Topic: Spanish Guy loses more than €500.000 in a crypto casino (Read 448 times)

Good morning.

The only thing I feel right now is pity, disappointment and frustration for having fallen into online betting.

I'm going to summarise a bit first of all.

A couple of years ago, being bored without too much work, I started to register in online houses to play slots or online roulette, but low amounts (100-400€) was not something too far-fetched. And in a few days when I lost about 800 or 900€, I self-excluded from casinos at the DGOJ [Spanish Gambling Regulator] so that I couldn't register at any other online casino ever again. So far so good, it's a manageable loss (all this in .ES and regulated casinos).

The thing is that last year, with my life savings, I started looking for websites where I could play blackjack online. And this is where my downfall began.

Being Spanish and living in Spain, no website would let me register and many of them would not even let me access (Spanish users can only play in regulated casinos .es in my case, I registered in a cryptocasino licensed in Curaçao because it had games that the Spanish one did not have, for example online blackjack).

The thing is that I found one that did let me.

And here, with the savings from all the time I have been working, I started to make deposits and more and more deposits (in cryptocurrencies).

It was around August 2023. And in one week, I lost approximately ~150.000€.

I ran out of money and had to take out a loan from the bank to keep my monthly expenses, which fortunately were low, slacking off.

Until a few days ago, specifically at the beginning of last week, I received €500,000 [in crypto] from a company that owed me money, and the first thing I did was to pay off the loan and start gambling again. Daily deposits of €50,000 - €100,000 or more.

I have a gambling problem and I didn't know how to stop in time, luckily I still have 1/3 of that payment in my possession.

I have been in contact with lawyers and they have recommended me to talk to the casino, as it is quite popular (I prefer not to say the casino for the moment, if the case arises I will say it and ask for your help, I will draw lots among those who can help).

I sent a private message yesterday to a member of another forum where all these online casinos are and where they mediate between problems that often arise, for example I have evidence that users who have had Spanish connections, have had all their winnings withdrawn and only their deposit refunded.

And this user is in constant contact with the co-founders of this casino that generates around €1m/day.

<...>

I am already in psychiatric and psychological treatment for this gambling addiction.

Apparently, users from Spain were not allowed to play/register but I was put on a white list as I was depositing a lot and at the same time losing it.

I am also in contact with the DOGJ.

Also when I asked them for my account information as I was retrieving as much information as possible, they have closed my account as they say I am in breach of the ToS as I am Spanish, I think they smell that I could not be playing and that is why they are closing it now.

I leave several proofs of deposits and chats with support, I delete logos and certain dates / IPs as it is sensitive information.

<...>

Good morning.

The only thing I feel right now is pity, disappointment and frustration for having fallen into online betting.

I'm going to summarise a bit first of all.

A couple of years ago, being bored without too much work, I started to register in online houses to play slots or online roulette, but low amounts (100-400€) was not something too far-fetched. And in a few days when I lost about 800 or 900€, I self-excluded from casinos at the DGOJ [Spanish Gambling Regulator] so that I couldn't register at any other online casino ever again. So far so good, it's a manageable loss (all this in .ES and regulated casinos).

The thing is that last year, with my life savings, I started looking for websites where I could play blackjack online. And this is where my downfall began.

Being Spanish and living in Spain, no website would let me register and many of them would not even let me access (Spanish users can only play in regulated casinos .es in my case, I registered in a cryptocasino licensed in Curaçao because it had games that the Spanish one did not have, for example online blackjack).

The thing is that I found one that did let me.

And here, with the savings from all the time I have been working, I started to make deposits and more and more deposits (in cryptocurrencies).

It was around August 2023. And in one week, I lost approximately ~150.000€.

I ran out of money and had to take out a loan from the bank to keep my monthly expenses, which fortunately were low, slacking off.

Until a few days ago, specifically at the beginning of last week, I received €500,000 [in crypto] from a company that owed me money, and the first thing I did was to pay off the loan and start gambling again. Daily deposits of €50,000 - €100,000 or more.

I have a gambling problem and I didn't know how to stop in time, luckily I still have 1/3 of that payment in my possession.

I have been in contact with lawyers and they have recommended me to talk to the casino, as it is quite popular (I prefer not to say the casino for the moment, if the case arises I will say it and ask for your help, I will draw lots among those who can help).

I sent a private message yesterday to a member of another forum where all these online casinos are and where they mediate between problems that often arise, for example I have evidence that users who have had Spanish connections, have had all their winnings withdrawn and only their deposit refunded.

And this user is in constant contact with the co-founders of this casino that generates around €1m/day.

<...>

I am already in psychiatric and psychological treatment for this gambling addiction.

Apparently, users from Spain were not allowed to play/register but I was put on a white list as I was depositing a lot and at the same time losing it.

I am also in contact with the DOGJ.

Also when I asked them for my account information as I was retrieving as much information as possible, they have closed my account as they say I am in breach of the ToS as I am Spanish, I think they smell that I could not be playing and that is why they are closing it now.

I leave several proofs of deposits and chats with support, I delete logos and certain dates / IPs as it is sensitive information.

<...>

We should learn from this story. This is what will likely happen to us if we don't gamble with what we can afford to lose. This amount may be too huge for most of us, but even if it's a lower amount, it can still negatively affect our lives. We should not let that happen.

They say we learn from our experiences, sometimes the hard way. Actually, it's not necessary to learn the hard way...just reflect on the stories and experiences of other gamblers and learn from them so we don't have to lose before we learn.

I would like to bring here a thread seen in a famous Spanish-speaking forum. I am going to translate part of the OP, but I would like to clarify first that throughout the thread the OP has clarified quite a few things and has provided evidence, so I, who have been in that forum for years, believe that the story is true.

~snip~