Now there is a weekly limit of $4000, only one free withdrawal a month, and withdrawals are authorized once a week.

This is what is still on their site:

"Q: How long does it take to get paid? A: We process redemption requests on a daily basis. For credit card redemption's, your money is generally credited back to your credit card the same day. For FedEx/check withdrawals, you can generally expect 2-3 business days, depending on international delivery. Our general policy is to process your redemption request the day we get it, assuming it is during normal banking hours "

Bait and switch, folks.

Do you cash in more than $4000 a week?

One free withdrawal a month is pretty good considering that some RTG casinos like Golden Comps have ZERO free withdrawals per month.

And if I understand correctly from talking to them, they process CC withdrawals EVERYDAY but process checks once a week.

I think Casino Merlin is pretty good. I got my check from them on time and their promos are fair and generous.

------------------
Please note that http://bonusmania.com is not ready yet.

[This message has been edited by Bonus Mania (edited 08-02-2001).]

I know some folks who did.

[This message has been edited by The Original Mary (edited 09-06-2002).]

Mary, Funny you should have a topic on Casino Merlin. I was about to come here and write the following:
Last week, I deposited by credit card $70. I cashed out later the original $70. I thought that was simple enough. But no, I had to fax back to them their credit card fax back form, both sides of my driver's license, both sides of any credit card I used at this casino. I played there ONE other time a couple months or so ago using a different credit card that is now cancelled. They kept emailing me to fax the other card, after two emails telling them it was cancelled, I finally I got through to them, I DON'T have the other card, it was cut up. Now I am told to fax back another form with old card number and WHY I cancelled it. This is what I originally read on their web site before playing there:\

In order to bring you great, yet safe online gaming entertainment, Casino Merlin is now requiring that all players who request withdrawal of their winnings to have a Fax Back Form on file with us so we may issue payouts in the safest manner possible. Please click on the link below to obtain your Casino Merlin Fax Back Form.

Do they considerate WINNINGS when I am getting back the money I deposited? Where does it say I have to fax all that crap back? NO WHERE. If I would have known that, I wouldn't have bothered. I have other RTG sites I play at. I even wrote and told them that the Vegas Strip sites at least wait till you win $500 first before they make you send the form in etc.

My computer for some reason is VERY slow when I have to email scanned items and I have been waiting for 1/2 hour to be able to do anything on this computer, waiting for the mail to be sent.

I think needing reasons why old cards are cancelled is a waste of time. I obviously am never going to use it again. IT IS GONE. I even forgot I had used it till they sent me the email with that credit card number on it telling me they needed front and back copied.

If they want all that, they should state it on their web page for one thing.

Your not gonna believe this, now I got an email saying they never got the back of my other credit card and to send it again. I am not even going to tell you what kind of email they got back from me. I think they are screwing with me now. How hard is it to keep one person's email to see the previous messages? I can tell you one thing, I will never play there even after all this crap of sending all this information which I don't think they need in the first place.

Bonus, lots of Microgaming sites do not charge for withdrawals at all and can handle paying our more than $4k a week.

Hey, grantt, do Starnet sites charge for withdrawals, and do they have a withdrawal limit per week?

Unified Gaming and Boss Media have withdrawal limits. I think Boss's is $5k a month.

Originally posted by The Original Mary:
Bonus, lots of Microgaming sites do not charge for withdrawals at all and can handle paying our more than $4k a week.

Hey, grantt, do Starnet sites charge for withdrawals, and do they have a withdrawal limit per week?

Unified Gaming and Boss Media have withdrawal limits. I think Boss's is $5k a month.

Mary,

Casino Merlin sends out all checks via Fed-Ex, that's why they only provide one free withdrawal a month. Most MG casinos charge for Fed-EX too. King Solomon's charged me $50 for a Fed-Ex withdrawal one time when I was in a hurry to get my money.

Starnet does not charge for withdrawals at all and they are very prompt when it comes to sending checks or PayPal withdrawals. They usually send my PayPal withdrawals within TWO DAYS!!!

Boss Media charges $1 for checks but there is no charge for PayPal withdrawals. Not all BM casinos have PayPal yet. Gold Club casino offers PayPal withdrawals and sent me my withdrawal in LESS THAN A DAY!!!

------------------
Please note that http://bonusmania.com is not ready yet.

April - asking you to explain WHY you cancelled your other credit card is a violation of your privacy, and way over the line as far as any casino is concerned! They do not have a 'need to know'!

MAJOR Crap!

------------------
SlyCin56
Video Poker Junkie.com (http://videopokerjunkie.com)
Gambling Portal Webmasters Association (http://pub66.ezboard.com/bgamblingportalwebmastersassociation)

Casino Merlin requested that I send
them fax back forms late in June. They
emailed me the forms, and I faxed them
back a couple of weeks later in mid-July.

When I emailed them to make sure they had
received the faxes, they said no. I replied
that I had a fax report stating my faxes
went through without a hitch, so they must
have them. I gave them the fax number
that they had given me. They replied that
that number was not their fax number!

Terrific.

I then faxed them the form they had emailed
me which showed the supposedly incorrect
number. No replies to this.

So, it is clear to me that Casino Merlin
truely sucks!

They like to have their loyal customers
fax sensitive, financial information to
unknown parties.

Please everyone, stay away.

Originally posted by Bonus Mania:

Starnet does not charge for withdrawals at all and they are very prompt when it comes to sending checks or PayPal withdrawals. They usually send my PayPal withdrawals within TWO DAYS!!!


B/M - The trouble with Starnet is they steal money from your credit cards without explanation.

In case you're wondering, do a search for a post I wrote a few months ago outlining the fraud perpetrated on me at Crystal Casino.

Sounds as if Casino Merlin is either stalling or is just plain inefficient.

CL: If you've faxed your CC details to an unkown party then it would be wise to cancel your card.

If the incorrect number you faxed to was actualy given to you by Casino Merlin then I'd be sending a harsh email with a demand for compensation - this is disgraceful.

It sounds like Casino Merlin could be another not-recommended casino very soon.


------------------
Craig Miller - Casino Help
www.casino-help.com (http://www.casino-help.com)

Croupier,

Yes, the incorrect fax number was given
to me by the casino. It was the number
on the fax back form they emailed me.

And yes, I did write them a harsh email
pointing out their ineptitude.

I think they have my fax back forms,
somewhere. They're just so disorganized
that they don't know where it is. It
looks like they changed their fax number,
but still had the old one hooked up.

Can any body here explain to me how this is supposed to work? I think it involves time travel.


Subj: Casino Merlin's Weekly Newsletter and Comp
Date: 8/4/2001 6:32:24 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: promotions@casinomerlin.com (Casino Merlin Promotions)
To:


Casino Merlin's Weekly Newsletter


Receive a 20% deposit bonus
from now until Sunday August 5, 2001 on you next deposit up to $250
FREE!!

Simply log into your Casino account, deposit and click here to send us
an email and we will credit your Casino account. Enjoy playing the most
realistic software on the Internet from your own home.[stff about drawings etc. deleted]

The more you play the more chances
you have to win!!

**You must play your deposit and bonus five times before you can cash
out**
**Only good on your next deposit**
**Maximum bonus payout is $250 and cannot be used in conjunction with
any other bonuses**
.......................................................................
Subj: Re: Does a withdrawal reversal count as a deposit?
Date: 8/4/2001 11:45:05 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: support@casinomerlin.com (Casino Merlin Customer Service)
To:

Dear Mary,
Thank you very much for making Casino Merlin the number one on the business,
we really appreciate your company.

Regarding your question, a withdrawal reversal does count as a deposit, but
in order for it to apply for a promo, it should've been requested before the
promotion came out. As per our recent newsletter, you should have requested
the withdrawal before August 4th, 2001 at 6 PM eastern time so you can apply
for the bonus.

Should you have further questions or comments, just contact us again to
support@casinomerlin.com

Damn. I am such a retard. I should have called them and asked that. I reversed all of my cashins and then made a new purchase to participate in that promo. Oh well, I won't make the same mistake next week.

Originally posted by Bonus Mania:
Damn. I am such a retard. I should have called them and asked that. I reversed all of my cashins and then made a new purchase to participate in that promo. Oh well, I won't make the same mistake next week.



------------------
http://bonusmania.com
Message board and chatroom dedicated to bonus analysis and discussion.
New bonuses listed everyday!!!!!!

I got that e-mail from Merlin as well on the day of expiry. I asked them if they would extend the promotion period for me.

No reply.

Mary,

Actually, the rule is not unique to Merlin, and it does make sense in a certain way.

1) The purpose of their promotion is to bring new deposits into the casino.
2) If you already have the cash in your account ready to play, they've got you and don't need to give you a bonus for your existing chips on hand. Cashing in and immediately reversing is obviously a ploy to collect a bonus on your existing deposit.
3) OTOH, if you have already cashed in your chips, your chips are headed out the door. And thus it makes sense to credit you with a bonus for bringing new money in by reversing your prior cashout, since you have already demonstrated your intent to remove money from the casino.

Of course, if a casino runs promos every weekend, you could easily cash in Thursday or Friday morning with every intention of reversing your cashins on Saturday.

I don't claim that this policy necessarily makes good business sense (although it may). Many casinos have rules that discourage perfectly reasonable actions just because they have a strong overlap with bonus players (e.g. the casinos that have extra stringent rules on bonuses in conjunction with NETeller).

Online casino rules do seem to resemble the IRS Code in complexity. The way I have interpretted the rules for most RTG casinos is that I first had to reverse cashins and then make an additional deposit to qualify for the bonus. This has always worked for the Vegas Strip Group. The only problem is that their payouts have become so slow that the money just builds up at the casino while they hope I eventually lose it all.

The rule is different at Main Street Vegas Casinos. These are Vegas Casino Online and Las Vegas USA Casino. I think Las Vegas USA used to be called just Vegas USA. If you have a balance there you are supposed to cashin, then reverse the cashin, then deposit enough money to bring the new balance to the exact amount required by the promotion. If your balance is $81.50, it is not possible to deposit $118.50, so you deposit $119 and hope for the best.

Is that clear? I never said it made sense, just like the IRS Code.

Las Vegas USA used to be called Cyberland.

I don't know if there was another intermediate name change.

The rule at VCO and LV USA actually has an additional purpose that adds to the casino's bottom line. They require you to start with exactly the promotion amount (e.g. $500) at the start of the promotion (and you don't have to cashin and reverse, just start with the correct balance). If you lose the entire amount before completing the required wagers (e.g. 5x$500 = $2500) then you get NO bonus. Obviously this rule is beneficial in the short term for the casino, since it gives them the possibility of taking a lot of action from losers without forking over the bonus money.

Oddly, many casinos have the reverse of this rule, where they will gladly grant bonus money to big losers, even if they lose their money "too fast". Trust me, it is all too easy to lose $500 before completing $2500 in wagers.

I am not entirely sure of the long-term worth of a marketing plan that calls for giving cash bonuses to winners only and shafting losers. But then I don't run an online casino, so what do I know.

James, I think you could easily own a few online casinos. Just keep playing at the dumb ones.

I am still waiting for the bonus that requires you to spin around in your chair three times before playing each hand. This would increase the likelyhood of a dizzy player hitting the wrong button and doubling on 20 instead of standing.

Personally, these high playthrough requirements just cause me to play more conservatively to make sure I get the bonus. The only times(except Casino Bar last year) where I lost big it was from increasing my bets while losing, trying to get even fast. As long as the rules are stated clearly and honored by the casino as written I won't complain. I may not play there, but I won't complain.

James, I bow to your superior knowledge again. I was mistaken about VegasUSA being the same as LasVegasUSA. I jumped to that conclusion when I accidently entered my account name and password from VegasUSA at LasVegasUSA and came up with a valid account. It seems I used the same combination at VegasUSA and Cyberland. Now I apparently have two accounts at LasVegasUSA.

This is all pretty confusing.

I'm not used to the idea yet that a withdrawal can sit "pending" for 7--10 days.

Now, PayPal deposits take 3--5 days.



[This message has been edited by The Original Mary (edited 09-06-2002).]

Here's an update on Casino Merlin, after my nasty email back to them that they better look around for the back of my card since I wasn't about to send it again, they wrote back on Aug 2 saying they did have the back of the credit card and this:~~~
Now everything is in order, and your payout will be processed within the next couple days. Please remember that it will take from 7 to 21 days to show up on your credit card statement; since it is a manual process, it depends on the bank you are customer of ~~~ (no way to end a sentence) 7 to 21 days? back on a card? I am writing back to them first of all since it has been more than a "couple" days and they should send me an email stating that they DID process the pay out. I have never waited that long for a credit card to be charged back. So now I have to wait possibly 21 days before I can see if they have done their job? What was that about processing daily etc........

Mary, do you have any idea how powerful you are? I think you got them really shook up.

Today I received an email from "the new management at Casino Merlin". They have placed $100 in my account, no strings attached. I have been invited to check out the new rules and regulations. I had to download their software again because I had no intention of playing there again. This is certainly better than the average email explaining that the rules have changed.

Did anyone else get this deluxe notification of rules changes?

PS: My grandfather used to work for the City of Chicago. The city's official motto is "I Will." The unofficial motto for a long time has been "Where's Mine?" You may want to contact Casino Merlin and ask for the "Chicago Treatment." I bet they won't know what that means, but it might be fun.

Wasn't me, Trader, 'cause I didn't get the Deluxe Notification.

Must've been April!

"I am still waiting for the bonus that requires you to spin around in your chair three times before playing each hand. This would increase the likelyhood of a dizzy player hitting the wrong button and doubling on 20 instead of standing."

LMAO. Another good one, Trader. Can I use it? In a show I mean!

I've never had many problems getting deposits back form casinos when I cash them in but Casino Merlin is irritating me. A $500 credit back to my card which was supposedly approved and processed on 20th July hasn't turned up.

Everytime I complain they reply with the same answer, saying it was 'credited on July 20th in your
credit card, but sometimes this transactins last from 7 to 21 business days to
appear in your statement, please, give it a little time more to show up, if the full 21
days passed please contact us immediately'

They obviously didn't process the credit on 20th July because it only takes a few days for the card I used to show transactions.

No problem, Jetset.

My suggestion is really only the online equivalent of the free adult beverages policy at B&M casinos.

BTW, one of the new policies is that the withdrawal button will not work unless you have submitted your faxback form, ID, and credit card information. At least you will know that your account has been approved for withdrawals.

My $100 bonus is now $191, but I can't get it out until they approve the forms.

[This message has been edited by Trader (edited 08-08-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Trader (edited 08-08-2001).]