A regulated online casino seized $100k plus from me. What can I do?

I was hoping to not share this story publicly. But I don't know what else to do. I'm not seeking attention, I just want to get paid. So here's what happened. Earlier this year I was playing at a large regulated online casino. I had a long history with this site and up until this my account was down over $100k lifetime. I played this game on their app. I noticed that it had a design oversight. The game was functioning and paying out exactly how it was designed. I did not manipulate or change it. I played it and initially thought that after a few days or a week they would notice it losing money and would remove it. A week turned into a months and they still didn't notice it. Online casinos I presume have a fairly high cycle life for a game. I don't know if there was anyone else who was playing it. Throughout this time I made withdrawals and some deposits.

Eventually I received an email saying that my account had been locked. I'm not able to access it or withdraw my money. This didn't surprise me and seemed inevitable. I looked on the site and the game that I had been playing was taken down. So obviously they noticed the game losing and they looked up which accounts played it and locked them. I was initially a little worried. It wouldn't surprise me if a casino contacted the gaming commission and even law enforcement and allege something like fraud. Of course as the saying goes just cause you aren't doing anything wrong doesn't mean you won't have to defend yourself. I was worried that police or someone might show up at my house. I just waited. About a week later someone reached out to me and told me that the game I played had a glitch in it and they were voiding my balance. I said I disagree with that and nothing was malfunctioning and I expect to be paid just like how I always paid when I lost. I played a lot of other games as well on the site. He also said that I made a lot of withdrawals and they have the right to pursue me for those if they wanted to. He also said according to the terms and conditions that I was actually required to report this to them. I wasn't aware that it was my job to monitor their game. Who determines how a game should operate? Maybe it's supposed to be like that. I don't know. They put up the game, I just played it. Also if there was a glitch, did they refund everyone who lost on the game? I haven't received any other follow up as to the account status. Online sites have a fairly long leash and instead of closing accounts they normally just no promo or limit you. I have had one or 2 accounts closed and they just do a final withdrawal of your balance and that's it.

I don't want to give specifics but let's just say the amount locked in the account is a life changing amount. I immediately knew this was something I needed help with. I thought it would be easy. I would just search around and call one or 2 lawyers and they would take the case and I'd have to give them a cut. This has been a very discouraging process. It took me 2 months of calling until just one lawyer contacted me back and listened to the 30 second run down of what happened. I have contacted over 30 and literally all but 2-3 never called back or said they don't handle cases like this. I'm learning that many lawyers do legal work but few are actual litigators that handle stuff like this. I have also learned that all those signs you see that say no fee unless we collect for you are just for accidents where they know they're going to get paid. Any other kind of litigation is just done with a large upfront retainer and billable hours. It seems like a money pit and none of them seem to want to be invested in the case. Also nobody has given me a legal opinion as to the course they would advise. This is very new case law. There aren't really any other cases like this to go off of and none of these lawyers is familiar with gaming.

I have 2 lawyers who have offered to take the case. One wanted $25k upfront plus a percentage of anything recovered. He is an independent lawyer. Kind of a funny guy but just wanted the case to sue a casino. He hasn't even listened to the specifics of the case. The second is a business litigator at a large firm. I explained the case to him. He said they do work like this but they wouldn't do it on contingency, just billable hours. They want $5000 upfront. That's just to make calls and send letters. A lawsuit or arbitration would I'm guessing would run into 100 or more hours at $400 an hour. It's not that I don't think it's reasonable for them to get a small retainer upfront but it seems like they should be invested in this with me. I'm leaning towards giving the second firm the initial amount and have them find out what they can. I don't have $25 or $50k to spend on this. I pretty much lose on everything else I gamble on.

So I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions as to what I can do. Thanks for any responses.

What do you mean by ‘on line regulated’? Regulated by Curacao or New York State?

Without knowing what the ‘glitch’ is there is no way for any of us to know if it is reasonable or unreasonable to do what they did. If the ‘glitch’ was they paid 3-1 on every blackjack, even though the posted rules of the game say 3-2, I think you’ll lose.

It is not good news for you that you can’t find a lawyer that will do this on a straight contingency basis.

Needless to say, you learned a lesson about leaving ‘life changing’ money in an online casino account!

I can say this though. I wouldn’t give a single cent to a lawyer who will not take this on a contingency basis. I think your chances of winning or getting a settlement go up exponentially if the lawyer has skin in the game.

There is no way I'm giving him upfront money and a percentage. I think you need to find a lawyer who specializes in internet gambling, not a young guy eager to sue a casino.

My guess is you're not going to get the money because there was a glitch and the casino found out about it and that's what they're going to say in court. The lawyers know this they just want your money. I never at any given time have more than $300 in any casino. This is the reason why.

Quote: SOOPOO

What do you mean by ‘on line regulated’? Regulated by Curacao or New York State?

Without knowing what the ‘glitch’ is there is no way for any of us to know if it is reasonable or unreasonable to do what they did. If the ‘glitch’ was they paid 3-1 on every blackjack, even though the posted rules of the game say 3-2, I think you’ll lose.

It is not good news for you that you can’t find a lawyer that will do this on a straight contingency basis.

Needless to say, you learned a lesson about leaving ‘life changing’ money in an online casino account!

I can say this though. I wouldn’t give a single cent to a lawyer who will not take this on a contingency basis. I think your chances of winning or getting a settlement go up exponentially if the lawyer has skin in the game.
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Thanks teacher. I learned such a valuable lesson. Don’t leave money in the account. I never thought of that. I handled everything the way I thought best. The moment I saw the email from them that my account was suspended my first thought was I have no regrets on how I handled anything. I made withdrawals along the way and also deposits. There were reasons that I handled things the way that I did.

This is a large US regulated site that everyone has heard of. Again there was no glitch. The game paid exactly how it was supposed to. If I told you what it was it’s so simple you wouldn’t believe it. It is legal play in any other capacity which is possibly why they haven’t pursued me. Now whether a jury/judge/arbitor sees it like that is unknown. Out of the very few other instances I could point to, they have all won. I personally believe my case is stronger than any of those other ones.

There are no advertised internet gaming lawyers that represent consumers in disputes. It’s a field that doesn’t exist. I need a lawyer that does business dispute litigation. All of the “gaming” lawyers out there work for casinos and manufacturers on the regulation and legislation side. They don’t represent consumers. I have called every lawyer associated with any relateable case. They don’t even call back to get the 60 second run down of what happened. There is a new sect of lawsuits that is targeting people who have lost a lot at online sportsbooks. I have contacted them all and like all the others they don’t call back.

I think everyone is correct though. Paying anyone upfront may be a bad idea. They should have some skin in the game. But about 4 different lawyers have told me that’s not how it works.

Quote: EvenBob

My guess is you're not going to get the money because there was a glitch and the casino found out about it and that's what they're going to say in court. The lawyers know this they just want your money. I never at any given time have more than $300 in any casino. This is the reason why.
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The lawyers don’t know this because I haven’t told them yet what it is. I can’t even get that far. They either don’t call me back or say they want a retainer up front to do anything.

I have played online for years at dozens of regulated apps. Your money is usually always safe. I cannot find one other case where they have seized a balance. But I have seen increasing instances of them becoming more bold in reversing sports bets and other things like that.

Sorry for the ‘tone’. If you’d send the details to someone you trust, maybe he/she could give you a better answer. I think with just the details on what the glitch/error/mistake was, and the country that regulates the casino, I’d be able to at least offer good advice. Plus I am friends with a wide variety of lawyers. Some that only work on contingency (‘ambulance chasers). You can PM me if you’d like.

Hard to tell the difference sometimes between a casino's mistake in calculations of a weakness of a game and an actual malfunction of the game.

They like to keep anything due to a malfunction in the brick-and-mortar casinos..