What Happens to My Bets During Connection Issues?
Even if we live in the era of the internet, players worldwide still face connectivity issues, mostly right in the worst possible moment.
In the early years of the market, connectivity were very frequent and that led online casino operators to come up with a couple of solutions.
Of course, it’s always preferable that you make sure to always have a stable internet connection when you are gambling. In the iGaming world, a disconnect is what players fear the most and many players ask “what happened to my bets during connectivity issues?”.
The first thing you need to understand is that each casino has a couple of solutions when it comes to this issue, which happens automatically depending on the game you play, so, in most cases, you won’t have to contact customer support.
What happens if you disconnect from an online casino during a gambling session
Thanks to the sophisticated technology available today, players and their wagers are generally protected in case of connection issues. Keep in mind that not all casino operators will have the same policy of dealing with this sort of problem.
Most gambling websites operators indeed follow a general protocol to handle that situation but since this issue is not very well regulated by gambling laws, each particular online casino can add a couple of additional policies.
Before registering a new account in an online casino, it’s always a good idea to check that specific gambling website’s disconnection player policies.
You will see the protection is specified for exact time frames and certain conditions.
Special disconnect policies based on particular casino games
Besides the fact that each casino operator has specific policies to protect the player’s wagers, several additional policies are depending on the games you play when a disconnect occurs.
Casino table games based on decisions
In this category, we count all the casino table games where the gambler has to make a certain decision like video poker, blackjack, pai gow, etc.
This category is only referring to the video versions of these games where you are the only gambler involved and do not apply to live casino rooms.
Most casino operators will keep the current wager from the moment of disconnection up to a maximum of 30 days. As long as you log back into your player account during that timeframe, you will be automatically redirected to the game at the moment where you left off.
If you don’t log back in during the defined timeframe, the computer will automatically make the decision for you, and the next time you will be logging into the game, you will find out the result.
PLEASE NOTE
This course of action is not always in your best interest so it’s preferable to log back in as soon as possible to be able to make the right decision and not let the computer do it for you.
One-Tap Casino Games
In this category, we often find simple games of chance where you make a wager and then you click a spin/play button and the RNG of the game will display the final result. Games like the best online slot machines, roulette, baccarat, and keno can be found in this category.
The policies are very similar. Even if you disconnect before finding out the result, the bet will be saved for a certain time frame.
When you will log back into your player account, you will find out the result of that last spin. All the previous sessions are recorded in your game history.
Live Casino Rooms
Unfortunately, when it comes to living casino rooms, most policies do not favor the particular player that gets disconnected. Because these games gave a multiplayer element, the casino can’t afford to offer you a certain timeframe because that will stop the game for players.
If you are playing live roulette or live baccarat, things are simple, because it’s either a clear win or loss. However, when it comes to decision-based games like live poker or live blackjack, live dealers can’t simply put a stop to the game until you log back in.
If you can’t log back in before you need to make a decision, the computer will decide to automatically “stand” your hand.
Because there is such a little timeframe in which you can make a decision, bear in mind that a connectivity issue during a live casino room session can cost you the wager. That’s why is not recommended to play at live rooms if your internet has a history of disconnect issues.
Casino Games where you can choose the Jackpot
In this sort of game, you have more or less 30 seconds to select one of the jackpots offered or the game, using the Random Number Generator will make a random choice for you.
The same thing happens if you disconnect during the choosing phase as the game will believe you willingly left the 30 seconds mark without making a selection.
The jackpot lobby is refreshed at around 10-15 seconds. If during this phase, other gamblers select the same jackpot as you or the Combined Jackpot, you will not see the correct value of that jackpot anymore and the correct value will appear only after the refreshment period.
For players who reached the “Multiple Jackpot” features and due to a connectivity issue, another gambler has selected the same Jackpot entering a conflict with your choice, the records will be checked.
After the records are checked, the jackpot will be awarded to the player that hits the Jackpot first, and the other gamblers that made the same selection will receive the seed (when it exists) or the “reduced amount”.
Theoretically, even if it’s mathematically possible, the chance that two players select and win the same jackpot at the same time is extremely unlikely.
Sequential wins, in the rare cases when they occur, take hours or days, not seconds.
However, for the sake of the probability, some casinos do have policies in check for this case also and one of the following cases may occur:
- If both gamblers have selected the same jackpot, the second one which hit it will receive only the reduced amount and the first one will get the entire win.
- If another player choices the Combined Jackpot and you choose any other jackpot, the one who selected the Combined Jackpot wins the whole prize, and the player that selected the other Jackpot will receive the “reduced amount”.
Tournaments Cancellation
Tournaments cancellation is another area where the player is not at an advantage. If the tournament gets canceled because of server issues, power outages, network issues, or other widespread connection problems, the player who was eliminated before the cancellation of the event will not be refunded.
Gamblers who were not eliminated at the time of the event cancellation will be refunded the buy-in amount, the knock-out fee or any other add-on purchased.
If the tournament is ongoing at the time of the issue, the casino operator generally reserves the right to refund the player at its discretion using several factors like the gamblers’ chip count, the total prize, the amount already collected during the event from other players.
The refund will usually occur in the days following the tournament after the casino makes a couple of verifications and the players have been priorly announced.
What to do if you lost the connection during a casino game
No matter how many precautions you would take, a connectivity issue while gambling will sometimes appear. Depending on the type of game you are playing and depending on whether you are playing video casino games or at live casino rooms, the issue can be easier or harder to solve.
As presented above, most online casinos have security measures in check to protect their players and their wagers, however, their policies are not always in the players’ best interests.
Most of the time, any issues that might appear can be solved through a very simple sign-out from your player account and log back in.
On some rare occasions, the game you were playing will not load to the last moment before the disconnect occurred. If that’s the case, the only option is to contact the casino’s customer support team.
BE AWARE
Bring as much evidence as possible when opening the ticket. Make screenshots/videos and make sure to mention as many details as possible. (the hour when you got disconnected, what game you were playing, etc)
The All-In Protection
The all-in protection is quite rare and not all tables have this option, or it’s reserved for just a couple of special players (VIPs, High Rollers). It’s a sort of assurance for players that lose connectivity during gameplay if they had a strong hand. The game ensures that after the reconnection, these gamblers are still in the game as they are not disconnected.
This all-in protection creates a lot of discussions and many players avoid the game tables with all-in protection because they consider it unfair.
Read the fine print
Most reputable casinos will have all sorts of security measures in place for connectivity issues. However, that’s not the case for all casino operators and as you would expect, no business is willing to lose money or give up an advantage.
Before registering an account at an online casino, make sure to carefully read their complete terms and conditions, especially those regarding problems like this one.
This is also the moment to make sure that the specific gambling website has a customer support service, preferably available 24/7.
Even if cases where you will have to contact customer support are rare, it’s better to have this option available than ending up with an issue and being unable to contact someone at the casino to solve it.
REMEMBER
Reading the terms and conditions is important because if you do lose a wager or your position in a tournament during a connection issue and the casino mentions in their policy that they do not take responsibility for these or the bet is lost, there is no legal way to ever get your cashback.
Once you click on the “accept terms and conditions” box and you register an account, you’ve fully read, understood, and agreed to all the casino’s terms. If those terms are abusive, even if they are not fair, the operator is legally covered.