casino scams

Vicki, we have always found the Club World casinos to be an honestly run group.

Can you PM me your username at All Star Slots and explain to me exactly what happened, and I will chase it up with them to see if there has been a mistake.

Hi Ed and all,

I've always had good experiences with Club World casinos in the past (though haven't had a win there in a long time), but something strange seems to be going on right now. I hope it's a mistake. But here is what I've experienced over the last few weeks:

I won more than $12,000 on the slots. Very exciting for me, despite being tempered significantly by previous losses. Since only $4,000 can be cashed out at a time, I made my first cashout request on 10/28 via ACH. It took several days, then was declined and seemingly (from looking at my history) resubmitted as a "wire" request, which was approved. I'm told it was sent to me a week and a half ago, but it has not yet arrived in my bank account. (Interestingly enough, they said in a live chat that it was sent via ACH - that wires are not permitted in the US - despite the strange notes about this in my history.) When I contacted them on Thursday, I was told it should show up in my account no later than Friday. Still nothing.

I placed the second cashout request for $4,000 as soon as the first one was processed, and that sat in their system unprocessed for a few days too. Then the same thing happened where it was declined and automatically resubmitted as a wire, then sat for more days. As of yesterday, when I contacted them on live chat, it still hadn't been processed, and they said they were just backed up and hadn't gotten to it yet.

When I logged in today, I was alarmed. Recall that I have one $4,000 cashout that has supposedly been sent (but hasn't been received), a second $4,000 request that was in the queue to be processed, and another $4,000+ sitting in my balance. When I logged in, my balance was at $400 even. I have not gambled a cent since the cashout issues, so the funds apparently just vanished. Then I looked at my history, and it showed that my second cashout request was declined today (11/12), which doesn't even make sense, as it's a Saturday and the cashiers do not work on the weekend. Plus, the money was not returned to my account, so that's a second $4,000 that is missing in the ether.

I called them tonight and talked to a nice man who told me that it would all be sorted out, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it either. He said he would get the message to the right people, but they wouldn't see it until Monday. He said it looked like the funds were taken out in one chunk (fortunately, they can verify that I didn't gamble it away), and that there was a declined cash-out today, but there was no explanation as to why, and he said anything he could say would be nothing more than a guess. Honestly, I'm pretty freaked. This is a lot of money to me, and I don't know what is going on.

At any rate, I'm going to try to hold off on panicking until Monday when I will - hopefully - hear something back and get this resolved, but the whole thing is really quite odd and very frustrating. When I logged into live chat on Friday (before this latest set of events), I conveyed my frustration (albeit as politely as I could!), and I almost wonder if I angered someone....

Have you heard of anything like this going on lately with Club World? Can you think of anything I might be missing? I'd appreciate any thoughts....or even just reassurance if this is unusual for them! Thanks for reading this far.

Ruh Roh.

This certainly doesn't sound like Club World. That is quite the win, and I certainly would be very concerned with issues like this. That would probably be MY luck. I would finally WIN then run into problems receiving my money. That is always a legitimate fear, especially for us U.S. players.

I know CL-Ed will be on this, and I will be watching this thread closely to see how it all turns out. I hope for the very best outcome to the players!

Eponine6, I am positive that these guys are not trying to rip you off. Sending money to U.S. based players is a bit of a game of cat and mouse at the moment, so the problem is likely to be related to that. I'll shoot an email to a contact I have there and see if I can find out what is up for you.

Thanks very much! I'll let you know if I hear anything further tomorrow too. What scared me the most was the money disappearing from my balance without explanation, but when speaking to the guy on the phone, he could see clearly that it was taken out, so that gave me some comfort. (I.e. No one is trying to tell me it wasn't in there to begin with.) All the hassles with payments to the US are frustrating - I'm sure for the casinos too. After having taken a break from online gambling for several months, I returned to find that many of my favorite casinos are no longer taking US players, which was disappointing - but I can't say I blame them, if it's this difficult to process payments. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks again for your help and good wishes!

Well, I'm sorry to report that the news (so far) isn't good. I heard nothing back today, despite my guarantees of a response on Monday and my sending yet another email.

I called tonight, and I was told that I missed management, but that the funds were removed from my account because one of the slot games on which I won money had a "bug" in the system that gave players an unfair advantage over the house, so many people got high winnings. He said that some players "took advantage of the system" - which I wouldn't even know how to do if I wanted to! - and that each player's game play would be reviewed before any funds would be released.

Not only was this a totally different story from what I've been told in my prior communications, but it also makes no sense to me. My winnings were not on a single game (although admittedly, the one they mentioned was one I played), but on a total of 3 or 4 slots. And it wasn't a one-time win, but an incremental movement up and down with my balance. Regardless, if there's a bug in the system, I'm not sure why it would make sense to penalize the players - esp. those of us who have put in that kind of money in the past and lost it. Is it "taking advantage of the system" to keep playing a slot game that seems to be hot at that moment? I've certainly never had funds put back in my account when I've kept playing slots where I was losing!

Anyway, I'm told (again....sigh) that my information will be forwarded to management and I should hear back from them first thing tomorrow. I don't have a good feeling about it, though.

Ed, any chance you heard anything back? I have to say, I'm really disappointed. It's taken me years to win anything substantial at this casino, which I've trusted as legit, and now that I have, I can't access it.

Geez-us. That sounds ridiculous. If that is truly the explanation and not some customer service person smoking the wacky weed then I am gobsmacked.

I did hear back, but they couldn't find your account without knowing your login details. Can you send me a PM with your login name that you use at Lucky Red? I'll send it straight through to a manager higher up the food chain.

Thanks, Ed. I sent you my username (which is the same for Lucky Red and Club World, although this was on Club World directly). In my call last night, I was told that I should hear back from someone before waking up this morning (due to time difference), but to call to speak directly to management if I did not. Of course, I've continued to have radio silence, so I called this morning, spoke to a different representative, but was told that the manager on duty was in a meeting and unavailable. Hmmmm.... however, she seemed to be espousing the same story - that there was a software glitch and everyone needed to have their game play reviewed. When I tried to dig a little deeper and ascertain what they were looking for, she had no response. Once again, I'm left with the "don't call us, we'll call you" tone of response. Maybe you'll have more luck than I have! Thanks again for your help, Ed. I really appreciate it.

Aren't you talking about All Star Slots, not Lucky Red? I would like some clarification on where this is happening. I know they may all be owned by Club World, but sounds like you started out talking about All Star Slots, but then mention Lucky Red? Which is it?

This is disheartening, and I will be following this thread. I cannot imagine why players should be penalized by a "glitch." If there was such a glitch, my question would be, "How many times was there a glitch where the CASINO received the edge?" and in that case, as you said, was money returned to the player accounts? Doubtful.

That is sad, too, that you won playing different games and they are keeping your money due to ONE game. I would be upset, too. I can't wait to see how all this turns out.

Best Wishes!

It is actually Club World. We have been talking on behalf of Eponine6 with the casino about this. The casino's story is that there was a bug in one of RTG's games (across all RTG casinos) which resulted in some players winning a lot more money than they should have. It sounds legitimate, but we're still working on independently confirming the bug existed and resolving Eponine6's specific case so I don't want to say any more at this point.

So, ALL the Club World casinos? They have quite a few, don't they (seems they DO). Oh, that is too bad, but I will wait patiently to hear the whole story.

Thanks, as always!

Nobody ever play at Cool Cat Casino, I have tried to withdrawl my money from them twice and each time they find some way to screw me out of my own money. Once you put money in with them, dont ever expect it back even if you win.

Hi jeffneft and welcome to our forums.

I know you're angry with Cool Cat Casino, but in future please don't post the same message over and over to multiple irrelevant topics. Follow the link to our blacklist in my signature below and you'll see that the group that owns Cool Cat Casino is #1 on our list of rogue casinos.

So yes, we know they are bad. I'm sorry you had to find out the hard way.

Ed - as Hope says: "This is disheartening, and I will be following this thread. I cannot imagine why players should be penalized by a "glitch." If there was such a glitch, my question would be, "How many times was there a glitch where the CASINO received the edge?" and in that case, as you said, was money returned to the player accounts? Doubtful".

Has anyone to your knowledge ever discussed this issue with regulators anywhere? If not surely someone should as it is outrageous for players especially in jurisdictions where casinos are regulated

I agree but unfortunately the casinos always have a clause somewhere that says "malfunction voids winnings" or similar. It is the same for land based casinos, and I have seen stories over the years about people being denied jackpots on games due to a "malfunction".

One case where the glitch was in favour of the casino that I can remember is Rome Casino, which uses TopGame software. A couple of slots did not have a wild symbol on every reel which made it impossible to win the jackpot. Players were refunded when it was discovered but only after players kicked up a stink on message boards about it. It is one of the reasons we recommend people don't play at any Top Game casinos, bar one or two.

In this particular case we're still working on confirming the bug truly existed. Things are moving slowly unfortunately but we have not given up on this one.

Thanks Ed - hope you manage to get a better reply from the casino than simply "the computer says no" as in the Little Britain sketches

Thanks, Ed, for all you have been doing, and to all the rest of you, for the support. I've been silent on this to enable Ed to do his thing and to give the casino the opportunity to respond appropriately, so I'll refrain from giving a lot of details at this point. But I will say that I'd be very careful with these guys right now (Club World, that is - which is unfortunate, as they run a lot of the casinos out there). Not only has this not been resolved, despite the fact that they conceded early on that I did not cheat in any way, but they have - at least with me - been utterly unresponsive ever since. I have probably sent at least 7 messages in the last month requesting an update, even if it's a one-liner indicating that they need more time to look into it, and my requests have been ignored. Given that this is a group that generally promises payment within 24-48 hours, and my money was won well over a month ago, that is a significant time period. I have tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but the unresponsiveness worries me every bit as much as the nonpayment.

Earlier on, I was told in no uncertain terms that I would be paid. Then it was modified to the statement that if I did not cheat, and if I followed the rules, I would be paid. Now it seems to have evolved into an admission that while I did not cheat, others have, so they have made a business decision not to pay. That, in my opinion, is poor business. I haven't entirely given up hope that they will come through, but this whole experience has left a sour taste in my mouth, and I want to at least put the warning out there to those of you who, like me, may have trusted these guys in the past. I will share more when/if there is ever an outcome. Until then, these guys will not see another cent from me, and I am in the market for a new, reliable online casino. Putting this out there may not help my case, but it's something I would want to know as an online gamer, and I will happily and publicly eat my words if they prove me wrong.

I am truly shocked and disheartened by this, and it puzzles me, too, because I play in MAINLY Club World casinos, and I really enjoy playing there. I had one, quite small in comparison to some, withdrawal that went off without a hitch, but that was a while back.

You are correct that they run a lot of the online casinos out there, and for us U.S. players, our choices are already so limited, that to eliminate Club World casinos would really narrow our choices.

I will continue to watch this thread. for more information. Thank you for sharing with all of us.

Well we've more or less reached a dead end with this. So I may as well explain the problem and maybe Eponine6 will fill in with more specifics, and correct me if I've gotten anything wrong.

Eponine6 won quite a bit of money (around $18,000?) playing a few different slots at Club World towards the end of October. The majority was won on a game called Mice Dice. It is a machine that has one of those feature guarantee meters that awards you with a bonus round if you go through 100 spins without getting a bonus randomly. The thing about Mice Dice is that it actually adds an extra 40% to the cost of each spin to "pay" for this feature guarantee. The extra fee is not optional. So if you're spinning at $1 per spin, you're actually being deducted $1.40.

The bug with the game was that this extra 40% was not being deducted. I have received word that the bug did exist from a contact at another casino, via RTG itself. As you can imagine, not deducting 40% of the cost of each spin would give players a tremendous advantage over the casino. The casino believes that players cottoned on to this in late October and they had a large number of people start playing this game specifically for long periods of time, and winning a lot of money. This unfortunately coincided with the first time Eponine6 had played at the casino for a few weeks (months?). In the end they decided not to pay any of these winners, and they believe most of them were aware of the bug and knew what they were doing. Many of these players had their accounts banned at the casino. Eponine6, as a long standing customer there, did not.

In my opinion it would be very easy to miss the 40% additional charge as it is not included in the price of the spin as shown at the top of the game screen (see screenshot below with the bets outlined). I have played it myself when it first was released, though not for long as I didn't have much luck with it, and never realised I was paying the extra. For starters, the game needs altering to make it crystal clear that the charge is being applied - i.e. put it up the top next to the "Slot Bet" position not down in the bottom left corner - and/or an option to disable the feature guarantee if you don't want to pay the extra.

The customer support first told Eponine6 she would be paid, then changed and said no, then started ignoring her. True the support may not have even known of the bug at first, but getting conflicting stories like that then total silence isn't the way to treat a long time customer. The lack of an apology is also a bit disturbing.

They also asserted that it would have been obvious to anyone playing the game that they were getting away with a bug that advantaged them. But they also said the bug was around for 6 months! If it was so obvious, then why did it take 6 months for anyone to notice? It would have been far better to just say sorry, the game malfunctioned, RTG stuffed up and we apologise, here have some comps or something - don't try to push the blame onto the player.

In the end, I believe the problem was the fault of RTG, not the casino. I don't believe the casino set out to rip anyone off or cheat them, and I can understand their need to protect themselves from a bunch of players exploiting the bug. However, the way they have handled the situation and lack of communication with Eponine6 has just made it worse. They have lost a customer and I can fully understand her disgust with the way this has been handled. And now here we are discussing this publicly which is not the best publicity. Imagine if they had paid the players, then publicised what happened to make themselves look like the good guys? We can only wonder...

Could you please post for me a full list of the club world group? Maybe which ones have the better bonuses and withdrawl methods if it is not too much trouble.

OH, and what do you feel personally about Casino Titan and Buzzluck? If you don't mind sharing your opinion

Hi tmr315, the full list of Club World casinos are Club World / USA, High Noon, All Star Slots, Manhattan Slots, Lucky Red, Aladdin's Gold, and Buzzluck. You can see this info on any of the linked review pages for those casinos - on the right side of the page about half way down under the "Related Casinos" section.

I wouldn't play at Casino Titan myself. It is part of the same group as WinPalace, Slots Jungle and a few others. The payouts are extremely slow and as low as $500 every few weeks, and the owners of the group have recently been accused of extortion and other unsavoury conduct by a competing casino operator.

Buzzluck is the newest casino in the Club World group. It has new and different games from all the other casinos in the same group. Despite Eponine6's problems in this thread I still believe they are one of the best options for U.S. players at the moment, along with Sloto'Cash, Win A Day and Bodog. That isn't saying a lot though as the choice is very small and a lot of the operators still accepting U.S. players are flat out dodgy.

My view of Club World is less magnanimous than Ed's after this experience, although I am admittedly jaded. There are a number of factors that make me question whether Club World is trustworthy at this point, although it is true that the way they have handled this (or rather NOT handled it - making promises, then not delivering, then falling off the face of the earth) has been the most significant red flag for me. I do not want to put my money into a casino where the managers are unresponsive for weeks on end, especially in a situation like this that truly warrants some explanation. Ed was able to get more information out of them than I was, although they did admit that they don't believe I cheated, so you'd think they would be willing to at least discuss the circumstances or respond to legitimate questions.

I will - perhaps in a week or so, after giving them one final opportunity to respond directly - share more of the specific details of my interactions with them in a new thread entitled "Club World," in part because I'd like people to at least be fully informed of the risks if they choose to put their money in this group's casinos. But before I do that, I'd like to pose the question: was anyone else here aware of the bug at Mice Dice? Did anyone win lots of money from them who was not paid? Were any of you banned? Had anyone heard about this "glitch" in Mice Dice and start playing it in order to take advantage of the system? The reason I ask is that I've seen next to nothing about this on the internet, and that seems suspicious to me, so I'm curious whether others can verify firsthand that what the casino claimed was true. That is, I'd like to know whether Club World truly was taken to the cleaners and had no choice but to stop paying people. And I'm curious whether there are others in my situation or if they cherry-picked me as someone NOT to pay simply because my winnings were in a larger amount. If you've had any experience with this, please share.

I'm not saying there wasn't a bug in the system (though I certainly wasn't aware of it at the time) - I'd just like to understand whether it has been handled consistently with what I've been told. Maybe it has. I'm just surprised that I haven't seen more on this, if that's the case.

Thanks again for the support. Ed, you have been amazing, and I appreciate everything you did to help.

Since the manager at Club World hasn't actually confirmed to me that they WON'T pay me, there's still a part of me that holds out small hope (and I'll certainly update here on the off chance that they do), but I'd say the fact that all of my inquiries about it have been ignored for the last month is less than promising. And more than enough to make me urge caution to those who play with this group. As Ed said, I'm a long-standing player who has put a lot of money into their casinos (receiving only small payouts in the past), so if they'll treat me like this as soon as I win an amount they don't wish to pay, I doubt they have much compunction about doing it to others.

How disappointing this has to be to finally win a nice amount, after winning smaller amounts in the past, and to have this "glitch" happen at the same exact time.

I am very worried, and I have been following this thread, consistently and with great interest, because close to 100% of my playing is done at Club World Casinos, and 99% of that playing is done at Lucky Red. That is the only casino where I ever seem to get ahead enough to play quite a while with my money, and I have only won enough at a time to request ONE quite small withdrawal in the past.

The reason I am worried is obvious. U.S. Players are already SO limited that to then eliminate the entire Club World group from my options would narrow them down to next to nothing. However, if it is has to be it has to be, because if I don't eventually see a favorable outcome to all of this, and I do not like what I am reading, I will have no choice but to play elsewhere.

Now, a bit about Mice Dice. I have only played that game once or twice. I had NO idea I was paying an extra 40 cents per spin for that option until I read this thread, and I was quite surprised to read that here. So, I agree with CL-Ed that this should be clearly spelled out to players who are depositing and playing their hard earned money. To me, this right there says something about this entire situation. I am not dumb, and I always read the rules to the games, and I somehow missed the fact that I was having to pay this much for spins. I had NO idea.

Because I only played a few times, I was completely unaware of any glitch. The reason I only played it a few times is because I did not do well with it so I moved on to the next game. Had I done well, I would have stayed and kept on winning money, but I won nothing on this game. I would say this was around the same time this "glitch" was reportedly happening.

That is all I know, and I wish I could be of more help. I hope others will chime in, and I will continue to watch and read updates to this thread.

This is the best forum out there to help us with these issues, and I agree that CL-Ed is completely on top of his game and looks out for our best interests above all else.

I hope Karma will be on your side, dear Eponine6, and you will win a GIANT jackpot at a reputable casino that will pay you all the riches. May Lady Luck shine her face upon you.

well said Hope!!! Here are my thoughts ...... seems like Casinos online ( except a few) are really not catering to their players and therefor doing what they chose when they chose because WE as players have in most instances no resources to dispute them. In Eponine6's case it is clear that their word stands as the final say just like in all the terms and conditions rules that i have read in all casinos. i think CL -ED and others more informed about the game should maybe start a Magazine. One thing every business hates is BAD EXPOSURE, so what if our bank accounts get frozen while they are investigated? Why shouldn't they pay tax like all of us if they are going to take our money and when we finally win something they dismiss us or play us for fools?We as players need to somehow get smarter , better informed and only patronize those that respect us and our money!! I was totally amazed at Bet365 , the security of my info and the customer service i received thus it will be my choice . I'm sure that there are many fraudsters trying to scam the casinos but i'm also sure that the casinos have enough secured systems to tell a fraudster from a regular player. Not only do they register our IPS but they also have our personal info. I would not give up EPONINE , Sue them if you must !!! they took your money , let them prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, If they had a glitch why did they let players play the game ? should of been shut down ,right?. Do what a friend of mine did to a business that wouldn't listen....... full page of a national newspaper!!! ( hey doesn't have to be a US newspaper) .We not only need this forum we need CNN!!! HEHEHEHEHEHEHE

TO CL-ED and all those that run this site....... Thank you !!!! You are great.

Happy lucky gamblimg all!!!

Yes there are a number of things that are really strange about this one.

I also cannot find anyone else anywhere online complaining about this. I would have thought that more than one unsuspecting player would have been caught up in this if the problem was as widespread and long-standing as claimed. Even the supposed bunch of players that exploited the bug - there is almost always someone who will try it on and pretend they were innocently ripped off. Why aren't we seeing anyone else complaining about this?

On the other hand I can't find claims from people that they are not being paid legitimate winnings by this group either. If they were "going rogue" or something there would be complaints all over the place from people who play there. I can't think of why they would pick just Eponine6 out for refusal to pay her winnings other than this bug - $18,000 is a great win but its not going to be bank-busting for such a popular bunch of casinos.

And then there is the confirmation from RTG that there was a bug in the game. This to me is the biggest thing - if RTG stuffed up, they should be the ones footing the bill. Let the casino pay Eponine6 and RTG can pay the casino.

This is similar to my story. I started with $300 when I won up to $1000 I asked to cash out but was told I could only cash out if i won $3800. So i kept playing and luckly as i assumed i did reach $4000 so I asked for a cash out and was told i had broken some rule by not bidding enough. Then every time i went to live chat i got a different answer during one of my conversations it was confirmed they would send my money and i needed to send a void check so they could make the deposit. I contacted them again today and they said yes the deposit was processed for $300 not the full amount i won. I have logged on several times today and spoken to live chat each time at first they confirm my account has $3025 in it then I ask to confirm the amount processed for deposit and they say $300 they will not give me my money this has to be illegal. Who can help get out money back.

I agree i believe this scam needs to be exposed wide open. They are scamming the American and Canadian people and taking us for fools. I am sure there must be something some government organization that oversees giving them a licences to conduct business in our countries. I am writing the Gaming association her in Alberta Canada and a local news station to see if they want to do a report on it.

Hey NOLUCK63 you in Alberta? wish i was there!!!! Which casino online did that? In Canada contact the Alberta Lottery game commission , they will probably investigate and find if they are operation illegally in Canada and if so i wouldn't want to be THEM . Good Luck.

P.S. This is the best place for advice and casino reviews.