- $707,000 poker winnings seized from my account
- Not redistributed to players – kept by Entain
- No proof/evidence of wrong doing provided by Entain – a completely arbitrary decision
- Given the run around as to how to solve the issue – including Entain offering me a lower sum if they could keep a significant sum for their own profit (offer later withdrawn)
- Entain not to be trusted – acting like an unregulated site – your money is not safe.
Posting this to raise awareness that Entain brands; including Ladbrokes, Party Poker, Party Casino, BWIN, Sporting Bet, Bet MGM, Coral, Eurobet, TAB NZ, Super Sport Croatia, STS Poland, Bet City NL, Opti Bet, Coral, Crystal Bet, Gioco Digitale, Gala Bingo, Foxy Bingo, Neds, Bet Boo, Vistabet and many more, cannot be trusted to honor your payout if you win. Your money is at risk if you deposit with Entain brands and your winnings are liable to seizure without any formal reasoning or evidence being supplied.
Entain is a brand that until very recently accepted players using VPNs from a wide number of banned countries including almost certainly facilitating/turning a blind eye to players from the USA playing on their Dot Com poker network.
I am about to start legal proceedings against Entain. As my English is not very good, this post has been written alongside my legal advisor. The information within the post is verifiable and as accurate as my records permit.
Backstory: I was a large volume Spins grinder on Party Poker, playing as part of the Team 651 stable of players, who were a large part of the players on Party Poker’s higher stakes Spins games. I was based in Romania originally and moved to Ireland. Whilst in Ireland I started to play on Party Poker, as part of the Team 651 stable. I also travelled around Europe playing online poker and live cash game poker. But still grinding Spins whenever I could. I spent a considerable amount of time in Dublin, staying with friends and people I met in the poker community there. By playing on Party Poker in Ireland, I was playing in a permitted country, I was asked to provide some documents to show I was in Dublin, I asked for help to get something, and my friend (who I was staying with at the time) said he had sorted it and provided me with an electricity bill for his premises, but in my name. In July 2021 submitted this in good faith to Party Poker, and it was accepted. If at this stage Entain had rejected my document, I would have course have rectified the matter immediately.
Between July 2021 and October 2022 I played on Party Poker, and was never asked to provide further documentation. I deposited almost $100,000 during this period. During this time I carried on moving around Ireland, and sometimes other countries, staying with friends and playing a mixture of live and online poker.
On 5th October 2022 I won the $1,000,000 Jackpot Prize on Party Poker’s $100 Spins game, beating an Argentinian player and a UK player in the process. Both of whom won $100,000 each. At this stage in my life I decided that I wanted to slow down my online poker play for a while, and focus on traveling and playing live poker. I wanted to return to online poker at some point, so decided to withdraw my winnings in “small” increments. By 14th February 2023 I had withdrawn $300,000 and had approximately $707,000 left in my Party Poker account, which I was intending to withdraw. As a stable player I owed a portion of my winnings to the stable, this amounted to $300,000. The remaining $707,000 was mine. I like many others trusted Party Poker, and their parent company Entain to be a safe place to keep my winnings. In fact at the time, I considered Party Poker was probably a safer place to keep my winnings than a bank or online wallet.
On or shortly after 14th February 2023 I discovered that my account was locked and inaccessible. I immediately contacted Team 651 (my stable), who contacted their affiliate. Entain / Party Poker never contacted me about the fact that they had frozen my account, until over 4 months later, when they finally answered an email.
It was only after a conversation with my affiliate, who had in turn had conversations with Entain did I find out that Entain had closed my account claiming that I had broken their T&C by providing a suspected faked document. It is important to note that Entain had previously accepted this document as genuine; and had therefore permitted me to deposit almost $100,000. It was apparently good enough to take money from me, but no longer good enough to pay money out to me.
At no stage during this whole period have Entain given me any detail or evidence about the document, they simply claim it is fake and based on their T&C can apparently seize my balance, with no due process or evidence supplied. I have asked Entain in multiple emails to provide evidence of the documents being fake and they refused. Their ability to arbitrarily decide whether a document is real or fake and to apply such strict T&C, to seize money won is a huge red flag to anyone thinking of playing or betting with an Entain brand. Don’t risk it.
You have to ask yourself; “If Entain is willing to seize money that belongs to the poker community, how willing would Entain be to seize money won which hits their P&L, a big sports win or a big casino win for example”.
The money seized is not a profit and loss item for Entain, it is player funds; however Entain wanted to and currently are treating it as a P&L benefit.
Via my Affiliate I was told that Entain would pay out my balance if I provided new documentary evidence that I was in Dublin. I did this, with multiple documents, photos and even a photo taken of my laptop screen logged into my own Irish electricity account. This documentation was completely genuine and impossible to fake. I submitted this documentation and again via my Affiliate found out that Entain had changed their mind; they would no longer accept it. During this time I even cashed at a poker tournament in Dublin, not sure how it would have been possible to fake that! Note, Entain were still not corresponding with me directly, I received no detailed correspondence between 14th February 2023 and 23rd June 2023. They ignored me, and only sent me standard auto reply emails prior to the 23rd June 2023.
During this time I was aware of and personally know at least five other players who were in exactly the same situation as me. Accounts closed due to suspected (but not proven) faked documents, however, each of these five players was permitted to cash out their balance. One of these players was actually permitted to provide new documents and carry on playing. The only difference between my case and their cases was the value of the balance and Entain’s desire to turn poker network player funds into a P&L benefit.
I next heard (via my Affiliate) that Entain proposed a deal, they would pay out my balance, minus $100,000 which they wished to keep, to add to their P&L. I reluctantly accepted the proposal, after all $607,000 is better than $0. Shortly after accepting I was told (via my Affiliate) that the offer was being withdrawn. I suspect if at that stage I had gone back to Entain and offered a 50/50 split, they would have accepted. However – even though I considered this, the fact that a large FTSE 100 Index, UK Regulated Gambling company was trying to create revenue for their P&L from poker player funds was something I was willing to fight.
I did eventually hear from Entain with an email correspondence that properly started on 23rd June 2023, during which I questioned their processes, the fairness of other players being paid out, asked for evidence that the documents were fakes, and received very short shrift answers, until they informed me that the matter was closed. I even emailed Entain’s CEO (at the time) Jette Nygaard Andersen, however I did not even receive even a basic reply. I more recently emailed Group DOperations Director, Peter Marcus, who also failed to reply.
My only option was to appeal to eCogra, which I did, and was eventually told that Entain had acted within the bounds of their T&Cs. I have since been told that eCogra is funded by the large gambling operators and almost never finds in favour of the player. It is important to note that eCogra did not say I was using fake documents, or that I had broken any gambling rules or laws, it simply said that Entain’s T&C permitted them to do what they did. Which is why the warning has to be taken seriously – do you want to have money deposited with a company that has such one sided T&Cs?
All through this period I have accrued debt and suffered hugely with my mental health. I played as part of a stable, so my first withdrawals were given to the stable, I did not profit a single dollar from my win. I have had to borrow money and get into considerable debt. This has had a devastating impact on my mental health, and I have been as low as to feel suicidal on a number of occasions. I explained this to Entain, who failed to even acknowledge or offer an apology. This is a regulated gambling giant that doesn’t care about players once they have stopped playing. This is a gambling giant that once it realised I had stopped playing, decided there was no revenue opportunity from my balance and decided to act – regardless of the impact it was going to have on my mental health and well being.
How Entain acts illegally and immorally
Entain has gone to great lengths to distance themselves from the practices of the previous senior management when it was called GVC. Recently Entain settled with the UK CPS to pay a fine of £615million, related to the activities in Turkey when it was called GVC. Entain’s chairman Barry Gibson said: “This legacy matter concerns a business which was sold by a former management team six years ago. The Group has changed immeasurably since these events took place, and the DPA process has provided a reminder of the stark differences between the GVC of yesterday and the Entain of today. We are committed to continuing our journey towards operating only in regulated markets, and are now widely recognised as a best-in-class, responsible operator with the highest levels of corporate governance across all aspects of our business."
Entain’s Group Operations Director, Peter Marcus, was recently interviewed in SBC News
https://sbcnews.co.uk/features/inter...er-marcus-arc/) about the work Entain has done to protect customers. There are several key claims Mr Marcus makes in this article, which are blatantly untrue.
Mr Marcus says “How you talk to the customer, how you communicate with them, what you say, when you say it, and where you say it, is so important. That’s what makes a fundamental difference, actually, for a customer.” Entain did not communicate with me for four months after closing my account, this shows how the reality is very different to the claim.
The article talks a lot about protecting the customer, but I was permitted to deposit almost $100,000 after submitting documentation, which only after 18 months was suddenly deemed to be fake. If I was protected, I should not have been able to deposit that value, and Entain should have asked me a long time ago to provide new documentation.
Mr Marcus talks about being “honest and upfront and open with the customer” given I was not communicated with for 4 months, then Entain refused to provide me with evidence that my document was fake, then Entain asked me to provide new documentation in order to receive my withdrawal and later changed their mind, then Entain made me an offer to accept a lower sum and later withdrew the offer, it is hardly honest, upfront or open. And given Entain has held onto over $700,000 of player money for almost a year during which time Entain has closed many markets – thus shutting off the access to any redistributed funds – is also hardly honest, upfront or open.
As Group Operations Director, Mr Marcus is responsible for my case and was, I believe, the ultimate decision maker. It is Mr Marcus who has supported the removal of money from my account, and therefore the removal of over $700,000 from the poker community.
It is Mr Marcus who decides whether players with closed accounts due to recently banned countries get paid anything in a redistribution of funds scenario.
I contacted Mr Marcus on Tuesday 30th January, and asked for a reply within 48 hours, he ignored my email.
Entain also goes to great lengths to try and show that they are now a different business to the previous GVC business. However, in more recent times, whilst branded Entain, and whilst under the stewardship of Mr Gibson, Entain has:
Allowed players using what they later claim to be faked documents to deposit huge sums into Party Poker (and possibly many other brands)
Applied totally inconsistent rules to players who are accused of providing faked documents – paying some players out, and even permitting at least 1 player to carry on playing.
Continue to allow USA based players to play on their brands, after providing documents claiming to live in Canada or Mexico or Costa Rica and using VPN software or screen sharing software to get around IP blocks
Note: Recently Entain introduced a VPN blocker on Party Poker, which blocks “some” VPN services, but I have seen first hand players using VPN and still playing on Party Poker.
Note: Entain has not introduced VPN blockers on some of their bigger brands such as Ladbrokes or Bwin – I’d imagine the risk to their P&L is too great
Taken $707,000 out of the poker community. Party Poker claims to have a best in class Game Integrity team who ensure the network is fair. This might be case when spotting collusion or chip dumping, but how fair can that Game Integrity team actually make the Entain poker network if the parent company thinks taking $707,000 of player funds and almost certainly adding it to their P&L is an acceptable practice?
It has been 11 and a half months since Entain seized my funds, and they have not redistributed the money yet.
Even if Entain decide to eventually redistribute seized funds, since seizure, they have closed many markets including Austria where a lot of my fellow grinders were based, and Argentina where one of the biggest Spins players was located, the same player who lost the jackpot game.
i. Entain have stated previously that they will not redistribute funds to accounts that are now in closed markets. Their own 11 and a half month delay is going to cost a lot of players a lot of money. Entain deciding to retain any portion of the money won, whether it was the $100,000 they proposed, whether it be monies owed to closed country players, or as currently, whether it is all of it, is immoral and further shows they cannot be trusted to run a fair network, or be trusted with your funds.
As of right now Entain has acted contrary to the Gibraltar Gambling regulations, they have taken the $707,000 seized from my account and not redistributed it to players – 11 and a half months is plenty of time to do this. In one of the few emails sent to me by Party Poker, I was told:
i. “Furthermore, as we previously explained, in line with discussions with our regulator, the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner, the remaining winnings in your Account will be distributed to the applicable players who were playing at the relevant time. In this context, we do not stand to benefit commercially from the course of action we have taken in relation to your Account.”
ii. No money has been redistributed, Entain will not redistribute to the accounts of players in closed countries, and Entain has and fully intends to benefit commercially from this course of action.
iii. Even if Entain back tracks and redistributes the money to players, and even if Entain further back tracks and redistributes the money to players in closed markets, Entain does still benefit commercially. I had stopped playing for a while, Entain were not seeing any revenue being generated by me, and I was clearly withdrawing the money on regular basis. Then Entain closed my account, but unlike many others Entain would not pay out my balance, thus they themselves blocked me from playing and generating revenue for them.
iv. However, even if Entain redistributes all of this money, a significant proportion of that money will be turned into revenue in the form of Rake, Tournament Fees, MTT Buy-ins (reducing Overlay costs), Casino and Sports Revenue.
v. It is likely that Entain would benefit between $250,000 and $500,000 in revenue from the recycling of that $707,000.
vi. Therefore, a claim that “we do not stand to benefit commercially” is, and always will be a lie. This is almost certainly Entain’s motivation – add the seized funds to the P&L, or at least earn further revenue from other players when some or all of the funds are redistributed and then recycled.
I know I am not the only player who has had funds seized in this unfair manner and whilst my balance might be the largest seized, there are many dozens of players with smaller balances seized, all of which has contributed to Entain’s P&L for 2023, money which does not belong to Entain, it is player funds and should be redistributed in full, or repaid to the account holders.
So far not a single cent of this money had been redistributed to players, Entain is probably hoping to keep it all.
Entain operates a poker network that includes players from third party brands. Their partners include MGM and Borgata in the USA, PMU in France and Danske Spil in Denmark, for the network owner to remove at least $707,000 of player funds, and treat it as Party Poker profit, rather than redistribute it to players, who would include players from other internal brands and third party brands, is almost certainly a breach of contract between Entain and the third party.
Entain has acted as its own police force, its own prosecution team and its own sentencing body, without any proper scrutiny. Peter Marcus is responsible for the Operations team, and Peter Marcus is responsible for the decisions made in this case.
Their operations department permitted players to play for 18 months and more.
The same operations department permitted those players to deposit and lose many hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The same operations department then made a completely arbitrary, unproven and hidden decision that a large number of players had provided fake documents.
The same operations department then made several offers to me about proving I was in Ireland (I did) or taking a smaller sum (I agreed) – only for the same operations department to withdraw both offers
The same operations department then briefed internally to get approval to seize the funds and to take player funds and make them a P&L benefit.
One department, covering up their failings, closing accounts, not being held accountable to external scrutiny, whilst trying to boost the company P&L at the same time.
