When you are denied access to your favorite gambling platform you may feel disappointed or depressed. If you ever had money on that account and suddenly you don’t have access to it you may get angry or start panicking. However, more often than not, the casino has had good reasons to block your account, whether you are aware of your wrongdoing or not.

If you are left in the dark, there are a few things you can do to try to straighten things out and we will tell you about those. We will also tell you the most common reasons why players get blocked. Luckily, we could discuss these matters with a Portuguese iGaming expert, Martim Nabeiro.

Too Many Failed Login Attempts

Just like your bank account would be locked after many unsuccessful login attempts, so will your casino account be. Several attempts to log in will alert the casino of a possible hacker attack and they will lock your account to keep you safe.  All reliable Portuguese casino sites, such as the ones you find on casinos portugal online will have this security feature in place. The good news is that if this happens, contacting customer support should easily solve the problem.

Failed Verification Process

In all licensed casinos, it is required by law to verify the identity of players. This policy of verification is known as KYC (know your customer) and it can help identify underage gambling, money laundering, fraud, and other criminal activities.

Players may fail to verify their accounts by honest mistake (sending a too blurry picture of an ID or simply missing the notification to upload the documents) and in this case, the blocking in casino online should be temporary, and once resolved, you should have access to your account.

However, if there is foul-play (e.g. forging ID documents or uploading stolen documents) the casino may even report players to the authorities as well as block their accounts for good.

Inconsistent Account Information

Licensed online casinos in many regulated markets must keep accurate records of who their players are, so they regularly compare the details on your account with the information on your payment methods and identification documents. If your name, address, or date of birth does not match across these or suddenly changes without a clear explanation, the casino may freeze your account and ask for extra checks to be sure everything is legitimate. The safest way to avoid being blocked is to register with truthful details and genuine documents from the start; trying to get through checks with Fake IDs or someone else’s information can quickly lead to a permanent ban and may also put you at risk of breaking local laws.

Suspicious Activity

Online casinos operate whole departments to combat fraud. They apply machine learning and AI systems to monitor players’ activity and look for suspicious patterns. Some players have been caught using poker bots and gained an unfair advantage over unsuspecting players. Another example of cheating with poker is players teaming up discussing their cards so that they know exactly when to bet big against other players. Understandably, players who get caught using cheating software will be blocked from the casino’s site.

Unusual Betting Patterns

Unusual betting patterns can alert the casino of possible money laundering (e.g. betting on roulette so that all possibilities are covered and declaring laundered money as a win from a casino) or other foul play such as match-fixing. Casinos need to report these unusual betting patterns to the relevant authorities. If foul play is proven, the casino will block the player’s account.

Too Big Wins

Online casinos care about their profits just like any other business. If you consistently win over a long period of time it is not very profitable for the casino to keep you as a player. This is not about winning a jackpot on a slot machine or winning a game of bingo though. It is often sports bettors who get it right consistently or live dealer blackjack players who might be using a card counting device to gain an advantage.

Bonus Abusers

Casinos often give out welcome bonuses to new players. However, some people will try to sign up multiple times to take advantage of these bonuses. Online casino rules clearly state in the terms and conditions that one player can only sign up once and cannot create multiple accounts and apply for the bonuses. If you are caught creating several accounts you can be permanently banned from playing online casino games at the given casino.

Conclusion

If you read the terms and conditions properly, you are over 18 years old and you are not trying to cheat the casino, there is no reason for your casino account to get blocked. When the casino blocks your account you should contact them to try to find out what the problem is. Ultimately, you can take it to the licensing body of your casino as they may be able to help you if the casino acted unfairly towards you.