This is really bad, and I'm starting to worry about the financial stability of Ignition.

I have always been against unregulated online casinos like Ignition. You never know if you're getting a fair game. Since you're playing against the house, the incentive to rig their casino games is enormous. If you do suspect you were cheated, you have no recourse other than to complain on social media. Most people do not have a sufficient social media following to get noticed.

While I don't trust the slots on sites like Ignition, I will say that I've long trusted Ignition to pay out winners. Many unregulated online casinos are outright scams -- they'll take your deposit money, but they won't pay you if you win. Up until now, that wasn't Ignition's issue. They've paid people quickly and efficiently. I can testify to this myself, as I was a longtime poker player there, who got frequent (and quick) cashouts successfully.

But that was then, and this is now.

"Mandi Minx" is a longtime member of the poker community. She's 39 years old, from Minnesota, and while not a huge name in poker, has a decent Twitter following of 4500+ people.

I don't know what possessed her to play online slots on Ignition, but for whatever reason she's been doing so. For awhile, she was routinely losing, as does almost everyone else there. Then, on November 2, this happened:

https://twitter.com/pkrprncss/status/1594514424722853891



Pretty much the ultimate degenerate thing to do -- playing online slots while in a physical casino -- but that's what Mandi was doing, and she had her dream result. She hit a $250k jackpot, and fortunately it was on Ignition, a site associated with Bodog/Bovada, which had a 20+ year history of paying winners.

However, since then it's been nothing but frustration, disappointment, and the increasing feeling that this life-changing event was nothing but smoke and mirrors. Mandi's account has been locked for 3 weeks for no reason, and they will not explain why. It appears they are looking for reasons to endlessly delay paying out, or are trying to find an excuse to steal the money!

Understandably, Ignition wanted to get some verification that Mandi was who she claimed to be:

Quote Originally Posted by Mandi Minx
They also asked for enhanced verification, such was me standing in front of the numbers where I live, holding up my ID, and then another picture of me, holding the days newspaper with a hand written letter, saying I was who I was.
Ignition and Bovada have long been paranoid about "bonus abuse", where people create multiple accounts under fake names, fund them with bitcoin, get multiple new player deposit bonuses, and then run the freeplay in the casino, in an attempt to freeroll Ignition/Bovada. Indeed, such a scheme took place some years ago which cost the sites a lot of money. I understand why they'd want to make sure that the jackpot winner is legitimately the person whose name is on the account.

However, that should not be the concern with Mandi. As you see from her quote above, she sent her ID, took pictures of herself standing in front of the address she registered under, and took another picture holding up the day's newspaper. Mandi herself is also seen on video winning the jackpot -- a coincidence because she was with friends at the time, one of whom happened to be recording her when she won. Additionally, she's had this account for years, and has been playing slots on there with real money since July. This was NOT a case of bonus abuse.


It has now been 3 weeks. Every request Mandi has made for information has been met with the same answer: "We're investigating. Be patient."

They will not explain what they are investigating, nor will they give a timetable. Today, she attempted to call during business hours (Monday-Friday, 9a-5p EST), and asked for "financial services", which is the middle management of Ignition. They would not let her speak to financial services, and again told her to "be patient".



But wait... is it possible Mandi is pulling one over on everyone? Is there a chance she did something shady, and Ignition is rightfully investigating her account? No. Because this has happened to others recently, as well. Read on...