BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

I cannot believe a poker website with the popularity of bodog.com would steal my winnings but they did.
Here is what happened. I registered with bodog and gave them my checking account number and routing number.
My initial withdrawl from my checking account was for $100.00.
I played for about 5 days and was fortunate enough to win over $500.00.

Last night I went to sign-in to play and discovered my account was frozen with a message to phone them.

When I phoned them I was informed that my checking account number was invalid. It turned out I left off the last digit of the 11 number account.

They asked me to fill out their Bank Verification Form and send them a copy of my drivers license and a void check and told me they would re-instate my account within 2 to 5 hours.

Well guess what!!!! After I gave them what the wanted, they re-instated my account with a ZERO balance and kept my winnings claiming I could have been trying to swindle them out of their money.

I can guarantee you that no one could swindle them out of their money because they will not pay you your winnings until your initial deposit clears the bank.

Besides that, I NEVER tried to make a withdrawl.

I made an honest mistake and they stole my money and did it with a straight face insulting me at the same time!

Obviously I will never play at their website again and I hope you do not either as there are plenty of great poker sites out there that would show compassion for my error.

What if I would have lost the initial hundred? Do you think they would have told me, "oh never mind, its ok we do not need you to pay us!". Heck no!!! They would have gone through every method known to man to collect!

Pirates, thieves, STAY AWAY!!!!

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Why don't people use Neteller? sigh.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

i too, lost $500 at bodog

was doing a PSO bonus and deposited $500, heard stud was easy played some, got killed went down 150, then went down 350 at 2-4 full ring at a very juicy game to some unbelievable suckouts, i mean christ these fishes were worse than party and i was there gettin killed. RIGGED!! lol, but yeah i'm never going back to that BS site again with all those square lookin things. bodog is rigged lol

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
i too, lost $500 at bodog

was doing a PSO bonus and deposited $500, heard stud was easy played some, got killed went down 150, then went down 350 at 2-4 full ring at a very juicy game to some unbelievable suckouts, i mean christ these fishes were worse than party and i was there gettin killed. RIGGED!! lol, but yeah i'm never going back to that BS site again with all those square lookin things. bodog is rigged lol

[/ QUOTE ]

Was this sarcasm?

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Bodog has hands down the best customer service of any site out there. I find it hard to believe they would obviously screw you over like this. Have you tried calling them and rationally discussing this?

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Rags,

They really didn't steal anything. You played with $100 that wasn't yours. Bodog lends you the money to play with until your payment clears. Next time be more careful when entering important information.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

I phoned them 5 times and was treated rudely and accused of trying to swindle them out of my 100 dollar deposit! All I did was unintentionally omit the last digit of my checking account number.

They simply refused to budge and told me if I had lost the 100, they could have never collected. This is absurd as I honor all bets and always have.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
I phoned them 5 times and was treated rudely and accused of trying to swindle them out of my 100 dollar deposit! All I did was unintentionally omit the last digit of my checking account number.

They simply refused to budge and told me if I had lost the 100, they could have never collected. This is absurd as I honor all bets and always have.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with above. It really wasn't your money anyway...but more importantly...GET NETELLER.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Like I said, I made no attempt to try and cash out my winnings. I simply made an honest mistake and they should have honored my mistake after I gave them the information they requested which proved my account number was one digit short and not a bunch of randomly made up numbers.

Plus no one who was intentionally trying to scam them could ever cash out since their initial withdrawl would never clear.

They even state on their website that it is their sole discretion as to whether to return the funds which I interpet to mean that it is a case by case basis.

I played there in good faith and made the 100 withdrawl available to them the minute I found out about the error.

This is just bad business as who in their right mind would continue to patronize a site that wiped out your winnings?

Sorry but I am not a crook and should not be penalized for my innocent mistake of omitting the very last digit in an 11 digit account number.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
Like I said, I made no attempt to try and cash out my winnings. I simply made an honest mistake and they should have honored my mistake after I gave them the information they requested which proved my account number was one digit short and not a bunch of randomly made up numbers.

Plus no one who was intentionally trying to scam them could ever cash out since their initial withdrawl would never clear.

They even state on their website that it is their sole discretion as to whether to return the funds which I interpet to mean that it is a case by case basis.

I played there in good faith and made the 100 withdrawl available to them the minute I found out about the error.

This is just bad business as who in their right mind would continue to patronize a site that wiped out your winnings?

Sorry but I am not a crook and should not be penalized for my innocent mistake of omitting the very last digit in an 11 digit account number.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok. Get neteller, avoid this situation in the future.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

I have also had bad experiences with bodog support despite the positive remarks people give them. I mean come on, you left out 1 digit in an 11 digit number. Any fair business would say ok honest mistake and that would be the end of it. Do they think you're going to play there again now? lol

I will never deposit money at bodog again no matter what. Not like there's not other sites to play at.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

You [censored] up not them
Even if this was an honest mistake, Im sure a lot of people pull this crap with them and they cant allow it. They should return the money to the players you won it from.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Funny. This same EXACT thing happened to a friend of mine. No, not me, I prefer live play and RARELY play onlne.

He deposited 500 US and did the same thing, left off last digit. He was up to about 4kish playing NL 5/10 and so on. They confiscatd the money and went through through the same things as you did with the verification and so on. He asked will those people he won the money from get it back. They said no, we keep it for expenses.

Note: Use neteller
He learned a hard lesson too. Dont make mistakes when dealing with bank accounts. But Bodog should not be keeping the money he won. Refund the players or something.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Most people who make posts like these are scammers who get caught and I usually flame them, but yours sounds genuine. This is totally unacceptable of Bodog.

Thanks for posting and I will never play there after reading your post.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

The problem is people probably have tried to defraud the site using this method:

ScamArtistA deposits under various account details with "one number wrong" at all the poker sites. He either runs this up to a huge amound or busts out. He doesn't worry about the site he busts from, but he does "correct his mistake" at the sites he ran good at. Hey Presto, Free Money.

You never actually had any money deposited at Bodog. They let you play with their money. If you had busted it would have been to your benefit. YOU NEVER HAD MONEY ON THE SITE, THEY STOLE NOTHING. QUIT MOANING. THEY DID NOTHING WRONG.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

While this DOES suck, they are correct that someone could scam them in this way.

1) Deposit with barely wrong bank account number.
2) Gambooool
3) If you win, call them to correct bank info and cashout. If you lose, avoid their emails and never go back.

The only way to prevent someone from doing this is to prevent people who made an honest mistake from cashing out as well. It is a crappy situation, but it seems like the only way to avoid it is to a) not let you play instantly with un-cleared deposits, or b) do what they did to you.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Doesn't everyone allways double check financial information anyway? It's actually a pretty difficult mistake to make genuinely. If you do make it, then you only have yourself to blame.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Becuase i believe you i will give you some decent advice. Post this exact same story on a website called therx.com. Its a sort of a watchdog site for sportsbooks. Since bodog is a big sportsbook that advertises their, they will be more apt to correct the problem if in fact your story is true.

ALso make sure to post the story in the offshore talk board.

good luck

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
While this DOES suck, they are correct that someone could scam them in this way.

1) Deposit with barely wrong bank account number.
2) Gambooool
3) If you win, call them to correct bank info and cashout. If you lose, avoid their emails and never go back.

The only way to prevent someone from doing this is to prevent people who made an honest mistake from cashing out as well. It is a crappy situation, but it seems like the only way to avoid it is to a) not let you play instantly with un-cleared deposits, or b) do what they did to you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

This is your fault not theirs. They're only doing what they have to do. You should be more careful when entering your account information. It's either they confiscate the funds or make people wait until everything clears before they play. But since most people carefully check the account numbers when entering the information I'm sure it's not that common of a situation.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

why is everyone blaming OP?

the site should not have authorized funds if the acct number was not valid. they should have processed the w/drawal, then funded the bodog acct once approved. then no one would be disappointed and bodog doesnt have to worry about this type of scam. seems rather easy to avoid.

bwana

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]

If you win, call them to correct bank info and cashout.
If you lose, avoid their emails and never go back.


[/ QUOTE ]

Reminds me of the Party Cabin Downgrade Gamboooling Rush of '06!

Post deleted by Mat Sklansky
 

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
why is everyone blaming OP?

the site should not have authorized funds if the acct number was not valid. they should have processed the w/drawal, then funded the bodog acct once approved. then no one would be disappointed and bodog doesnt have to worry about this type of scam. seems rather easy to avoid.

bwana

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, and until then, it's OP's problem.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

If this is Bodog's official policy then they need to put a huge disclaimer on the page where you enter the bank account # that says

"PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT NUMBER! If you enter the wrong one we will keep any winnings"

etc.

unless they put this as a very clear disclaimer (not fine print) and make you enter your account number twice I think the OP should get his money.

obviously they want to avoid people doing this on purpose, but they need a big red disclaimer on the deposit screen.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Bodog Terms & Conditions:

"13. If any eCash deposit is uncollectible for any reason, all winnings generated from that deposit will be considered invalid. "

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
Bodog Terms & Conditions:

"13. If any eCash deposit is uncollectible for any reason, all winnings generated from that deposit will be considered invalid. "

[/ QUOTE ]
This clause does not apply as the $100 debt is in fact collectible because OP is making good on it. If this is the only applicable T&C then Bodog is clearly unjustified in keeping the money.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

I said they need to make it more up front, like on the actual deposit page where the user is entering his bank account info. He needs to see this text displayed prominently so he can make very certain his information is correct.

They should also adopt a "enter it twice for verification" type system, like with passwords at most sites.

This would eliminate people who accidentally screw up like the OP and also still allow Bodog to prevent retards from trying to steal money.

The open endedness of these T&C really scare me to

"for any reason"

that's about as broad as you can get. So what if there is an electrial storm that prevents the EFT from going through and I win 1st in a MTT for 100K, theyc an keep my money because my deposit didn't go through, after all doesn't an electrical storm fall under "any reason"

I'm not sayign Bodog is being completely ridiculous, I understand their policy and why they do it, however they need to make it such that innocent folk don't get entangled in a mess like this because of a small error.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
While this DOES suck, they are correct that someone could scam them in this way.

1) Deposit with barely wrong bank account number.
2) Gambooool
3) If you win, call them to correct bank info and cashout. If you lose, avoid their emails and never go back.

The only way to prevent someone from doing this is to prevent people who made an honest mistake from cashing out as well. It is a crappy situation, but it seems like the only way to avoid it is to a) not let you play instantly with un-cleared deposits, or b) do what they did to you.

[/ QUOTE ]
This is true but consider that it's an inadequate precaution. A real scammer would open a new checking account with virtually no money in it, make the deposit at Bodog with correct account information and gamble it up. Then if he wins he quickly runs to the bank before the e-check bounces. Bodog cannot object to this because the possibility of an NSF check is never visible to them.

Bodog's handling of this situation is very bad for online poker. It looks shady and disreputable and creates very negative word-of-mouth for the industry. No matter how much you believe in the quoted argument it doesn't change anything. When Joe Gambler gets burned this way he invariably is going to tell all his friends that he got ripped off by an online poker site.

It's not just Bodog that pays for its bad behavior, it's every online poker site and you and me too. Without trust online poker cannot exist. Trust seems to be especially fragile right now with the constant parade of cheating scandals involving major players and business scandals involving major poker rooms.

Bodog's behavior as described by OP shouldn't be acceptable. We shouldn't be making excuses for poker rooms with low ethical standards. If the facts presented are correct then Bodog needs to pay the player his winnings. If they won't do that then they deserve to be condemned and blacklisted. Seizing player funds without ironclad justification is unacceptable and the player community needs to say this and keep saying it until the Bodogs of the world get it.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
Rags,

They really didn't steal anything. You played with $100 that wasn't yours. Bodog lends you the money to play with until your payment clears. Next time be more careful when entering important information.

[/ QUOTE ]

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Bodog didn't lend him a dime. He deposited $100 of his own money into their site.

BODOG in an attempt to get him tot he tables as fast as possible assumed the transaction was valid and gave him his $100 without receiving it first.

Why are they allowed to make mistakes and profit $500 from it and the OP not allowed to make any? OP is the customer.

I think too many posters ont hese boards have become so soured by all the "online pok3r is so riggzzzed" monkeys out there they assume every poster with a complaint is a moron and that online poker rooms are blameless.

I have never had a single bad experience with a poker room, in fact I've had only good ones, however it's stupid to dismiss every single person with a greivance against a site.

I think part of it is the fear we will create a climate of "everyone complaining about everything" and I don't want that either, but let's just approach each situation objectively.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

[ QUOTE ]
Why don't people use Neteller? sigh.

[/ QUOTE ]

Why do people keep suggesting this? Not everyone can use Neteller.

For example, the don't accept customers from Maryland, which means I can't use them. I hate when people give this response like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Your (and many of the other posters' on this subject) logic is flawed.

Bodog may not have stolen anything from OP, but I strongly doubt they returned the $400 he "won" (or any part of their rake) to the parties that lost them.

Or maybe you are all sure that they donated the money to some charity we all support?

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

I scanned the rest of it, its funny though from the caps in the title and number of exclamation points you can usually guesstimate how many posts they have.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

If I'm not mistaken, all bank account #s in the US are 11 digits. If you try to enter 10, there should be some kind of pop-up window telling you that you entered an incorrect number of digits, similar to what happens when you enter 15 digits of a credit card somewhere. This would lead me to believe that OP is lying or Bodog's programmers suck.

Edit: Bodog's programmers do in fact suck, so this would make me tend to belive OP. Does anyone else think that if he's telling the truth, this should never have happened.

Also, I'm not entirely sure about all accounts being 11 digits.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

The 11 digit thing is false. I know I have a Chase account that is 12 digits.

And the credit card number thing is wrong too... Amex cards are all 15 digits.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

That's a seperate issue really. Of course they should return the money to the players. But that has nothing to do with the need for the policy. I do agree with those saying you simply shouldn't be allowed to play until the money clears. Not exactly customer friendly but certainly avoids situations like this.

But seriously...who does an online bank transfer without carefully checking the acct#'s? That's pretty stupid IMO.

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

BODOG is not to be trusted! They are run by a known cheater and swindler and will steal your money any way they can. Stay away. Stay far away!

moses

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

Bwana,

That is exactly my point. I would have gladly waited the 4 days and received either confirmation from my bank or a no-go from Bo-Dog.

I just signed up on Poker Stars and I am waiting until my bank account shows the withdrawl as I cannot handle winning again and having the funds stolen back. Although I do not think Poker Stars would ever do such a thing as a friend of mine received an email from PS informing him that they were giving him additional funds for a Sit And Go that he finished third in. Turns out the two players who finished one and two were in colusion so PS gave my friend the winnings from that one Sit and Go tournament.

Which leads to another point with Bodog. If bodog took my winnings back, wouldnt it make sense that they should refund the money to the players who I won the money from?

Re: BODOG STOLE MY WINNINGS!!!
 

No, your post is total bull [censored]. If someone was to scam bodog you would be damn sure they would try to get the money back. But if the mistake was on the players side they have the right to take the money and the player has no chance? They should simply withdraw 100$ from the correct account and it should be settled. Honestly, the way this worked out I hope that many people make fake accounts, deposit money fradulently and then dump it. Perhaps bodog should reconsider how they handle deposits if there is such a large area for exploitation.