I have been a long time player on Bovada for years and years. Recently, my wife wanted to start playing poker as well due to being stuck at home from the Covid-19 lockdown, so I decided to send her my referral code to sign up so I could get a bonus when she signs up and deposits. So she signed up and deposited $50 from her credit card and I got $100 referral bonus. I also sent her a voucher for $3000 and $143 which I was going to cash out but decided to just keep it in her account so she could have a bankroll and incase I needed to redeposit, she could just send me a voucher back. I only left $100 in my account which was from the bonus and wanted to build it up from that as a side challenge. My wife won some money in poker and betting on esports and her account went to $4,698 after about a month, most if not all her winnings were from winning esports bets and she was pretty much breakeven at Zone Poker 25NL. She wanted to cashout earlier around $4,000 but Bovada said she had to play through the whole voucher deposit of $3,000 to be able to cash out, so she played through it in poker and esports bets. So after the playthrough, she wanted to cash out the $4,698 via Bitcoin and after almost 48 hours of review, they cancelled the cashout and said the account was under investigation. 24 hours later, they called her and said her account was being disabled and all the funds in it would be seized because we broke the Terms of Service of having 2 accounts in the same household as well as abusing the referral bonus. They said they would return the $50 dollar deposit she made through her credit card though. My account was also shut down which I had $200 in that I was building up. I didn't read the Terms of Service before referring my wife and it does indeed say:

3.2 Single Account Access. You are permitted to open only one (1) Account. Only one account is allowed per household. Multiple accounts held by the same individual are subject to immediate closure and we reserve the right to seize any funds gained as a result of holding multiple accounts. Furthermore you shall not permit another person to access the Website or Software via your account without the express permission of Bovada.

I got no warning or anything, they just seized the funds and closed our accounts with all the money in them seized. I cannot even contact them via telephone because due to Covid-19 they turned their phone support off. Their chat reps just say their decision is final and they will not return any of the funds in the account except for the $50 my wife deposited from her credit card. In the email they sent me this is what rules they said I broke:

Broken Terms Of Service:
3.2 Single Account Access
3.6 Information to be Valid and Verifiable
6.2 Fraudulent Activity
6.7 "Betting Syndicates"
6.8 Abuse of Bonus Programs

I was only guilty of referring my wife who lives in the same household and I guess abusing the bonus program since I received a $100 bonus for referring her, but I honestly didn't know that was against TOS and I admit I was clearly in violation of that. So they seized the $4,698 in my wife's account and the $200 in my account. Does anyone have any advice? Any advice/input would greatly be appreciated, and again, I know I made a mistake and broke the Terms of Service but does that warrant all our funds being seized? Thank you.

First, change the title of the thread. They didn't steal from you, you violated the TOS and it states what happens if you do.

Second, talk to them, lay out a clear explanation of what took place, your reasoning for doing it, etc.... They are under no obligation to give it back based on your wife's and your agreement to the TOS.

It looks pretty bad trying to get a referral on your wife. Them, you were able to make it worse by swinging the money from your account to hers. That only looks like you tried to rip them off out of the referral fee.

Be as honest amd sincere as you can. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I would not think the odds are very high in your favor, good luck.

Probably get a lot better answer here

https://community.bovada.lv/c/poker/7

on the bovada poker forums, they have moderators that could help you.

So because I referred my wife and received a $100 bonus, they should take the vouchers worth $3,143 too? It's not enough they took the winnings? I told them to check if there was any collusion because there was absolutely no collusion going on. I've tried reasoning with them and they won't even call me. Their phone support is shut down due to Covid-19 and their chat support is just telling me there's nothing they can do and the decision is final.

I can't log into my Bovada account so I can't access their community forum.

If you have an affiliate, ask them for help. They deal with a much better CS department.

Sites don't take well to their TOS being violated and moving the money over makes it look worse.

Best of luck but from their POV you made a new account under your wife's name so you could get the bonus, although I'm not saying you actually did that. The TOS is clear and you broke it. They don't have to offer you a warning as you agreed to the TOS and they are clear to confiscate all funds in your account according to TOS. It's an unfortunate situation if what you say is true but at the end of the day you broke the TOS. Maybe try to call and speak with a supervisor once they reopen the phone lines.

I do not have an affiliate. If they are so uneasy about players moving money, why make a voucher cash-out option? I had no ill-intent and committed no other violation other than referring my wife. We are not a betting syndicate nor did we committ any fraud. We sent in all proper information and identification.

I get what you're saying. Look at it from their end.

Player 1 plays for X years. They refer in Player 2. They have same address and are in fact married. Player 1 suddenly no longer wants to play and decides to P2P their balance to Player 2 that never wants to play, but now has a desire. A desire that coincides with Player 1 suddenly no longer interested in playing.

The scenario, from their position, is pretty damning. I'm not suggesting or questioning your intent or motive. I'm just looking at it from their end. Its a tough battle you are in for to try and get it back.

Yeah I broke TOS, but why take all our money instead of just the bonuses and winnings? That's like getting a speeding ticket and losing your entire life savings because of it just because they wrote in the Terms they can take your entire bankroll if you break any rules.

i think they are licensed in latvia, contact the latvia gaming board.

Sites don't want people freerolling them

I think poker sites must be sexist- they always seem to go after the accounts of wives, girlfriends, sisters and mothers.

This.

BoboFett has probably seen the "(INSERT POKER SITE) froze/closed my acct, halp!!!" type of thread 1000 times.

As per usual the OPs describe a small part of the problem/issue and expect the rules to not apply to them.

These post always make me laugh. I mean come on OP

That's just it, I listed exactly what I did wrong which you yourself would consider a small problem and got not only the winnings but the entire deposits which didn't belong to them in the first place, taken away. I can't help how it looked to them, assuming they think I played poker under my wife's name (which I absolutely didn't) and I'm not claiming the rules don't apply to me. My wife has been playing small stakes online poker on and off for over 10 years, and the winnings she earned were from esports bets and not even from poker which she was down in. I'm not even fighting to have my account reopened, I just want our deposits back.

What games did you play?

Confiscating the full balance certainly seems extreme, although the activity itself definitely should trigger a high level of suspicion.

Under 3.2 Single Account Access it reads ‘ seize any funds gained ‘ , maybe an in?

Write them an email, send them all the info, attach as much information as you can re your wife's playing history to show that she truly plays. That's an important piece to highlight. It says that she is not a noob, has played before, hopefully the same kind of games/stakes, and different than your game selection. If you've ever P2P her in the past, show that, too. You are building a case for habits and not something brand new.

I'll see if I can get you any email address or phone number that is different than on their website.

Good advice.

If she has other accounts on other sites, (especially if you have accounts on those sites, too), maybe send copies of her, (and your), accounts pages there?

It was dumb sending your whole roll to another new account that is in the same household and then trying to freeroll the referral bonus. They should definitely ban you permanently and take all profits made after the new account was made, but they should probably let you cash out the $3000.

Anytime I see one of these threads I try to imagine what it looks like from the security department at the site. Even if you are 100% telling the truth, you have to understand that the security department has seen this exact sequence of events a ton of times and it's almost always scamming.

It isn't surprising that they immediately step in and confiscate everything because if they don't and they are being scammed they will never have an opportunity to collect on the scammed funds.

I wouldn't lose hope that you can get some of that money back, but it will probably take a long time to clear up because of how suspicious this looks from the outside.

I have emailed them numerous times, asking for call backs, and nothing but an automated response that they received my email and no actual response or follow up. The only way I can contact them is through chat, and even then they just say the case is closed and decision is final. I'm starting to lose hope and just chuck it up to an expensive and very stupid mistake.

yea i totally believe you referred your wife and she ran it up sports betting and playing poker. that sounds believable. chances = zero.