The DrVegas online casino has turned off its UK-facing services, though whether the interruption is temporary or permanent remains unclear.
Customers of online casino site DrVegas face an uncertain future after the suspension of its United Kingdom-facing services and a temporarily posted announcement that the site was closing for the UK.
The DrVegas site has been beleaguered in recent months by ongoing slow-pay/no-pay allegations, launched by both the site’s online customers and some of its affiliate partners. Multiple players had reported withdrawal requests taking several weeks, with a couple of extreme consumer reports claiming withdrawals had been canceled and funds re-credited into the players’ accounts.
Online affiliates working with the affiliate arm of DrVegas’s corporate parent CZ Holdings, Partnerama, reported similar issues. Several such third-party sites reported pulling advertising links after attempts at contacting the company failed to generate responses.
Closure at least temporarily announced
Two separate explanations for the ongoing service interruption have appeared on the DrVegas landing page in recent days. Currently, depending on what browser they use, some visitors to the site are greeted with a message stating:
Our Apologies
We are currently upgrading your site to make it more exciting!
Please check back very soon and see what we have in store for you!
However, other customers using other browsers (or doing a Ctrl-F5 cache-clearing refresh) may encounter a landing page with a different, and rather more permanent, message:
DrVegas
Announcement
It is with regret that we have to announce the closure of DrVegas. We’d like to thank all of our loyal customers and re-assure all players that their wallet balances are protected according to the UK Gambling Commission regulations. All withdrawals have now been processed. We will contact all players with balances remaining in their accounts to organise payment.
This latter measure announcing a permanent, UK-facing closure also corresponds to a message posted on an affiliate forum by a DrVegas casino representative. That company contact, nicknamed “DrVegas Phil,” offered the following: “Unfortunately we were all made redundant on Wednesday, but I have got the following update for you.
“All pending withdrawals were processed on Wednesday before the close down started.
“On Monday, I will be sending out cheques for all players who have balances still on their account, so by the end of next week all players will have received their funds and no players will be left without their money.
“Thanks
“Phil”
The referenced Wednesday was June 27, 2018. The UK-based “Phil” posted the message on Friday, June 29.
UK license still active
Other consumer and industry commentators reported searching for information about DrVegas’s United Kingdom license and discovering via the UKGC’s licensed-operators portal that the license for DrVegas and its parent company had been allowed to elapse in March.
However, those reports appear either incorrect or outdated. A current search for either the DrVegas site or CZ Holdings parent company returns a Gambling Commission listing showing the company’s license active and in good standing.
Verbiage on the DrVegas landing pages also indicates the site remains licensed in both Malta and the United Kingdom. Both versions of the landing pages offer this: “DrVegas is operated by CZ Trading Limited, which is registered in Malta. Registration no.: C41790. CZ Trading is regulated by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) under licence: MGA/CL1/370/2007 issued on 25/11/2009. Customers in United Kingdom: DrVegas is licensed and regulated by the Gambling Commission License No: 000-038168-R-319349-001.”
Despite the conflicting messages, the likeliest explanation is that DrVegas has indeed closed its UK-facing operations while remaining open to many other jurisdictions. Despite the announcement by the site’s representative, it may be more days or weeks before all UK customers of the site are reconnected with their stranded funds. While the site has not explained why it is abandoning the UK market, the fact that the company is remaining active elsewhere is a positive indicator for UK players waiting for those stranded balances.
