots lol

Thank you for this. I'll try to reach them and get a better understanding of your case from their side. I am about to send them another email following the case of other user as my latest email inquiring about it is not answered yet, anyway.

Kindly keep us in the loop if you managed to get a worth mentioning movement from your side while I am attempting to reach them from my side.

[kalexsuao]

Ok, so I finally gave this case a thorough read.

On your opening post, you provide us a ccorrespondencies with them where they explained to you that the reason was because you're chasing umm... winning on tournaments... which... kinda the purpose of the tournament itself. Can you perhaps help us understand why did they accuse your activity on the very root of the tournament itself as abusive? You're utilizing some kind of strategy, perhaps?

Asking because that's probably the root of this entire situation.

[...]

It's a slot tournament... The only strategy is spinning slots lol

Thank you for this. I'll try to reach them and get a better understanding of your case from their side. I am about to send them another email following the case of other user as my latest email inquiring about it is not answered yet, anyway.

Kindly keep us in the loop if you managed to get a worth mentioning movement from your side while I am attempting to reach them from my side.

Thank you. I will post here if there are any updates. So far Duelbits has not been responsive besides the email they sent (after I sent them like 10 emails) recently saying I am no longer eligible to participate in any tournaments, VIP or otherwise.

[kalexsuao]

Ok, so I finally gave this case a thorough read.

On your opening post, you provide us a ccorrespondencies with them where they explained to you that the reason was because you're chasing umm... winning on tournaments... which... kinda the purpose of the tournament itself. Can you perhaps help us understand why did they accuse your activity on the very root of the tournament itself as abusive? You're utilizing some kind of strategy, perhaps?

Asking because that's probably the root of this entire situation.

[...]

It's a slot tournament... The only strategy is spinning slots lol

Thank you for this. I'll try to reach them and get a better understanding of your case from their side. I am about to send them another email following the case of other user as my latest email inquiring about it is not answered yet, anyway.

Kindly keep us in the loop if you managed to get a worth mentioning movement from your side while I am attempting to reach them from my side.

UPDATE

My account has now basically been closed/banned. I have been logged out and can no longer login. I tried a different browser too and it's the same thing, so this is not a local issue, something is definitely wrong with my account. Most likely this is to prevent me from getting my monthly bonus which is upcoming. Note that I have done nothing ever since the first email. But they have escalated the actions against my account from restricting me from VIP tournaments, to restricting me from all tournaments, to now closing my account altogether, all for no real reason at all besides me winning on the site.

DO NOT play at Duelbits.

[Eureka_07]

<snip>
Thank you, can you link me his thread please?

If you haven't seen the post yet, here's the link to the post he was referring to:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5279042.msg64904102#msg64904102

There are more replies to that post on the following pages.

[holydarkness]

Well... that escalated rather... quickly. I got a reply from them, basically informing me that they can't discuss matters about their players with a third party [me] due to privacy matters, and assured me that each cases [yours and a neighboring one] was or will be addressed with the player themselves upon them reaching the team.

And uhh... I guess sadly this is where my help stopped. I do really hope I can help further, but it seems I hit a wall.

As a side note that I think worth mentioning, I have a feeling that the one replied me last time was a different guy than the one who previously attended to my mails.

[kalexsuao]

Well... that escalated rather... quickly. I got a reply from them, basically informing me that they can't discuss matters about their players with a third party [me] due to privacy matters, and assured me that each cases [yours and a neighboring one] was or will be addressed with the player themselves upon them reaching the team.

And uhh... I guess sadly this is where my help stopped. I do really hope I can help further, but it seems I hit a wall.

As a side note that I think worth mentioning, I have a feeling that the one replied me last time was a different guy than the one who previously attended to my mails.

I can assure you it hasn't been addressed nor have they responded to my emails. I'm sure when they do respond it will be a generic response regarding a violation of ToS without any further clarification.

If Duelbits is reading this, I am giving full permission regarding the details of my case. I don't want privacy. I want full transparency regarding what happened.

[panjul07]

UPDATE

My account has now basically been closed/banned. I have been logged out and can no longer login. I tried a different browser too and it's the same thing, so this is not a local issue, something is definitely wrong with my account. Most likely this is to prevent me from getting my monthly bonus which is upcoming. Note that I have done nothing ever since the first email. But they have escalated the actions against my account from restricting me from VIP tournaments, to restricting me from all tournaments, to now closing my account altogether, all for no real reason at all besides me winning on the site.

DO NOT play at Duelbits.

I feel sorry for this bad ending, I thought that you'll be treated the same as roycilik who was the first user who experienced the same thing in this forum.
Not quite if there are other similar cases but at least you are the 2nd user who reported the same case as what happened to roycilik.
What I do not understand here is why duelbits cant tell us (especially you) about the actual reason why they did it to your account.
Are you still trying to contact them by email after your account is fully banned/closed?