$18,000 Confiscated- Fair or Not ?

I would like to ask Casino Guru, the mediator and forum members for an independent opinion about my case. I am intentionally not naming the casino because I am not trying to create negative publicity. I only want to understand what would be considered a fair resolution.

Before depositing, I contacted the casino’s live chat because I was concerned that I might already have an older account. I wanted to avoid breaking the casino’s one-account rule or receiving a welcome bonus twice.

During the chat, I gave the representative my full three names.

The live-chat representative had my current account details in front of him, including my address and date of birth. The previous account was registered under the same three names that I voluntarily provided during the conversation.

The representative replied:

"Please note that the multiple accounts may only be identified during the account verification process conducted by our Banking Department. Based on a preliminary review of your account, I have not found any indications of multiple accounts. However, please note that only the Banking Department can confirm this during the official verification process."

After receiving this answer, I deposited $300, received a $600 welcome bonus and eventually won approximately $18,000.

When I later submitted my verification documents, the casino identified the previous account and voided the entire balance because of the multiple-account rule and the repeated use of a first-deposit bonus. The casino returned only my original $300 deposit.

The casino’s explanation is that live chat did not have access to the advanced security and banking tools required to perform a complete multi-account check, and that only the Banking Department could identify the previous account during formal verification.

I understand that live chat clearly warned me that its check was only preliminary and that Banking would make the final decision. However, I believe this particular account should have been easy to identify without any advanced tools.

I gave the representative my exact three full names. The representative also had my address and date of birth in front of him. The older account was registered under those same names. This was not a complicated situation involving hidden identities, different personal details or sophisticated data matching.

I contacted the casino before depositing specifically to prevent this situation. I did not conceal the possibility of another account. I openly supplied the full name variation that could have been connected to the older account. Had the representative found the account or advised me not to deposit until Banking completed a check, I would not have deposited or accepted the bonus.

I accept that the casino’s terms prohibit multiple accounts and repeated welcome bonuses. I am not claiming that the terms do not exist. My question is whether the casino should also accept some responsibility because I disclosed the issue before depositing and relied on the result of its preliminary review.

I would appreciate Casino Guru’s and the public’s opinions on the following:

Was it reasonable for me to rely on the live-chat response after voluntarily providing all three of my full names?

Should the preliminary review have identified the previous account based on the name, address and date of birth already available?

Is complete confiscation of the $18,000 balance fair in these circumstances?

Should the casino pay the full balance, a partial goodwill settlement, or nothing beyond returning the original deposit?

What percentage or amount would be a fair resolution?

This was the first time in my life that I had won such a large amount. I am not asking anyone to ignore the casino’s terms, but I would like an independent opinion on whether a partial payment would be fair given my transparency and the casino’s failure to identify an account that appears to have been relatively easy to find.

The most important thing for me here is that you did the right thing by asking the live chat about the possibility of having multiple accounts. If you had a feeling that you might have had an account there in the past and wanted to verify this, and the casino confirmed that you did, my question is: did you ask them about this immediately after creating the second account? In other words, did you create the new account first and then immediately contact live chat to ask about the situation?

Or did you simply visit the casino, open the live chat, and ask whether you had an account there without actually having created a second account yet?

The reason I’m asking is that if you had already created a second account, I personally wouldn’t have continued using it. If you knew you had an existing account, and there was a possibility of reactivating it or recovering access to it, I would have tried to use the original account instead of creating another one. That could have helped avoid exactly the situation you’re dealing with now.

Of course, I’m not sure I’ve understood your explanation correctly, so this is something I’d like you to clarify.

If you created the second account, then contacted the casino and explained everything to them, they could have advised you not to use that additional account. The casino’s statement that duplicate accounts are often only detected during KYC is generally true. However, if the casino already knew that you had a second account—especially if you hadn’t deposited or played on it yet, they could have advised you to close that account and continue using the original one.

Alternatively, if you couldn’t access the original account because you had forgotten your password or for some other reason, they could have closed the old account and left you with just one active account.

So, I think there could be some room for discussion about where exactly the mistake was made and who was responsible for it. But for me, it’s important to understand precisely what happened first.

Feel free to explain the situation in a little more detail, and then we can see whether there’s anything that can be done from there.

I had registered with many casino brands in the past, and I could not remember with certainty whether I already had an account with this specific casino. However, I suspected that I might have had an account with one or more casinos belonging to the same group.

Therefore, to answer your question directly, yes, I registered again without knowing that I already had another account. I only suspected that I might have had one. For that reason, I deliberately entered my full and accurate personal information, including my address, date of birth, and all other required details, so that the casino could identify any existing account.

I also knew that I might have used all three of my names when opening the older account, whereas I used only two names when registering the new account. Therefore, immediately after registering, I contacted live chat and provided the agent with all three of my names so that he could conduct a proper check.

The agent replied almost immediately. Based on the speed and generic nature of the response, it appeared that he had simply copied and pasted a standard answer rather than carrying out even a preliminary check. I now strongly believe that no meaningful check was performed.

Had the agent searched the information available to him, he should have found the older account very easily. The older account contained the same address, date of birth, and personal details. The only possible difference was that it may have included all three of my names instead of only two. The agent had both versions of my name directly in front of him, together with my date of birth and address.

This was not a situation requiring advanced software, specialist tools, or an investigation by the documents department. Even a basic search using my name, date of birth, and address should have identified the matching account. Any reasonable multiple-account detection system should also have flagged the identical personal information.

The qualification the agent included in his response may be relevant in cases where an existing account is genuinely difficult to locate and requires a more advanced investigation. However, that was clearly not the situation here. In fact, this was the opposite: the older account should have been extremely easy to identify because the name, date of birth, address, and other personal details were the same.

I am telling the truth about how quickly the agent responded. The speed of the reply, combined with the fact that the existing account was not found despite all the matching information, strongly indicates that the agent did not actually perform the preliminary check he claimed to have carried out.

As a result, I was placed in an impossible situation. I tried to disclose the possibility of another account and gave the casino all the information necessary to verify it. Nevertheless, I was effectively allowed to continue playing and was later penalised for the exact issue I had asked the casino to investigate in advance.

This created a lose-lose situation for me as a player: He told me that a preliminary check showed that I did not have any duplicate accounts. However, he added a disclaimer stating that this was not a final decision. This meant that even if he had not actually carried out the check—which I believe was the case—he could still give me an incorrect answer, while the casino could later refuse to pay by claiming that I had been warned that his response was not final.

I’d say you did the right thing by contacting the casino straight away. However, if you already had a feeling immediately after registering that you might have had an account there before, I think this is something you could have looked into a little earlier. Unfortunately, by creating a new account, you may have only created a problem for yourself.

As for what the live chat agent, or whoever you spoke to, told you—that they only discover duplicate accounts during KYC—I’m not entirely sure whether that’s completely accurate or whether they can identify an existing account earlier. In many cases, the system doesn’t flag multi-accounting until the casino carries out verification, often when you make your first withdrawal. So it’s definitely a complicated situation.

If you suspected that you might have had an account there before and the casino only gave you a general answer saying that they would find out later if you did, I wouldn’t consider that an invitation to go ahead and play at the casino.

If I were in your position, I would have tried to resolve the situation in several different ways rather than simply asking whether I had an account there. If they couldn’t give me a clear answer and I already had doubts, I would probably have contacted them by email as well and explained the situation in detail. I would have told them that I wasn’t completely sure whether I had an account there, whether it was still active or had been closed, and that I wanted to play at their casino. I would then have asked them what I should do in this situation: whether they could close the new account and help me regain access to the original one, or whether they would close the original account and allow me to use the new one.

I think there were several things I personally would have done to minimize the risk of ending up in exactly the situation you’re in now. I’m not sure whether our team would be able to help with this particular case, as it’s definitely not a simple one.

For the future, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, I’d make every possible effort to resolve the issue before playing. Ideally, you should never create a second account in the first place. Instead, try to find out through email or live chat whether you already have an account and what the proper procedure is.

I understand that if you’re only getting generic template responses, you probably won’t get very far. That’s why I suggested trying email as well. Eventually, even if you keep receiving generic responses, you should hopefully be able to reach an actual person who can answer your specific question.

If you never get a proper answer to what you’re asking, then, as I said, I wouldn’t take that as an invitation to play at the casino. The response you received essentially meant that you would have been caught eventually anyway, even though you had no intention of doing anything wrong or abusing the casino in any way. Unfortunately, in the end, the situation still turned out badly for you.

I will ask if complaint would be smart move or just a waste of time.

"As for what the live chat agent, or whoever you spoke to, told you—that duplicate accounts are only discovered during KYC…"

That is not exactly what the live chat agent told me. He said that, based on his preliminary checks, he could not find any other account registered under either my two-name or three-name version. He then explained that the final confirmation would come from the Banking and Documents Department.

I understand that more extensive verification may be necessary in sophisticated multiple-account cases involving different identities or altered information. However, my situation was not sophisticated. The same name, date of birth, and address had been used, and I also explicitly provided the agent with all three of my names.

"If I were in your position, I would have tried to resolve the situation in several different ways rather than simply asking whether I had an account there."

I believed that the most direct and reasonable approach was simply to ask the casino. I provided my name and date of birth and asked whether I had another account. The agent answered that his preliminary check had not found one.

At that point, I reasonably believed that I was safe to proceed. I knew that any previous account would have been registered using the same personal information that I had been using for years, so I expected it to be easily detected.

"If you never get a proper answer to what you’re asking…"

I did receive a direct answer:

"Based on a preliminary review of your account, I have not found any indications of multiple accounts. However, please note that only the Banking Department can confirm this during the official verification process."

Because I knew that any previous account would have been opened using exactly the same personal information, I had no reason to believe that a duplicate account would remain undetected. I still find it difficult to believe that the agent carried out a genuine check, because even a basic preliminary search should have found the account immediately.

The casino later claimed that the agent could not find the original account because I had used three names on that account. However, that explanation is incorrect. During the chat, I specifically gave the agent all three of my names and explicitly asked him to check using them.

I therefore see the situation differently. I believe the casino placed me in a lose-lose position while allowing me to deposit. If no previous account existed, the casino would accept my play and pay any winnings. If an account was later found, the casino could refuse payment while relying on the statement that only the Banking Department could provide final confirmation—even though the live chat agent had already told me that his preliminary check found no duplicate account.

I am not being paranoid. I believe this may be what happened for two reasons.

First, the agent answered almost immediately. The speed of the response makes me believe that he may not have conducted any meaningful search and instead copied and pasted a standard template.

Second, if he had made even a minimal effort to search using my full name, date of birth, and address, he should have found the original account. That leaves me with only one reasonable conclusion: no proper check was carried out, despite the agent stating that a preliminary check had been completed.

From my perspective, this was misleading. I relied on the information provided by the casino before depositing, and I would not have proceeded had I been told that another account existed.

Hmm, that does give the whole situation a slightly different tone. Of course, I may have misunderstood you earlier, but if the agent told you that they had done a quick check and couldn’t find any duplicate account, then I think filing a complaint might actually be justified.

I want to say upfront, though, that these cases are handled by our team, and sometimes even a small piece of information can change the entire outcome. I’m not saying that the complaint will necessarily be resolved in your favor, but if, as you mentioned, the agent explicitly told you that they couldn’t find anything under your name, then it sounds like you may have been misled.

I obviously don’t know exactly what information a live chat agent can access or what their permissions are, but I would think that checking whether there is another account under your name is one of the most basic things they should be able to do.

So at the very least, I think it’s worth trying. You have nothing to lose, the complaint is free, and whatever the outcome, you’ll at least find out why our team decided to support your case or, alternatively, why they didn’t.

So I’d definitely go ahead and file the complaint.