[so_frustrated]

I come from Ljubljana, Slovenia. I would like to leave my name out because I’d rather remain anonymous.

On January 10th my account at BetOnline (******) was disabled due to collusion charges, without any kind of subsequent explanation until January 16th. Below is the outline of events from December 1st until now.

On December 1st 2012, I deposited 250.00 $ to BetOnline. By the end of December, I managed to turn this 250 $ into almost 4000 $, by playing only poker using a steady and rational approach. During this time, I only used my PC when playing poker (same IP), with the exception of using my laptop in the middle of December for the weekend (different IP) - I believe this is in complete compliance with the rules set forth by BoL. After that, I have not used my laptop again. Of course, I never used my PC and my laptop at the same time.

I have never shared my login details with anyone nor have I used my account from any other computer other than my PC and my laptop. Nobody else uses neither my PC nor my laptop.

When playing on January 10th at around 21.00 hours Central European Time, I suddenly got the message saying something like: "This user has logged in from a different location." My client crashed immediately and I had to restart it. At the time, I thought it was just a glitch in the software. My client restarted normally and all of the 6 tables I have been playing before the crash, popped up - everything seemed normal. After this, everything was the way it was before...for 10 minutes or so, upon which my client crashed once again. When I tried to restart it, it displayed the message saying: "Your account has been disabled. Please contact customer support."

I did so immediatelly. First, I talked to Zac from Live Support, who transferred me to Luke. Immediately, Luke told me I am charged with collusion. I do not engage in collusion since i am well aware of the potential consequences, not to mention that I resent cheating of any kind. I tried explaining this to Luke several times during our conversation. Luke was also asking me whether I know a certain person (who, I believe, would best remain nameless here), who I was suppose to be colluding with. I have never heard of this person before - until that evening. Luke has not explained to me why I got the message "This user has logged in from a different location."

Furthermore, Luke has not provided me with any kind of explanation (much less a detailed one) as to what triggered the collusion charges. He only said something about a monitoring agent, which I do not quite understand - is this software or an actual person? In any case, he could not help me solve my issue, so he directed me to the email address poker@betonline.ag. Quite infuriated, I sent them an email immediately and the next day, I got the response. My account has been permanently disabled. Without any kind of explanation. Any kind whatsoever, other than that BoL has “strong evidence of my collusion”.

My account remains disabled to this day, in spite of numerous inquiries I have sent to poker@betnoline.ag and support@betonline.ag. Yesterday, I got an official reply from BetOnline, copy-pasted below:
________________________________________ ______________________
Dear (my surname here),

My name is DC, I am a manager here at Betonline.

I am writing to inform you that your account has been closed due to a routine
security review by our poker fraud department. The reason for the closure is
the following:

1. The poker fraud department detected play consistent with collusion in
several account holders in your country.
2. Your play was found to be consistent with these patterns and has played
with other accounts with similar patterns in the same country.

As a result, your account has been permanently closed and your remaining
balance of $2262.13 will be sent to your Skrill account.

In order to proceed with the payout please send a copy of your picture ID to
documents@betonline.ag and we will process the payment for you.

Thank you for your time and we wish you the best of luck going forward.
________________________________________ _____________________

Of course, I would like to see the “evidence” proving my “collusion” and have requested so for several times. To this day, BetOnline has not provided me with a tiniest shred of this “evidence” - only the above email message, in spite of my numerous inquiries. I also cannot but sense some discriminatory undertones here, since other players accused of collusion are also from Slovenia, as you can see from the official response. Whether they actually cheated or not, I cannot say, since I do not know these people.
As I already stressed, I do not cheat, that being so especially when it comes to poker. It's my personal code of conduct. I have no way of proving this, of course.

My funds are still accessible to me. At the moment, they amount to 2262.13 $. I requested for cashout 2 days ago, before receiving the message above.

I hope my case gets resolved as quickly as possible...optimally, with a proper explanation as to how come my account was permanently blocked AND how it was possible for someone else to log into my account, since I have not shared my login details with absolutely anyone nor have I logged into my account on any other computer other than my PC and my laptop - both of whom I am the sole user.

On the other hand - even if my case does not get resolved, I'm posting this so other (potential) players know what can happen at BetOnline, even if one plays by the rules.

Regards

[thetrinity]

mods.......................

[sweep]

Fukkin cheater

[so_frustrated]

I do realize that if I was actually cheating and was a part of this supposed group of people from Slovenia, I could have written a message just like this one...but as I said, I am not. My regret is that right now, I have absolutely no way of proving this.

I also realize that it is my word against that of BetOnline. And, I admit as well had it been me reading the message above, I would have my doubts whether to believe the OP or BetOnline. In any case, my main reason for posting my problem on SBR was not to seek support. I only wish it to be known.

[sweep]

You Slovenian greaseballs cant be trusted.

[playersonly69]

At least they are giving you $2200 back. Be glad that you are getting that

[Jeffie]

Id be surprised if u saw any money from them. They are known to do this crap to stiff people.

[TheGoldenGoose]

You Slovenian greaseballs cant be trusted.

[buyacka1]

I am a pokerplayer and i deposited because of lack of options due to being usa facing. I was aware of betonlines reputation for randomly accusing poker players of collusion anytime a player managed to win money. There is thread after thread on 2 plus 2 of this type of action on the part of betonline. I thought they had stopped doing this but obviously this is still standard procedure from betonline. If you are going to accuse someone of cheating how about providing proof to players you are accusing in form of hand histories etc? It is disgusting and worriesome this is still going on and it would be nice if this issue was addressed by someone in mgmt. It is like someone comes and takes all your assets house etc and gives you no reason other then they are in a postion to do so. Can someone address this situation of betonline confiscating player funds with the moniker of confiscated due to collusion suspicion and no proof? Thank you.

[5mike5]

BOL has pulled this stunt around 5 times, and thats just the players that have posted at SBR about it....so probably 100x as many in reality

i think all but 1 the player was proven to be in the right the whole time

would never play poker at BOL...crooks

[buyacka1]

Exactly Mike imagine how many people just accepted it because they didn't realize they had recourse. Most of the players accused of cheating that posted got compensations and their money back from the cases I have seen. It is just a despicable practice and it is obvious betonline just doing it out of slef serving greed outright theft to not provide proof of the cheating allegations and pocket players money. Most sites that are reuptable compensate the parties cheated by distributing the cheated funds to affected players. Bol just puts it in their pockets. Any site that has an ounce of integrity has always provided proof thru hand histoires of alleged cheating. It is outright theft to confiscate money without proof plain and simple. This practice of bol of confiscating players money due to cheating allegations without a shred of proof by bol needs to be stopped. At least in this case money returned to op before he posted here but account was closed without proof of cheating patterns bol is alleging against op.

[so_frustrated]

Buyacka1, I agree with you, this needs to be stopped...but I'm afraid there isn't much that we can do. So far, I tried the following:

- talking to Live Support on BetOnline website
- sending multiple emails to BetOnline (same email addresses as mentioned in my first post on the forum)
- contacting Lou from SBR (he only suggested I file a complaint, didn't say anything else)
- posting message on the SBR forum
- filing a complaint with SBR

None of this has borne fruit. I have no ideas what else can be done.

[5mike5]

has SBR got back to u yet?

how long since u filed ur complaint?

SBR did help people revover 10s of thousands from a few times they tried to pull this stunt so they will help im sure

[bigkahunabuz]

Another horror story,this is the nature of the beast.Without any regulations in place these online gaming sites are going to continue ripping customers off.We are at thier mercy.It sucks

[buyacka1]

Where is Lou?

[so_frustrated]

@ buyacka1:

sorry, I forgot to mention this earlier: it was not me who PMed you on 2+2 - I'm not even registered there. I could not respond to your PM here on SBR, since my post count is less than 20, so I can only PM very few SBR members.

@ 5mike5:

I filed a complaint with SBR on 01/17/2013 04:26 PM, so that's 3 days ago...SBR replied on 01/19/2013 07:09 PM, saying I should give them some time to discuss my issue with management (presumably BetOnline management). That was it.

[LoadNukes]

they should just write "Slovenian Unfriendly!"
It should be obvious to anybody that you're innocent in this matter. It doesn't matter actually what you think about cheating. Even if you would do something like collusion, you would have to be the stupidest croock on earth to go do that on BOL which has such a history of all kinds of false accusations!
Lou helped me resolve my problems with them although my account remains closed.
I wish you all the best, whoever you are and my advice to you is to take the money and never again think of this site.

[SportsbookReview]

To clear things up: The player's account is simply closed, he can request payment at any time and be paid in full.

As for why, if it matters, the player had suspicious play with another Slovenian account, namely a consistent behavior of each raising when others are in the pot with them. This went on and on, but because this evidence is circumstantial and not a smoking gun, BetOnline chooses to simply no longer accept business from this player, which is their right.

[Mikeyanks23]

Business as usual at BOL

pathetic book

i know it sucks but your lucky u did get or will get your money.

if u didnt get the money hopefully they pay u out quickly and dont take months like thy hav with numerous people

[ElCapitan]

And this is why I will not play online poker.

[numismatist]

It sounds like you got caught in a net with a bunch of cheaters in Slovenia. You had nothing to do with it but they are going to assume you did. Stop playing online poker and sign up for a sports account at a book like pinnacle and stop worrying, atleast you got your money back. Also stop playing online poker, its too shady these days.

[ProfaneReality]

I come from Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Knew you were guilty after first sentence.

[robzilla]

Pokerstars did the same thing to me, and stole 1000 from me.

[so_frustrated]

First of all - I'd like to thank everybody for their replies.


@ Sportsbook review: the money was never an issue. Nobody from BetOnline never said anything about confiscating my funds. Although I still haven't received the money, I don't see any reason not to receive it sometime in the (near) future.

THIS is the issue: I put a lot - and I do mean a lot - of time and effort into building up a Bankroll at BetOnline. I was playing by the rules. I never verbally abused any other players, although some have been verbally abusive to me - I chose to ignore it. I have not been colluding nor have I been part of any kind of arrangement to scam BetOnline or its players or do anything else considered unfair.

In return, I expected fair treatment. It seems I was wrong on that part.

BetOnline should be aware of the fact that due to limited number of registered players and simultaneous popularity of the site in Slovenia, it is very likely for more than 1 person from Slovenia to play at the same table - even few tables at the same time. There really aren't THAT many tables at BetOnline, as anybody who ever played there can confirm. It's not hard to imagine that 3 Slovenians and 3 people from somewhere else, playing on the same 6max table, may seem strange to BetOnline management...but having a small player pool is no excuse for shutting down player's accounts on behalf of flimsy evidence and paranoia.

Furthermore, BetOnline still has not explained how it was possible for somebody else to log into my account, in spite of numerous precautions I take in order to keep the combination of my username and password confidential. This - in terms of security - is problem not just for me, but also for ANYBODY ELSE playing at BetOnline.

@ LoadNukes: thanks for support

[SportsbookReview]

@ Sportsbook review: the money was never an issue. Nobody from BetOnline never said anything about confiscating my funds. Although I still haven't received the money, I don't see any reason not to receive it sometime in the (near) future.

Any gaming site can choose not to service a player. It's not like a restaurant where you're guaranteed seating provided you've got shoes on and match the dress code. The evidence they provided as background to making their decision was circumstantial, but it was enough that I'd suspect some other sites would take a heavier-handed approach. Posts may seem like a security blanket, but your balance was never in doubt. You simply aren't welcomed there.

[so_frustrated]

Any gaming site can choose not to service a player. It's not like a restaurant where you're guaranteed seating provided you've got shoes on and match the dress code. The evidence they provided as background to making their decision was circumstantial, but it was enough that I'd suspect some other sites would take a heavier-handed approach. Posts may seem like a security blanket, but your balance was never in doubt. You simply aren't welcomed there.

So it seems. Well, all I can do at the moment is to hope they change their mind...I really like the site. I'm very disappointed this happened to me.

Would you be kind enough to provide me with some advice on what else I could try to get my account reopened?

[slikec]

You really dont get it. THEY DONT WANT YOU! Move on there is plenty of other sites.

[Hankwins]

I referred a freind to BOL for poker a couple years ago, he said I'll look you up and play at your able sometime, i said hell no, don't you ever sit at my table!

[RudyRuetigger]

Common pal....take a hint, buy a vowel, or solve for x.

[High3rEl3m3nt]

So_frustrated, are you native to Slovenia? Your grammar is excellent, better than most SBR posters who speak English as their primary language. One Emily Haines--earned multiple degrees, could afford to take a lesson or two from you.

[so_frustrated]

You really dont get it. THEY DONT WANT YOU! Move on there is plenty of other sites.

I get that. What I DO NOT get, is WHY. The explanation that I received (copy-pasted in my first post) is far from comprehensive or self-explanatory.

I will move on, of course...this is not the end of the world for me. I'd just like to see a proper explanation.

So_frustrated, are you native to Slovenia? Your grammar is excellent, better than most SBR posters who speak English as their primary language. One Emily Haines--earned multiple degrees, could afford to take a lesson or two from you.

Thanks Unfortunately, I have no idea who Emily Haines is

[buyacka1]

I appreciate someone from the site coming on and explaining their decision. In the past bol would say cheating and keep funds with substantial amounts involved. As a player it def matters if you are accused of cheating and have your funds confiscated. I realize that this is not the case here but even so I would feel much more comfortable if hand histories of suspected cheating where posted, most sites when they accuse a player of cheating post the suspected cheating thru the hand histories. A lot of people are afraid of having funds confiscated and avoid bol for that reason, posting hand histories would go a long way to alleviate fears and grow site.

[numismatist]

Any gaming site can choose not to service a player. It's not like a restaurant where you're guaranteed seating provided you've got shoes on and match the dress code. The evidence they provided as background to making their decision was circumstantial, but it was enough that I'd suspect some other sites would take a heavier-handed approach. Posts may seem like a security blanket, but your balance was never in doubt. You simply aren't welcomed there.

Doesn't make me very confident to ever play online poker at a sportsbook, or anywhere online for that matter. If you win, they can simply say you were colluding using, as you said, circumstantial evidence, give you your original funds back, and close your account. If you lose they simply keep your money? Wow.

[SBR Forum]

Doesn't make me very confident to ever play online poker at a sportsbook, or anywhere online for that matter. If you win, they can simply say you were colluding using, as you said, circumstantial evidence, give you your original funds back, and close your account. If you lose they simply keep your money? Wow.

He's receiving his whole balance. BetOnline would be best suited to exclude some countries from playing in poker. What most of the forum doesn't understand is the rate of fraud from some countries.

[numismatist]

He's receiving his whole balance. BetOnline would be best suited to exclude some countries from playing in poker. What most of the forum doesn't understand is the rate of fraud from some countries.

Sorry I misread it. I thought they were only giving him his original balance back minus what he won. Thanks.