Complaint #751 Bovada Casino

Disabled my account and stole 8900 from me

By Beliene

4 years ago

A week and a half ago I was informed that my account was temporarily disabled after I attempted to withdraw 8.9k in winnings after an initial $1k deposit. I was told that my account being temporarily disabled was normal and that it would be removed between 24-48 hours. After a week and a half, I got another e-mail saying that my account was permanently banned and winnings seized due to "Refer-a-Friend" abuse. Before I get into that, I'll give a little backstory into how I joined the website and my relation to Refer-a-Friend.

I signed up for this website about 3 weeks ago after my brother referred me to this website. Prior to me joining under his referral, my brother asked bovada support if it was okay to refer his sister to this website and bovada's support staff said that yes, it was. If they did not say that it was okay I either would have not joined under his referral or I would have not joined at all. Under the terms of service for Refer-A-Friend, I see that it says that one cannot refer a person solely to receive a bonus, and while I did want to help my brother out, I actually did want to (and did) gamble on my own accord. I gambled on baseball, tennis, blackjack, and slots and luckily went from my initial 1k deposit (+75% first time user bonus) to 8.9k.

So not long after completing the rollover and wanting to cash out, I got hit with an email saying my account is disabled and all that nonsense. Going back to the refer-a-friend, again, customer service specifically said it was okay to refer family members, and yet refer-a-friend abuse is the reason they gave me for my winnings being wiped. The very confusing part is that I did not receive any type of bonus or extra money from the refer-a-friend, it was my brother that did. According to him, his account did not get terminated but his eligibility for bonuses of any kind were removed. Bovada did not go into any detail with any of us as to what part of the refer-a-friend terms of service was abused either. They did say that I could receive my initial deposit back and told me it would take 24-48 hours to arrive, but after close to 80 hours, I decided to just make this report even if it costs me my chance to get the initial deposit. At the very least I may be able to alert people to a potential scam this company is running.

In any case, even if there was some type of abuse with refer-a-friend (There wasn't), it makes zero sense for my account winnings to be taken from me especially when I did not receive any bonus funds on my account from signing up under my brother's referral. In the past couple days, brother told me that this website has been having more and more accounts getting disabled after attempting to cash out, and the website has been lowering or removing people's bonuses altogether. I don't know what's going on with this company but it sounds extremely shady.

In any case, I would like to receive my total $8.9k back.

Disputed Casino Bovada Casino

Reason Declined payment

Amount $8900

Discussion

AskGamblers

• Support Team

4 years ago

Dear Bovada Casino,

The AskGamblers Complaint Team is kindly asking you to provide a detailed explanation of the issue along with all the relevant facts and evidence that could support your accusations towards the player. Please make sure to state all the relevant casino and/or promotional terms that you believe have been breached by the player, if any. Please send required information to support@askgamblers.com directly.

Please note that according to the AGCCS Terms, we consider all the information presented during the course of our complaint process confidential and as such it will not be shared with third parties.

Please be in aware that in case you fail to respond and/or provide requested information within the given timeframe, the complaint will be closed as unresolved.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Beliene

4 years ago

According to your link you have four terms to follow for the refer-a-friend:

"The Refer-a-Friend bonus is intended to reward existing players for introducing "NEW" customers to Bovada and as such, any abuse of the referral program will not be tolerated. Examples include but are not limited to:

Opening an account solely for the purpose of obtaining a referral bonus.

The usage of VoIPs, a VPN, proxy or similar service that masks or manipulates the identification of your real location.

If we are unable to validate each players’ individuality or if the new referred accounts are not considered genuine.

The referring player or referred friend are considered bonus abusers."

So which one of these four terms did I break specifically? Because I have not broken a single one of these.

Bovada Casino

• Representative

4 years ago

Hi there! We’re sorry to learn of the outcome for your account. Account reviews are conducted to ensure compliance with our Terms of Service. The breach of terms came from the Referral Bonus which are governed by terms indicated here https://www.bovada.lv/refer-terms.

Upon completion of your account review, it was determined that your account was in breach of our terms. Unfortunately, the decision was made to end our business relationship with you and refund your deposit back. Any additional funds are forfeited. This decision was made with careful consideration of all the facts and we judge this decision to be final.

We understand this decision may have been an upsetting one but unfortunately, we’re unable to change the outcome or reinstate those funds.

Bovada Casino Complaint Stats

Resolved 335 / 513

Avg. Amount $6,928

Avg. Complaint Duration 10 days

Avg. Response Time 2 days

Bovada Casino Complaint Summary

Most user complaints about this operator fall under the Payment category.

So far, 208 out of 316 complaints in this category have been resolved.

This operator's average complaint duration is 10 days, while the average duration across all operators is 8 days.

Bovada Casino Complaints

See all complaints for this casino

Waiting for investigation to end

Hi,
My account was disabled on september 19 requesting for documents that were sent immediately and soon after i received an email stating the the account is under investigation.
It's 23rd september today and I have received no response from this casino or any of it's representatives

This seems to be shady behavior in order to not pay customers that won.

Please assist with this.

81h left

Account disabled and verification pending for over 6 days

My Bovada account was disabled on September 12th 2026

Shortly after my account was disabled, I received a verification request from Bovada. As soon as I received the email, I submitted all requested documents, including:

1. Front and back copies of my government issued ID
2. A photo of myself holding my ID next to my face
3. A full page proof of address document dated within the last 60 days

I submitted all of these documents immediately and have fully cooperated with the verification process.

It has now been more than 6 days since I submitted the requested documents, and I have not received any update regarding the status of my verification or my account. I have contacted Bovada for an update, but I have not received any meaningful information about when the review will be completed.

In addition, there is approximately $9,990 currently in my account balance. Because of the significant amount of funds being held while the verification review remains pending, I am increasingly concerned about the lack of communication and the extended delay.

I would also like to clarify that the address on my Bovada account matches the address shown on the cricket phone bill I submitted as proof of address. However, they have asked me for a hard copy so i went and sent that then they asked for a bank statement went ahead and sent that Despite this, I provided all requested documentation immediately and have fully cooperated with the verification process. And now they keep asking for adress proof but state that they have recieved it and its crazy because i keep receing an adress proof request of a different type of bill …

I understand that verification reviews may take some time. However, I believe that more than 7 days without any update is unreasonable, especially considering that all requested documents were submitted immediately.

I am requesting that Bovada provide an update on the status of my verification review and, if everything has been successfully verified, restore access to my account as soon as possible.

Thank you for your assistance.

Unresolved

$9,990

Verification delay

I been waiting almost ten days for my verification after getting my balance over 64,000. I heard great things about bovada so I believe my money is safe.

But this process is absurd especially after I sent in all my documents asked for and sent in the right format. I just want my verification escalated please being that I’ve went through this process before but only after winning..

I even got a email saying I’ll know something in 48 hours it been over a week now. I fully understand the importance of identity verification and security procedures. However, I did everything requested of me and followed all rules. From my perspective, the only reason my account was disabled is because I won a significant amount of money. But I’ve lost more.

I am requesting that Bovada:

Provide a clear and specific explanation for why my account remains under investigation
Re-enable my account immediately
Release my rightful winnings without further delay

I am filing this complaint in hopes that AskGamblers can assist in getting Bovada to resolve this matter fairly and promptly, as I believe my account has been unfairly disabled despite full compliance with all rules.

Resolved

$64,000

Disabled my account and asking me to verify now giving me the run around

So I’ve been gambling with Bovada for close to 2 years straight. All I use is them. Minimum bets are 1k- 5k. Respectfully, I bring them a lot of money.

Never ever had a problem with anything up until just recently. I hit maybe 2k in 2 nights on live bets, and I’m up my 10k with them for the year. Out of nowhere, my limits were dropped significantly, even on ML straight bets. And when I went to withdraw, it wouldn’t let me. Literally the first time ever.

Waited a day, went back on, and my account was disabled.

I’ve been going back and forth with the customer service agents, and 1 out of 10 is helpful. The rest give you the same story. I’ve sent my documents 4 times, Bovada.

I haven’t violated any rules or tos.

I just would like to be able to work with you guys. Can you please help me???

It’s been since August 18th that I’ve been dealing with this, and nothing has changed.

Rejected

$10,551

My 20k sitting in account and my account is disabled

I am new on bovada, i have deposited around 5000 in bitcoin into sports betting. Got some wining strikes. somehow i have managed to raise my account total up to 20k. I tried withdrawing $9500 on 8-15th, with the request being eventually denied. I got locked out of my own account. I'm sure you guys are familiar with their process when they do this, but they proceeded to ask me for identity verification. I submitted all the necessary documents, and soon the verification team emailed me saying the requested documentation has been received.

Please help. The money that they're holding in my account would be super impactful especially right now. I've pleaded with them and they just keep saying be patient. I don't know what sort of investigation could potentially take this long but I need answers.

Resolved

$20,000

Long process verification

I been waiting almost ten days for my verification. I heard great things about bovada so i believe my money is safe . But this process is absurd especially after I sent in all my documents asked fornalso sent in the right format . I just want my verification escalated please and thank you .even got a email saying I’ll know something in 48 hours it been Ovwr 72 hours

Resolved

Account in review

Hello,

Account balance: around $2800
documents submitted: id, selfie, utility bill

It has been two weeks since I have sent all the required documentation to this company and every time I reach out to them they ask for more time to review the account and it is under investigation.

how can this be ethical?
would appreciate more clear timeline and release of money

Unresolved

$2,800

Account still disabled due to investigation since May 24 with 11000

So during May of this year I went on a pretty good run with my baseball bets, and I ended up getting my account balance up to around $8,000. I tried withdrawing $4,600 on May 23rd, with the request being eventually denied. I'm sure you guys are familiar with their process when they do this, but they proceeded to ask me for identity verification. I submitted all the necessary documents, and soon the verification team emailed me saying the requested documents have been received and verified. I logged back into my account and placed two more bets on two different baseball games ($750 each which made over $1,000 profit on each) and submitted another withdrawal attempt, also I'd like to mention that once I logged back in, I noticed they placed betting limitations on my sports bets. I went to sleep and woke up to both of my games hitting which was super nice, but when I tried to log in I got the dreaded "Your account has been disabled, contact customer support." Of course the withdrawal I placed after submitting my documents got rejected as well, and now it is July 16th, with no conclusion and each time I contacted them, I'm given a similar response. They ask for patience, which I've tried my best to be but honestly that kind of money could make a different for me big time. I'm aware of the situation because it happened to my friend's wife's account but her account got resolved in around 4 days. It's almost been two months with my account.

Please help. The money that they're holding in my account would be super impactful especially right now. I've pleaded with them and they just keep saying be patient. I don't know what sort of investigation could potentially take this long but I need answers.

Resolved

$11,000

Bovada Account disabled after completing verification

Hello,

I’m filing this complaint against Bovada because they disabled my account, and despite providing the requested documentation, they keep it locked.

I deposited and played over the course of the last several months and successfully withdrew before. Recently, I won roughly $18,700, my biggest win ever and I tried to make a withdrawal.

On July 2, 2026, they asked for documents to verify my account, which I provided the same day. On July 3, 2026, my account was re-enabled after my documents were reviewed. Then on July 8, I got my account to 18.7k, and before attempting my withdrawal, I updated the phone number on my account because I was having issues receiving text messages. However, on July 8, when I tried to withdraw my winnings, my account was disabled again and placed under investigation. I received an automatic reply that my account is under review and have been told by live chat that I would receive an update within 24–48 hours, but that time has passed and I still cannot access my account or my funds.

I contacted their live chat throughout the process.

This is very shady. I hope this can be resolved and not take months like some cases, as I see so many cases like mine where people feel unsatisfied or scammed.

Resolved

$18,700

Withdrawal Declined and no reply

I have been a verified account holder on Bovada.lv and made a deposit of approximately $4,000 in May 2026. When I attempted to withdraw my winnings, my account was suddenly disabled for review with no explanation provided.
This is actually the second time this has happened. My account was previously suspended in April 2026, at which point I completed the full verification process and was told my account was in good standing. I even confirmed this with their support team before making my deposit, and was explicitly assured I could use the account without any issues.
It has now been over two weeks since my withdrawal was blocked and my funds have been frozen. I have received no timeline, no explanation of what is being investigated, and no resolution. I believe Bovada is deliberately delaying withdrawals to avoid paying out customer winnings.
I am requesting that my funds be released immediately and that Bovada provide a clear explanation and timeline for this review.

I have also filed a consumer complaint and my next step would be to provide this information to FBI for investigation in this company for not releasing our money.

Unresolved

$4,000