A Warning to Players at Playtech Powered Casinos
When playing at an online casino, nothing beats the thrill of winning big.It is the reason punters flock to betting sites and put their hard-earned money into the casino. Thus, when a lucky player named Natalia won $2,973,077 at Casino Bellini in August,she was absolutely thrilled. Unfortunately for her, Bellini Casino has a policy of paying out winnings at a rate of just $9.990 per month. Taking into account the large size of her win, Casino Listings has revealed that it will take until 2040 for Natalia to receive all of her money.
This seems to be an issue that is not limited to just Casino Bellini, as there have been other online casinos that have seen issues with paying Playtech jackpot winners their money. In 2009 a woman named Sylvia P.from Canada won $4.1 million on Playtech’s Beach Life Jackpot at JoylandCasino. Sylvia requested payout of her winnings, but the casino informed her that their terms and conditions restricted her payouts to just $9,000 per month before offering her $2.3 million in a lump sum to effectively just go away. Devastated and feeling she was out of options, Sylvia agreed to the deal.
The diabolical thing about this is the fact that Playtech pays casinos the money won from a progressive jackpot in a lump sum, meaning that there is no valid excuse to not pay winnings out as they are won. Online betting sites contacted for this story did not respond to queries regarding what they do with the money paid to them by Playtech, and why they limit payouts to such small amounts when prizes offered are so large. There is also no information available regarding what winners like Natalia would do if the casino shuts its doors before the year 2040 and whether or not their money would simply disappear.
It seems like Natalia may be in a bit of a rough spot in terms of legal standing on this issue, as Casino Bellini’s Terms and Conditions regarding player withdrawals states: “8.4.4 You are aware of and agree that players are allowed to withdraw not more than $9,990/£9,990/€9,990 per month. If the amount to be withdrawn is greater than $9,990/£9,990/€9,990, the remaining amount will be placed backto the player's account, allowing the player to withdraw additional funds the following month in accordance with this term. The foregoing applies also to Withdrawals of progressive jackpots. Withdrawals depend on all conditions specified above and the verification of all required documents as set forth in clause 9.4 below.”
These terms and conditions are buried in areas of online casino sites that most punters are unlikely to visit or even know about, creating a situation that creates a lot of ill will on the side of the player. CasinoListings feels that it is important for players to be educated about these predatory terms and conditions, and that online casinos should be held accountable when they hold money that is rightfully due to their customers.
We urge Casino Bellini to stand up and do the right thing and give this lucky woman all of the money she deserves. Players should also avoid playing at second-rate casino operations and stick to sites that do not place limits on withdrawals on progressive jackpots, such as Bet365 and BetFred.
