TL;DR @ the end
I am not a professional or a “reg”, I simply play for entertainment and the competition. I am not a winning a player by any means and I usually deposit and lose about $100 every so often. Last year, I deposited a small amount of money and ran it up in ACR’s blackjack to over $3,000. Then, I lost it all. “That’s blackjack for you,” I thought. So I deposited again, and turned $50 into $2000 only to instantly lose it all back once more. Fool me once, shame on you - fool me twice, shame on me, right?! I did it again… and again… and again. It became comical at one point. I’d Skype with my friends so they could watch me miracle $20 into $1500 without fail and then lose it all.
Eventually I noticed a pattern. (No, not addiction.)
Now, I don’t have logs of these sessions, but at some point I had to wonder, pardon the pun, if the cards were stacked against me. Obviously, the house always has a huge advantage, but what I was experiencing seemed to transcend the normal variance of blackjack. Each and every time I turned peanuts into thousands, and would start betting big ($150 or more), immediately the dealer would get multiple blackjacks in a row or I’d get these completely insane setup hands (ex. I have 8,8 vs. dealer’s 6 and would split, pull a 3 on both and have to double on each - then the dealer would miraculously get 21). This happened like clock-work and eventually I had gotten to the point where I was now down over $1,500 of my own money.
In the heat of defeat, I pulled up the live chat ready to take my frustration out on the first unsuspecting ACR employee that dare listen. I had convinced myself that the casino games were rigged and I wanted answers.
I explained the situation to the representative and, not to my surprise, they denied all accusations that they would ever rig one of their site’s functions. I demanded proof that their casino games, specifically blackjack, operated in the same manner, and with the same chance, that regulated blackjack did. They assured me that all was kosher in the land of ACR, but clearly their word wasn’t going to be enough for me. If they couldn’t supply proof for the validity of their game I felt that I was entitled to a refund.
Of course, they scoffed at the idea of refunding even a penny.
Becoming more and more aggravated with every key stroke, I convinced myself to break out the big guns. (For the sake of anonymity, I’ll have to remain intentionally vague, but someone very close to me has direct say in the future of online poker in our state.) In the heat of the moment, I told ACR I was going to blow the lid off their whole operation and make sure that they would never be able to operate in my state ever again. And honestly, I probably could have.
Their tone changed and I could just picture some employee, with the assigned named “Dave” handwritten on a “Hello! My Name Is:” name tag, standing on a beach in Costa Rica, waving a white flag.
They ended up refunding me a month’s worth of deposits totaling $1,729.20.
Quote:
We would like to let you know that we have refunded the following transactions and sent the funds back to your card:
$200.25 3/26/2016 20:11
$100.20 3/26/2016 20:02
$75.40 3/26/2016 19:33 Company
$75.15 3/26/2016 7:05 Company
$50.25 3/25/2016 17:28 Company
$90.05 3/23/2016 13:57 Company
$90.20 3/23/2016 13:41
$75.10 3/23/2016 13:04
$90.25 3/23/2016 6:23 pt
$90.15 3/23/2016 6:12 pt
$75.05 3/23/2016 5:22
$75.35 3/22/2016 11:17
$150.35 3/19/2016 19:11 tbk
$80.40 3/19/2016 13:26 tbk
$50.40 3/18/2016 20:25 tbk
$60.05 3/17/2016 21:36
$50.35 3/17/2016 12:50 .,Ltd.
$100.10 3/9/2016 18:55
$150.15 3/9/2016 18:34
Sure, I was happy to get my money back, but this seemed like a clear admission of guilt. I would have been completely satisfied having lost my money if they had sent me some sort of verification that their games were run legitimately.
I swore off blackjack on the site, but I continued to deposit pretty regularly over the past year so I could play some poker. This week I won a tournament for over $5000. Determined to not let history repeat itself, I immediately went to request a withdrawal only to find out that all my withdrawal and transfer options had been blocked. I was completely dumbfounded. It was like deja vu. I couldn’t believe that the site had been taking my money for a year, but now when I wanted to cash out, they wouldn’t let me. I called support and demanded that I speak with someone in charge.
I’m connected with, whom I’m led to believe, is a supervisor. He informs me that in order for him to grant me permission to withdraw, I have to pay back the $1,729.20 they refunded me. SAY WHAT?! This time, I remain very calm and polite and vow to treat this guy with some respect. I explain to him how absurd his request is. He agrees. After some back and forth, he tells me that he has no control over the matter and will have to talk to HIS supervisor and that he will call me back in an hour. Two hours go buy and I haven’t gotten a callback yet. With some glimmer of hope, I sign onto ACR, expecting my withdrawal options to have been reinstated. Boy, was I wrong. My balance was now short the $1,729.20. Without calling me back to discuss the matter or an alternative agreement, they took back the money they refunded me and I was still unable to withdraw.
At this point I’m telling myself to keep my cool and just get them to let me withdraw my remaining balance before I go to battle over the refund, but I’m having trouble containing myself. After multiple failed attempts, I finally get put through with the “supervisor” I was dealing with originally. He once again tells me it was out of his control and that he is very sorry. I tell him the least he could do at this point is expedite my withdrawal. He obliges, unblocks my withdrawal options while I’m on the phone, and promises to expedite my withdrawal so that it is processed the following day.
That was 3/14. I check the next day and there’s nothing in my blockchain. I call the guy back and he is once again “very sorry,” but promises (again) that he will make sure it goes through with the batch being processed the following day, 3/16. Of course, it still hadn’t gone through and as of today, 3/17, it is still pending.
Am I entitled to the $1,729.20 that was originally refunded? How does the 2+2 jury find ACR?
TL;DR: Accused ACR of rigging their blackjack game. Demanded proof OR a refund. Told them I’d use my connections to out them. Got refunded $1,729.29. Won a tournament on the site a year later. Withdrawal options were blocked. ACR demanded I give back the refund before I could withdraw. ACR takes the refund back out of my balance without discussing it with me. I’m eventually able to withdraw my money less the refund. Wondering if I’m entitled to getting refunded the refund that I was originally refunded.
Last edited by Winning_TD; 03-17-2017 at 01:21 PM.