Casino Issues at ThisIsVegas / Paradise 8: $80,150 Revoked

This posting is not entertainment. It is for people who have a capital investment in www.thisisvegas.com ("TIV") and its skins Paradise 8 ( Paradise8 ), Cocoa Casino, and Davinci's Gold. To avoid bloat, I make multiple footnotes referencing files attached at the bottom of this post.

By late January of 2023, I had a combined balance of $140,000+ at TIV and Paradise 8. The sites are clones of each other, and I dealt with the same people. Thus, I will use "TIV" to refer to both. After months of extensive play on TIV's raffles and tournaments, I had VIP status. However, I had also become deeply suspicious of TIV's tournaments (1) which I document fully in a file attached at the bottom. Since it would reflect on credibility, I consider this issue to intersect with other parts of my posting. Originally, I chose not to disclose my suspicions to TIV fearing I'd be classified as a player of lesser value and my payouts inhibited.

At this point, I was receiving payouts at a reasonable rate, albeit briefly. No longer trusting TIV, I sharply cut my action and my VIP status and payout frequency diminished. I've no issue that my VIP status was phased out, but the diminishing payout frequency started to violate TIV's own stated T&C (2) and became unacceptable at any status. I've attached a complete accounting of TIV's payouts as well as my deposits (3). In response to receiving no payments between 8/2/2023 and 9/15/2023 (and other lapses/issues), I issued a complaint at another site. In response to warnings that I would do so, TIV warned that, if I followed through, they would revoke money from my account relating to unspecified prizes and bonuses. I saw this threat as another reason to complain. TIV went on to revoke $80,150.

Prizes Revoked:
$75,000 (Tournament Prize - 3rd Place) - 01/26/2023
$1,600 ("Cash Back" Deposit Bonus) - 04/05/2023
$700 (Raffle Prize) - 04/06/2023
$1,600 ("Cash Back" Deposit Bonus) - 05/24/2023
$1,250 (Raffle Prize) - 05/25/2023

TIV cited rule 6.5 (4). I considered this invalid for multiple reasons. An abridged argument is below. For supplemental, see (5).

-Scattered within emails advertising tournaments, prizes had been labeled "real cash", prize tables had been denominated as "USD", and there was a statement "The rules are straightforward. The player with the most points during the tournament will take the 1st prize of $150,000". All emails advertising tournaments/raffles broke down the prize pools yet referenced no T&C or anything representing the prizes as other than cash. More importantly, support had confirmed prizes to me as cash multiple times.

-TIV revoked two $1600 "cash back" deposit bonuses which should already have been zeroed out and removed from the picture. The $1250 and $700 raffle prizes I won, even if they were to be considered "cash back", should also have been zeroed out according to rules dictated to me on 4/4/2023.

-If there were "cash back" bonuses on my account in the manner TIV claims, they should have been removed from my account with the first following payout request. This should have included a $75,000 deduction back in January. The only precedent, a $19,000 non-cashable "cash back" deposit bonus, was removed automatically at the first following payout on 1/8/2023. TIV later claimed they were being generous allowing me to request payouts without immediate deductions. If this were true, why hide their generosity and wait months to point out this was even the case? I had indicated multiple times I considered my balance "cash". Consider alternate explanations:

1. The $80,150 was not originally deducted because it was cash.

2. TIV deliberately sidestepped their own T&C regarding the removal of "cash back" to keep me playing under would be false pretenses, i.e. that their tournament/raffle prizes were cash. This would greatly exaggerate their perceived value. For example, a $150,000 cash back bonus worth maybe $50,000 real money would appear to be worth $150,000 (8).

-Revoking prizes in response to a player initiating a complaint is unjustified. At a minimum, that $80,150 could have been used to wager and win cash.

-The clause within rule 6.5 stating "Players who have a pending withdrawal or balance of over 100 $/€/£/ do not qualify to receive Tournament prizes or to receive cash from a Raffle" has been contradicted in both word and action, both with respect to balance and pending withdrawals, multiple times by TIV. On an intuitive level, this rule makes no sense. It would imply that if you have a $0 balance you could collect a $150,000 prize but, if you would have a $101 balance, you would instead collect nothing. Thus, any player reading rule 6.5 would go to support for the definitive version of the rules as this rule was obviously in error.

-TIV has thus far failed to prove that rule 6.5 existed back in January when I won the $75,000 tournament prize or later on when the remaining $6,150 was accrued. TIV's first reference to rule 6.5 is on 7/19/2023. I realize this does not constitute evidence and I certainly will not exclude the possibility that it did exist, but I do not remember reading any such rule as rule 6.5 back in January and I know enough to read the T&C.



As for the complaint itself, as it was of an extensive length (as would be a proper appraisal), it has been compartmented to an attached file (6) along with comments.

Minor Points: See (9)


(1) regarding tournaments in pt1_tourneys.txt below:
(2) through (9) in pts2_to_9.txt below:

 

I tried to post dispassionately, prioritizing decorum and credibility. That has failed. Nobody has read my attachments, and the hit count is poor. Do I need to get punchy? "TIV fabricates tournament scores!" or the like? I realize few people have any investment in this casino group and this is a long post, but it would almost be nicer to hear somebody argue I'm wrong than to hear nothing at all.

 

Hello Everyone,


We've had extensive discussions about whether to continue providing a platform to an individual who seemingly makes a "respectable" income through bullying, manipulation and now, evidently, outright lies.

The "customer" in question has long been endeavoring to construct a personal narrative, in denial of the simple fact that he neglected to read the Terms & Conditions of the site where he chose to create an account. This is the same site that has paid him a significant amount of money, adhering to the Terms & Conditions which we respect and will continue to uphold.

In his attempts to skew reality, it has become apparent that this individual has a history across various forums. His modus operandi: aggressively confronting customer service representatives, attempting to fabricate a false narrative, and discrediting others in these forums, all in hopes of coercing financial concessions and silencing.

Unfortunately, this person has targeted the wrong group. Each post made in any forum will be met with a firm response, and should this behavior persist, our reactions will escalate in severity, to the point where he may no longer be welcome anywhere (which we recommend to all).

We believe in substantiating our claims. Attached for our esteemed community is the link to the customer's previous complaint (about a month ago). Despite his persistent efforts over many days, the case was closed due to a lack of sufficient evidence.

Since links are not allowed, we highly recommend visiting Casino Guru's website (where the customer's complaint was rejected) to see the customer's claims and sheer lies being debunked right after the other. We, unlike the customer, provide proof.

Happy reading, and thank you for the opportunity to share this warning about the individual in question.



Best regards,

The TIV Team

 

A direct link to the previous complaint at Casino Guru had already been attached ( pts2_to_9.txt ). I have no problem with people looking it up, and my position regarding that complaint has already been detailed in point 6. If links are not allowed, I apologize. I was not aware.

The arguments for my positions are detailed and extensive. I have plenty of documentation available upon request. As for the claims in TIV's response, I will engage in responding to specific evidence if and when they present it. Broadly though, TIV is making some pretty bold claims here that are simply not true. I have other things to do than to chase their narratives when I have already written so much on this particular subject.