When the Online Casino Refuses to Pay Out Your Winnings: Here’s What You Should Do

Expert: Isabella JohnsonFact Reviewer & Journalist

Experience: Casino safety and gambling research. Her work has been featured on the BBC, CNet, Wired and The Financial Times.

Updated: 2 months ago

Reasons Why Online Casinos May Refuse to Pay Out Winnings

All casinos have terms and conditions that decide when your payouts will work and when the casino will try to stop it. However, there are many common reasons that can occur at any casino that will prevent you from getting your winnings.

While we would love to say that all withdrawal failures are due to legitimate reasons, there are certainly casinos that withhold your money for unfair and unjustified reasons. Before we get into what you can do about failure to withdraw, consider the most common causes.

Let’s take a detailed look at these reasons.

Most Common Reasons

Withdrawal Below Minimum Limit

All casinos have minimum withdrawal limits that differ from one payment method to another. Always ensure that when you attempt a withdrawal, the amount you withdraw meets this requirement. A casino will automatically cause the withdrawal to fail should the withdrawal amount be too little. 

Violation of Terms and Conditions

Every casino operates using a set of terms and conditions you must agree to when creating an account. If you violate any of these terms and conditions, you are unlikely to get your winnings from your account wallet. The casino might go as far as to block access to your account entirely. Examples of terms and conditions violations include falsifying submitted documents or using someone else’s account when playing. 

Casinos Wants KYC (Know Your Customer) Documents First

Some casinos will ask for your KYC documents when you sign up, and others will only do so once you attempt to withdraw or deposit large sums of money. KYC documents can include verified ID, bank statements, proof of payment history with the selected payment method, and more. Should a casino ask for these documents, it will not process any further payments until you provide all the necessary paperwork. 

Identity Documents Do Not Match Your Other Documents

Another reason casinos can deny withdrawals is when your identity documents do not match your other documents, such as bank statements. You should know that attempting to falsify information is not just a reason for the casino to block your withdrawals but is also a breach of the terms and conditions. This breach can get your account suspended, so be careful. 

Fraud Suspicion

Online casino fraud can include a variety of things. One example is Bonus fraud, where players try to sign up multiple times to get the bonuses intended only for first-time players, more than once. Attempts at cheating at any of the casino games also fall under fraud. 

Technical Issues

Sometimes, when you want to make a withdrawal, you can experience technical issues such as the web page not loading or the browser giving errors. Technical issues can also come from the casino itself. When you experience these problems on multiple browsers, it’s likely a problem on the casino’s side. 

Have Not Met Bonus Terms and Conditions Requirements Yet

Many players love a good sign-up bonus or casino promotion. However, it is worth noting that these bonuses often come with betting requirements attached. These betting requirements stipulate how much money you must bet in games before you can withdraw the freely given bonus amount. The casino will not let you withdraw money if you have not met these requirements. 

Fraudulent Casinos

Another reason your withdrawals might fail is that you are playing games at an illegitimate casino. Always make sure you sign up for casinos that have the right licensing and complimentary reviews online. In the current age of the internet, scams are everywhere, so always triple-check the websites before filling in your personal or banking information. 

To avoid fraudulent casinos, we recommend browsing our list of the best online casinos for US players. All of the listed casinos provide a trustworthy gaming experience.

Step-by-Step Guide: What Can You Do in This Case?

Now that you know about the most common reasons withdrawals fail, you should know how you can address these problems. Below is a list of steps you can take to solve your withdrawal problem. Also note that you should always keep a record of all the communication between yourself and the casino for your protection. 

Step 1: Contacting Customer Support

The first thing you always want to do is contact customer support. The casino will likely have multiple avenues of communication, such as live chat, phone, email, or an FAQ page. We have a comprehensive guide on how to use casino customer support if you want to read it.

Here is how you can use them all:

• Live Chat: Live chat will be the fastest way to reach customer support. You can always find the live chat through a floating icon on the casino's home page. These icons usually look like a speech bubble.
• Phone: Not all casinos list phone numbers, and not all casino phone numbers operate 24/7. If you do not get assistance from the live chat, you can try to call the casino. The casino should list this number on its contact or support page.
• Email: Email will always reach the casino but will take longer to return a response. Email is an effective way to easily keep a record of communication, so we recommend using it when dealing with more complicated matters such as document disputes.
• FAQ Page: These pages always have answers to frequent questions. If the casino has an FAQ page, we recommend looking for an answer before reaching out to customer support. The FAQ page should be easily accessible from the footer (the bottom) of the website or through the website’s support page.

Step 2: Review the terms & conditions to ensure compliance

As mentioned above, one of the reasons your withdrawal might have failed is due to a lack of compliance with the terms and conditions of the casino. We recommend reading the ‘Withdrawals’ section of the terms and conditions to determine if you align with all requirements.

All casinos have their own terms and conditions, so what works at one casino might fail at another. You should be able to access the terms and conditions page through the website's footer. After you access this page, you can use your browser’s search function (CTRL+F on Windows or CMD+F on Mac) to find the Withdrawal heading.

Step 3: Provide evidence to support your claim

Whenever you encounter a problem with casino withdrawals, it’s worth taking screenshots for future reference. Once you speak to customer support, the best way to get quick assistance is to have evidence to back up your claims that withdrawals failed, which errors you received, and so on.

Step 4:  Escalating the issue

Should none of the above-mentioned methods solve your problem, your only remaining option is to escalate the problem to higher authorities. You can contact the following places for assistance:

• American Gaming Association
• North American Gaming Regulators Association
• Contact the Gambling Governing Body for your state. An example would be lodging a complaint with the New Jersey Division of Gaming.

Tips for Avoiding Issues With Online Casino Payouts

To help you avoid withdrawal problems in the future, we have put together a brief list of tips you can follow:

• Always sign up with reputable and licensed casinos.
• Make sure you have all your KYC documents triple-checked and ready when creating your account. When the casino asks for these documents, you want to be able to provide them quickly.
• Always read the terms and conditions for any promotions and bonuses you consider activating.
• Read reviews for the casino in question online. Some casinos have good playing experiences but lack proper customer support.
• Always check the minimum withdrawal amount for your selected payment method.

FAQs

Time to get your payouts!

Now that you know how to better get your payouts and seek assistance if the payouts don’t work, you can get back to playing. We hope this article proved useful and that you can keep our quick tips close at hand.

Remember to always gamble responsibly and to seek assistance if you feel yourself forming a gambling addiction. Online games of chance should be a fun recreational activity and should never come at the cost of your physical or mental well-being.

When you finally have received your winnings, also remember that depending on the state you need to pay taxes for your winnings. We have a full guide on the following link with relevant documents and forms to fill in if you have any casino winnings from New Jersey to tax for.