Caesars Palace Online Casino Promo Faces Lawsuit, Complaint Contends Blackjack Players Must Bet $375,000

Caesars Palace Online Casino Promo Faces Lawsuit, Complaint Contends Blackjack Players Must Bet $375,000

A complaint has been filed against the Caesars Palace Online Casino platform, claiming that its most recent campaign deceives customers.

The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI) informed Casino.org on Friday that it had lodged a complaint in Philadelphia's First Judicial District against Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Caesars Entertainment, the parent company of the online gaming division, and the Caesars Palace Online Casino's physical partner in Pennsylvania, Harrah's Philadelphia Casino and Racetrack.

Attorneys for PHAI claim in their complaint that the Caesars Palace Online Casino promotion promoting a "100% Deposit Match Up To $2,500" is deceptive.  According to the public health advocate, a player would have to engage in excessive gambling throughout their first seven days of playing at the online casino in order to benefit from the $2,500 in free monies.

"Caesars and its partners are luring new customers with a false and misleading promise of a ‘$2,500 deposit match.’ Only in the small-print terms and conditions is it disclosed that a new customer playing blackjack is required to gamble and risk $375,000 in just the first seven days after opening an account. In other words, no money or winnings can be withdrawn unless a total of $375,000 is gambled and risked. All money lost during the first seven-day period is kept by Caesars,” a release on the lawsuit explained.

The nonprofit legal research institute PHAI, situated in Boston, "uses the civil justice system to improve public health."  The tobacco, bad eating, and gambling sectors are the organization's main areas of interest. 

Caesar's Terms

The promotional features of the Caesars Palace Online Casino registration offer were examined by Casino.org.  According to the fine print, a player must meet a minimum "wagering requirement" in order to be eligible for the full deposit match.

For slots, the wagering requirement is 15x; for video poker, it is 30x; and for "all other casino games," it is 75x.  In order to collect their $1,000 bonus ($2,000 x 15), a player who deposits $1,000 would have to wager $30,000 on slots because the multiplier is dependent on the deposit and bonus match.  The 75x threshold on a $2,500 bonus in blackjack raises the total amount that must be wagered to $375,000 in order to get the $2,500 in bonus money.  For slots, a $2,500 deposit and match would require a wager of $75,000 in total.

“If you do not meet the minimum wagering requirement for the Registration Casino Bonus within 7 days, the bonus will be forfeited. No partial bonuses will be awarded,” the terms explain.

PHAI Executive Director Mark Gottlieb said the Caesars online casino promotion “is among the most egregious we have seen.”

“It is unconscionable for a gambling company to knowingly require people to gamble excessively and put their mental health at risk as a condition to cash out their winnings. More importantly, nothing in Pennsylvania’s gambling rules or laws permits a casino to refuse payment unless and until customers begin gambling to excess. This is dangerous to Caesar’s customers, immoral, and just plain wrong,” added Dr. Harry Levant, PHAI’s director of gambling policy. 

iGaming Pennsylvania 

Pennsylvania's online casino gambling industry is still profitable.  Players who gambled on online slots and table games lost over $2.18 billion last year.  This is nearly twice as much as the $1.11 billion that online gamers lost in 2021.

iGaming opponents, including the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG), claim that there are insufficient protections against underage gaming, excessive play, and problem gambling in online casino gambling.

According to the Pennsylvania Caesars Palace Online Casino promotion, players can now get a "100% Deposit Match Up To $1,000."

The Caesars Palace Online Casino has locations in Michigan, New Jersey, West Virginia, and Ontario in addition to Pennsylvania.