Gov approved casinos are much worse than I thought

[Julien_Olynpic]

Most likely, judging by their practices, they are simple scammers. Numerous facts point to this, but the majority of them are false and unfounded accusations. Personally, I am always wary of bonuses of any kind, as they are a constant source of danger. It is precisely the abuse of bonuses that forces casinos and bookmakers to tighten their rules and resort to strict and not entirely effective practices like KYC. This procedure does not guarantee 100% reliability, but it creates threats to our security.

[Woodie]

Funny thing is something similar to this has happened to me and this happened after accepting a 100% deposit bonus.. when I grew my balance like 5X of this account to a nice amount and when time to withdraw came, its the day I stopped entertaining these bonuses because was told someone with a different name had registered with my ID which was crazy and they were not going to pay... but a few months down the line after reading their terms of service, I discovered a term that said you get disqualified for having several accounts with them but funny thing is am given bonuses all the time but just reject them.. so that told me these guys weren't just ready to pay as many players simply don't win.

[Kelward]

I wouldn't say that all government approved casinos are scams, a casino that has intentions to scam gamblers will try to do so even when they are licenced so licencing doesn't totally eliminate casino scams. I still think that government regulated casinos are more safer than the ones that are not, atleast in some cases you will get some support from your government if you have issues, I've heard of a few cases.

Overall we should basically gamble in casinos that have gained reputation that gamblers trust that they don't scam their customers, there are a handful of casinos that have reached the level of trust where gamblers will be comfortable to fund their accounts with substerntial amounts and wouldn't worry. The best thing to do about new casinos that haven't gained reputation is to be using small amounts for trials and with time if you feel comfortable with their services then you can raise your bankroll.

[Curious T]

The difference is the case with local casinos in my country, at least the ones I've used. As long as you win, they process your winnings for you instantly. I've not hard any issue with my local casinos even though others have made some complaints. Their mandatory KYC is the only thing I can say about them, but as long as you've done KYC, I don't experience much issues regarding withdrawals and winning or stuff like that.

The games aren't even provably fair there so they could be cheating in a million ways.

I think my local casinos are also like this. The games aren't provably fair. Their is also a very unfair advantage on the house. This is different from normal house edge. In sports betting, they either take out the options that have a high chance of happening or give it an unbelievably low odd.

[Ruttoshi]

Did they showed you any evidence of that Filipino guy account for you to confirm that truly it happened because I see it as a big lie which was framed up just to scam you. They were only after customers money and nothing more. I believe it's not only you they have done this to.

My problem with the government is that, they have failed to do their job properly because of corruption. The body in charge of casino regulation might visit the casino but they moment, they're given fat envelopes, everything is fine with the casino.

[Die_empty]

Government approved casinos can be called to justice if they do something wrong to you, they have a reputation to protect and having a bad name won't be good for business, they can easily be dragged.

In my country you can't do anything bad to the public as a casino owner, if there is genuine evidence that a casino do something like cheating it's customer or others they will be easily questioned.

I am sorry that you went through such experience I would avoid such casino completely.

The problem OP faced was due to the poor supervision of casino operations in Greece. It cannot be a basis to generalise that government-approved casinos are worse. Just as you highlighted, in your country, governments always protect their reputation because of public backlash and government sanctions.

When there is a corrupt government in place and some of these casinos are owned by state officials, such sad experiences might be prevalent. Trying another licensed casino is a good option because not all of them might be bad, as stated by the OP.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

These casinos are supposedly overlooked by the local Greek government but apparently their practices are like the mafia's.

You can deposit before KYC. KYC is super strict, even if you complete it withdrawals take ages and you might be impulsive and lose it all before you have the patience to wait to withdraw. And then there's also completely made up issues like the platform claiming someone non-existent signed up with your info like in my case.

If you already know that this is how this casino operates, why sign up on it in the first place?, and even after signing up, why deposit before trying to pass kyc verification? Some times we are the ones who drive our self into problem and then come back complaining, but on the other hand, this is always good for experience sake though.

I wonder what made you leave all well advertised and trusted casinos from this platform to go trying a local casino that the government might have positioned to use to steal from their citizens, such casinos gets government approval easily but in return, they also pay heavy tax to the government, this is why they are always bold in scamming most of their users without fear of what the government will do to them because they are indirectly backed by the same government.

Anyways, thank goodness for your experience and thanks also for sharing, some of us here might learn a thing or two from this.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

I wouldn't say that all government approved casinos are scams, a casino that has intentions to scam gamblers will try to do so even when they are licenced so licencing doesn't totally eliminate casino scams. I still think that government regulated casinos are more safer than the ones that are not, atleast in some cases you will get some support from your government if you have issues, I've heard of a few cases.

It’s actually the other way round: casinos regulated, especially under European licences, are much safer than unregulated ones. This has already been pointed out to the OP, but he keeps insisting that, based on his own personal experience at a casino in his own country, all regulated casinos must be cheating people. Maybe the Greek regulator is worthless, maybe that casino does scam people, but even so, it would be an isolated case among regulated casinos.

In fact, in the decade and a half since gambling regulations began to be introduced in European countries, this is the first story of this kind I’ve come across. But according to the OP, this anecdote deserves to be elevated to the status of a category.

[Somegory]

I hate when someone talk about online casino doing some sort of bad behaviour on their customers with no name about the casino itself, how will some someone know which casino to avoid or not?

I'm not sure that the casino OP used is one of those from this forum, because I believe that if it's one of those he wouldn't hesitate to call the name out.

By the way, this is one reason why I don't want to use any online casino far away from this forum because when they behave abnormally I can easily call them out and force them to explain themselves.

[Dunamisx]

I tried to sign up to a licensed casino in my country and somehow I miraculously won a couple hundred bucks on free spins.
I was allowed to do free spins and deposit by bank even before completing KYC somehow.

Platform like this to be careful with, at the beginning you meeting the that nice to you by allowing you to make the deposit, but little do you know of their policy that may restrict you from making withdrawals, that is where we can judge by a casino that has license or not except they are willing to deliver unto us what we wanted from them as a reliable and trusted gambling casino.

[Alpha1999]

Due to this experience i dont trust the system . Initially they were very happy for yur deposit but one u won now your identity becomes problem . If there were seiously an issue when some other person tries to register using your details then i think that should be flagged before they accepted your money not when they came to process a withdrawl. The explanation they shared that the account they linked to a different person and also a different country makes little sense. Many peoples misunderstood kyc . Kyc is used to prevent fraud and protect both parties.From your experience i think if the site is also govt licensed it doesnt mean every person will be treated fairly.

[justdimin]

They subsequently closed my account end even confiscated my deposit claiming it was tied to bonuses and was "lost" while in fact it was a separate balance.

Blatant scam but unfortunately, these casinos are well protected by some shoddy Terms and Conditions. They let you play from mars while you are losing but the moment you win something, they do their best to hold the winnings. Another tactic they use is to delay withdrawals and allow the user to cancel them. Because they know well, most gamblers can't wait and will cancel their withdrawal and start gambling again and lose everything.

You can deposit before KYC. KYC is super strict, even if you complete it withdrawals take ages and you might be impulsive and lose it all before you have the patience to wait to withdraw. And then there's also completely made up issues like the platform claiming someone non-existent signed up with your info like in my case.

This is also why it's perhaps better to KYC yourself upfront because once you win money, suddenly KYC becomes like that Chinese exam only one in a million can pass. I used to play at Bet365, and they're fine but man, they delay withdrawals for so long it's crazy. Now with crypto casinos we get the money with seconds.

Governments earn massive taxes from these casinos, so they turn a blind eye to everything.

[coinrifft]

For sure, it's the classic scam act, although it dishearten to hear that they have used Filipino email and information as somewhat their proof of scamming and I don't like to see that being a Filipino.

In any case this could be a reminder for others too that to be careful of this so called government approved casinos. And even if they are so called approved, it doesn't mean that they are not going to scam us.

[DrBeer]

Looks like the casino isn't official after all. To clarify my point: when a casino is officially authorized to operate in your jurisdiction, it is obliged to comply with the legal regulations of your country. This applies to EVERYTHING. Just seize your money, obtained honestly - you can not, otherwise the Court ! And then possibly lose your license, which is not cheap.
In court, if they manipulated the data, they will not be able to prove their pavota, and this is a huge problem if it is a HONEST casino! Reputational losses, fines, license revocation - who needs it?

[arwin100]

Most likely, judging by their practices, they are simple scammers. Numerous facts point to this, but the majority of them are false and unfounded accusations. Personally, I am always wary of bonuses of any kind, as they are a constant source of danger. It is precisely the abuse of bonuses that forces casinos and bookmakers to tighten their rules and resort to strict and not entirely effective practices like KYC. This procedure does not guarantee 100% reliability, but it creates threats to our security.

You're point is really valid because there are times that they just over exaggerate the accusations against them, but the real danger also is the bonus abuse happening. This is also the reason why the casino became more stricter then implement KYC because of those incidents happen, but unfortunately even they done those things that doesn't guarantee any safety. Because in fact those actions they have made create another risk for their gamblers. This is the reason why we need to be cautious with their bonuses. Sometimes they made those to attract then scam or either their policies made is unfair to their players.

[Karl_3000]

@ Mr alani123, so sorry for your experience with such scam exchanges, the government does not care like many people will be thinking, the government just like taxing the gambling sites and their citizens is all what they want about gambling sites. But it is better in my country, KYC is not needed if it is a fiat gambling site that is licensed in my country. They can easily link you bank account to you which you will use for paying.

[Oasisman]

In Brazil the government approved casinos are much safer because they can be sued and the judge will help the player get all his money back if he is right in the case

Not approved casinos you can’t do anything and many times they will block you and stop answering to anything. Many casinos are just a scam waiting to rob enough people before shutting down

I’m sorry in Greece it does not work the same way

So what, are you going to take a casino to court over $500?
500 bucks isna substantial amount in both Greece and Brazil but if you lose this amount, the court also has fees which are expensive and it's not worth the money to start a case. Casinos know that most people are broke and that's why they steal little by little. If they steal a few dozen bucks from their millions of users they still become ultra rich.

Makes sense. They won't steal from someone who has a huge bankroll or a huge winning amount because they know that person can bring it to court, and if that happens, they will not only lose the case but also lose the business as well.
So stealing/cheating a few from several people, when accumulated, will become huge. That's a pretty rogue move.
Regulations are supposed to protect both parties, but we all know in reality, most of the government tends to favor those who are paying them huge shares.
I guess the very least we can do is to provide feedback about these little tricks they have up their sleeves.

[iv4n]

I tried to sign up to a licensed casino in my country and somehow I miraculously won a couple hundred bucks on free spins.
I was allowed to do free spins and deposit by bank even before completing KYC somehow.

After completing KYC though, I realized they never had the intention to let me withdraw.

...

These casinos are supposedly overlooked by the local Greek government but apparently their practices are like the mafia's.

...

Which country, casino, bank... what "local Greek government" has with all that? Long topic, but it doesn't say much... you had a bad experience with "unnamed casino", you even completed KYC, and that wasn't enough to withdraw your winnings... and now what?

I hate when someone talk about online casino doing some sort of bad behaviour on their customers with no name about the casino itself, how will some someone know which casino to avoid or not?

I'm not sure that the casino OP used is one of those from this forum, because I believe that if it's one of those he wouldn't hesitate to call the name out.

By the way, this is one reason why I don't want to use any online casino far away from this forum because when they behave abnormally I can easily call them out and force them to explain themselves.

I hate it as well... and this happens often. Why not name the country, casino, and all other related info that can help others avoid making the same mistake, and, even more importantly, help us understand the situation better?

[Russlenat]

Now you know. There is really no big difference, because even if the casino has a license, if the regulators are not actively monitoring them to make sure they are fair to customers, this kind of thing can still happen.

A licensed casino will not have the confidence to scam if they know the government is serious in punishing those who scam gamblers. What the government really needs to implement is customer protection. If the license is just on paper with no real monitoring, then it has no substance. Casinos can still do random scamming, especially if the amount involved is not that big and gamblers will not think of going into a legal battle.

[Nrcewker]

For this reason, I prefer gambling with cryptocurrencies. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies and online casinos is one of the main reasons why I was drawn to online gambling. Government-regulated casinos are nothing but scams. They track each and every one of your winnings, and even if you manage to receive your withdrawal, they impose a huge amount of taxes on it. Moreover, I don’t think these casinos are provably fair, so I don’t feel safe gambling there. It’s always better to avoid government-affiliated casinos if you value your hard-earned money.