What Happened
A player from Serbia deposited €500 across three payments at BitStarz, took the welcome package, and after a winning run asked to withdraw €4,750 with about €990 still in the account. They say the casino then cancelled everything, returned only the last deposit of around €184 and told them an older account had already used the welcome bonus. The player argued the winnings came from their own deposit, not the bonus, and said three follow-up emails went unanswered.
How It Developed
- 2026-09-18Complaint opened. The player said they could not rule out an old account under a temporary email, but called that beside the point.
- 2026-09-29The mediator read the bet history and pointed out that the balance which later grew came straight out of play tagged to the third-deposit bonus, so the bonus could not be set aside.
- 2026-09-29The player replied with a calculation of how the bonus money would have been spent and said they expected nothing from the case but wanted it on record.
- 2026-10-06BitStarz joined and sent its evidence to the resolver privately.
- 2026-10-07The mediator ruled that an earlier account with the same details had used deposit bonuses in 2016, the new one took the welcome package again in 2026, and the winnings were not independent of the promotion. Rejected.
Rejected
BitStarz showed a 2016 account with the same details had already used the welcome bonus; the mediator found the winnings tied to bonus play.
What Has (and Hasn't) Helped
Nothing worked for the player. Two things decided it: BitStarz's records of a 2016 account with matching details, and the bet history showing the balance rolled straight from bonus play into normal play. A welcome bonus is one per person for life, even if the first account is a decade old and forgotten.