English Harbour end up paying the player in spite of apparent “security flags”

Monday, May 16, 2005

English Harbour end up paying the player in spite of apparent “security flags”

Online casinos have been robbing or attempting to rob players since the first casino opened its doors in the mid 1990s. Fortunately, this rarely happens with reputable casinos, and if it does happen, there is almost invariably a fair resolution to the problem. Sometimes there is a simple misunderstanding that needs ironing out, sometimes it turns out to be a case of player fraud, sometimes the casino makes a bad decision but can be persuaded to change its mind by the online community of players, portals and industry observers.

Sometimes, however, even the most ostensibly reputable casino just "tries it on".

In early May 2005 a player opened accounts and made deposits at two of the English Harbour group of OddsOn-powered casinos - English Harbour and Silver Dollar. He did not request any sign-up bonuses. At one of the casinos he lost his deposit, and at the other he won a small sum - and requested his winnings.

The casino denied his withdrawal request, citing "security flags" as the reason, and offered to refund his deposit. They did NOT offer to refund the deposit at the casino at which he lost. Neither was the precise nature of the "security flags" revealed.

On 10th May, the player complained at the online casino complaints forum at Casinomeister, claiming justifiably that he was being robbed. Since there was no tangible reason given as to why the player should not be paid, there was general consensus that the casino was in the wrong - and webmaster Bryan Bailey contacted them.

On 11th may, the player was paid in full - including his winnings! No explanation was given about the "security flags", nor was any reason forthcoming regarding what had so completely changed as to warrant full payment to the player after the initial denial.

Read the full discussion in the English Harbour Group Warning discussion thread at Casinomeister.

Unfortunately, this is by no means an isolated incident: casinos, even reputable ones, occasionally try to put one over the player for no particular reason. Occasionally these things come about through genuine misunderstandings and oversights, but when there is no reason given as to why the casino goes from "no pay" to "pay", we're clearly dealing with nothing more than an attempt to steal from the player.

Why is this?

One can only speculate along the following lines: a relatively limited amount of the online gambling public are aware of the necessary steps to take when they have a casino problem, and where to take those steps - approximately one in ten. The other nine out of ten players have no idea what to do or where to go. It stands to reason, therefore, that casinos have a nine out of ten chance of getting away with stunts like this. For every ten players cheated, only one will know the correct path to take to recover their rightful winnings.

As such, these tricks are profitable to the casinos, be they reputable or disreputable.

What a pity.

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