Various Reasons Why Your Casino Account is Suspended
While it is relatively rare, online casinos sometimes suspend or limit a customer’s account. When this happens, the player can no longer place bets and may have other limitations on their activity. In some cases, the player account is blocked altogether. If you get your online casino account suspended, it can be confusing and frustrating, especially if you feel you did nothing wrong.
The best live casino sites have rules and regulations to protect themselves from fraud. As many of these preventive procedures are applied automatically, a casino account can sometimes be suspended or limited without a valid reason. So, the good news is that if you did nothing wrong, you just need to contact the casino to clarify the misunderstanding. The casino will then happily reinstate your account. In the following guide, our team of experts at Casinos.com explains the potential reasons why casinos suspend accounts. We also discuss what you need to do to get your account reinstated and avoid online casinos no longer active.
Reasons Why Your Online Casino Account May Have Been Suspended or Limited
There are a few common reasons for casinos to suspend and limit player accounts. Being aware of these can help you avoid the unnecessary frustration and inconvenience of having your account affected.
Winning Too Much
Winning streaks happen, and casinos know this. However, there comes the point where the casino decides that a player wins too much. Sure, this may seem undetectable to you, but it is actually one of the common reasons a player accounts to get. There are a few reasons for an online casino to close an account when a player is winning too much:
- The player is cheating to achieve wins. Popular online casinos and slot games are based on probability and random chance. While it is possible to win 50 games consecutively in theory, the law of probability makes this very unlikely. Not least because the casino has the house edge in its favor, a player who wins a disproportionate number of games could be cheating to achieve those wins.
- Responsible gambling and regulation. Big wins can have an impact on players’ emotions and cloud their judgment, leading them to make huge bets that can result in a quick and disappointing loss of all profits. Or worse, gamble on money they cannot afford to lose. For this reason, live dealer online casinos sometimes limit the account to allow players to cool off for a certain amount of time.
- A winning streak. A casino may simply believe your hot winning streak is preventing it from making money. Remember that, at the end of the day, casino operators are in the business of making a profit.
Promotion and Bonus Abuse
Over the decades, the concept of bonus abuse has changed. It previously meant a player is taking advantage of bonuses to make a profit. In response, online casinos created wagering requirements, which remain attached to bonuses to this day. In the modern era, casino bonus abuse means something else.
A casino site does not like it when a player only bets on bonuses. In other words, if you only ever use slot bonuses to play and do not deposit and bet in other circumstances, you are probably not making money for the casino. Some players will also try to collect multiple bonuses (e.g., welcome bonuses) by creating multiple accounts. This can often lead to getting your online casino account suspended. The simple way to avoid this issue is to make some non-bonus bets at your chosen casino site.
Arbitrage
Arbitrage refers to the practice of hedging risk by betting on contradictory outcomes. For example, betting on both teams to win at a sporting event or betting on both red and black at the casino’s live roulette table.
While arbitrage is mainly used in sports betting, it can also be used as a betting strategy when playing online casino games. You should avoid arbitrage betting because casinos do not like it. Some arbitrage betting is hard to detect because players will bet on two outcomes across two casino sites. By leveraging favorable odds, it is possible to make a profit. If caught, casinos will waste no time shutting an offending account and potentially reporting the player to other casino sites.
Duplicate Accounts
Nothing will trigger a casino’s fraud-prevention team quite like holding several player accounts at the same time. Not only will you get one online casino account limited, but the operator will also suspend all your accounts and put your name on a blacklist, preventing you from registering again. It is worth noting casinos go to great lengths to ensure users do not have duplicate accounts. For example, IP tracking and ID proof, but some players still find workarounds. Also, before cashing out, a casino will require players to verify their accounts by sending copies of a photo ID, proof of residence, and a statement from their bank account.
While the casino can track the IP and stop two players from the same network playing, VPNs make this tricky to do. That said, casino sites also have some trade secret methods for finding players with duplicate accounts. In our experience, operators are very good at this, and most players with multiple accounts are quickly banned.
Professional Gamblers
While casino games are based on chance, some people have mastered the art of winning through various online gambling strategies and complex statistical models.
One thing casino sites check for is if players are quickly placing large bets on specific games and then leaving the site. Casual gamblers usually stick around and check out other games and make sporadic bets, while a pro will jump from casino to casino looking for the best games and odds. If a casino suspects you are a professional gambler, they may issue a warning or outright close your betting account.
Betting Odd Amounts
Your player account can also be suspended if you have irregular betting patterns. This is one of the biggest red flags to the casino’s fraud team and a quick way to draw attention to yourself. Irregular betting would be wagering strange amounts, such as betting $1.71 instead of $2 or $1. Odd bet numbers point to a pro gambler or someone practicing arbitrage.
A good way to avoid getting your betting habits flagged is to simply round up and down to the nearest whole unit. For example, if you only have $4.23 left in your bankroll, do not bet the full amount, but instead round it down to $4. Other irregular betting examples include betting very high on one wager when your history shows you always bet small.
Is It Legal For an Online Casino to Suspend or Limit Your Account?
The short answer is yes. Every online casino has the right to block a player account and refuse service to anyone that has not complied with its terms and conditions. When you visit a casino site, the operator reserves the right to limit or block your account with absolute discretion. Online casinos are private companies that can choose which customers they do business with.
Sometimes we see an online casino account suspended because the player legitimately does something wrong. Other times it can be because the casino operator sees the player is harming their profits. Remember, all casino sites want to make a profit before anything else. If you are in doubt about legalities, it is best to read the terms and conditions on the casino’s website.
|