I seriously wanted to deposit and play on Unibet again! But this makes me think twice.....
Unibet is still active on 2+2 and I hope they can explain this story. If you steal you will enjoy it briefly because people know how to find a solution for everything. We got brains for a reason. I hope it was a Unibet employee's mistake and he got fired!
I have used Google translator for this story. Thanks for sharing it poker_pro!
https://www.iltalehti.fi/kotimaa/a/4...e-65113a212e4d
Pauli Äyräs, who plays poker with large sums of money, says that he only received his money from the gaming company Unibet when he enlisted the help of lawyers.
Äyräs ran into a game account and money freeze now for the second time.
Iltalehti has previously reported on a phenomenon in which international gaming companies may treat a winning player very rudely.
Millionaire poker pro and investor Pauli Äyräs says the betting company Unibet froze his gaming account, which had € 22,000 and kept the money to himself for more than a year. According to Äyräs, he recovered his property only with the help of lawyers and threatening Unibet with a lawsuit.
Äyräs says that the case is not the first for him, but the same has happened in the past by another gaming company. This company also froze his account, in a situation where, according to Äyräs, the gaming account had a seven-digit amount of money. The company refused to pay the money.
However, Äyräs cannot say more about the latter case, as the gaming company required him to enter into a non-disclosure agreement, according to which the matter may not be made public. After the contract was made, the money was finally returned.
Äyräs says that he spent a total of tens of thousands of euros trying to get the money from his game accounts away from the companies.
- In the last two years, I have spent about 50,000 euros of my own money to get mine out of these gaming companies.
Äyräs has not received any compensation from the companies, but after a hard fight, only his game winnings have been lost.
No replies to messages
Äyräs is now wondering how gaming companies can freeze the accounts of gamblers with large sums without any explanation. For example, from Unibet, Äyräs tried for a year to get an answer as to why the account was disabled and whether the money could be refunded.
However, the company remained silent. The only message at the beginning was the information provided by customer service about the “normal check” of the game account. At the same time, it was promised to return to the matter by e-mail, as long as the operation is over.
- I didn't get any explanation from them. Only that the account is undergoing a "normal check". Apparently, these companies have the right to lock accounts and investigate abuses without having to give any reason or explanation. These investigations can apparently last even forever. Where the limit goes to how long you can "study", Äyräs wonders.
- So Unibet and this other company never responded to the messages after saying that there was a "normal check" in the account in progress. In either case, I ended up only getting my own off, but that too was a really big win, he continues.
In the case of Unibet, Äyräs eventually received an answer with the help of lawyers that the company was willing to pay. The money then appeared in his account.
How much money is taken from?
Äyräs suspects that gaming companies may very easily make so-called AML (Anti Money Laundring) announcements about players who win large sums. These are regulations concerning the prevention of money laundering, which are regulated in Finland by the so-called money laundering law.
Like banks, gambling companies have an obligation to prevent money laundering. The same obligations apply to all companies in the EU that trade in cash for larger amounts.
Äyräs knows that the last time he had been notified of AML and a related investigation had been launched. During investigations, companies cannot communicate with the subject of the investigation.
According to Äyräs, the previous AML investigation ended in failure, but the gaming company was still not interested in returning the funds.
- So I still have a completely clean game history everywhere I've played. I have never been charged with any offense, just as Unibet does now. I’ve never even dared to play on any of the smaller or more obscure game pages, he notes.
Äyräs mentions that there are also gaming companies with whom he has not had any problems and has been successful in gaming for several years.
In poker, Äyräs, who earned big money himself, fears that many who do not have the opportunity to claim money back through the courts will lose their winnings.
- How many people have these actors managed to take the money from because the other party is unable or afraid to go to legal battles against big corporations? Such activities are still carried out by the largest and most well-known listed companies.
He is annoyed that at the time he did not make public the case of larger amounts from recent times.
- Now there are names on the papers that we can't talk about.
Äyräs has also reported on his fight against gambling companies recently on Twitter.
Winning players will be monitored
Already in 2019, Iltalehti reported on a phenomenon where international gaming companies may treat a winning player very rudely. Pete Käenmäki, a betting expert at the time, said how many international players monitor their customers' gaming behavior very closely and even classify them.
- At the point where the bookmaker is really starting to get nervous about the “over-winning” player, you may face completely unfounded allegations that could lead to the entire account being suspended. Then the funds in the account will also remain in the possession of the “builder”, Käenmäki said.
Unibet, a well-known betting company in Finland, is registered abroad. Unibet is part of the Kindred Group, one of the world's largest online gambling companies and listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
The company that maintains Unibet's website is, according to its own declaration, registered in Malta and all gaming-related controls are the responsibility of the Maltese authorities.
Unibet advertises on its website that it is a “betting company you can trust”. The company says it is also constantly recognized for its products and proactive approach to responsible gaming. Unibet's website lists several of its international awards.
Iltalehti did not reach Unibet's representatives to answer questions about the company's operations.
