Can a Casino Close Your Account? Why It Happens and What You Get Back
Yes. All five crypto casinos whose full terms we read in October 2026 keep the right to close an account, and three of them, BitStarz, Rainbet and Roobet, can do it at their own discretion.
If a casino has closed your account, what happens to your money depends on why. BitStarz and Gamdom say they return the remaining balance when they close an account, while Roobet’s terms let it “freeze all remaining funds”. After a breach, such as a second account or a VPN, the terms let a casino keep your winnings, and Rainbet’s let it keep the deposit too.
VIP-Grinders helps poker players with disputes at the rooms we work with, but we do not handle casino complaints. This guide shows you the route to follow yourself, built from the casinos’ own terms and the regulators’ rules.
This guide covers:
- What casinos' terms allow, with a dated comparison of six crypto casinos
- Why accounts get closed, from a second account to a VPN
- What happens to your balance in each case, and what regulators allow
- Self exclusion and dormant accounts, and the fees that can apply
- The deadlines for a complaint, from 3 days for a disputed bet at Rainbet to 6 months under Curaçao law
Can a Casino Close Your Account?
Yes. Casino terms give the operator the right to suspend or close an account, and some let it do so with no reason or warning. This is what the five crypto casinos whose full terms we could read say, checked on 21 October 2026:
| Casino | License | When It Can Close Your Account | What Happens to Your Balance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stake | Curaçao | “At any time, with or without notice” if it suspects a breach or a compromised account | It tells you how to withdraw the balance, but can keep winnings after a breach |
| BitStarz | Curaçao | At its “absolute discretion”, with no reason or notice | Refunded, minus withdrawal charges |
| Gamdom | Anjouan | If it believes this is needed for legal reasons, to investigate suspicious activity, for responsible gambling or to protect its platform | Returned, unless there is illegal activity or a serious breach |
| Rainbet | Anjouan | “Without prior notice” | Withdrawn through support, but after a breach it can keep the deposit too |
| Roobet | Curaçao | “At our own sole discretion” | It can “freeze all remaining funds” |
We could not read BC.Game’s full terms, but its help center says an account “may be temporarily locked pending further verification”. Whether a casino can keep any of your money depends on why it closed the account, which the section on your balance below covers.
Suspended, Restricted or Closed: What Each Means
Not every block is a closure. Casino terms describe four levels, and each leaves you with different options:
| Status | What It Means | Example From the Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted | Limits on bonuses, deposits or bet sizes, while the account stays open | Stake can “deny, withhold, or withdraw from any Player any bonus or promotion” |
| Suspended or locked | Blocked for a time, often while the casino reviews the account or asks for documents | BC.Game: “your account may be temporarily locked pending further verification” |
| Closed by the casino | Shut for good, with the balance handled as the terms set out | Gamdom: “we will return any remaining balance to You, unless” one of its exceptions applies |
| Closed at your request | Self exclusion or a closure you ask for, often with a wait before you can return | Stake: reactivation is “subject to a cooling off period of 24 hours” |
Gamdom’s help center splits its bans the same way. Funds and rewards stay claimable after a regular, permanent or responsible gambling ban, but “You’ll lose your funds and rewards if any abuse is detected”.
Why Casinos Close Accounts
The terms of the casinos we checked list the same few reasons again and again:
- A second account, including one opened by someone in your household
- Your location, if you play from a restricted country or hide it with a VPN
- Bonus abuse, such as claiming one offer on several accounts
- Your payments, if you use someone else's card or wallet or reverse a deposit
- Game errors and betting patterns the terms forbid
- Failed ID checks, fraud or underage play
Two more reasons, self exclusion and a long period without logging in, are covered further down.
Multiple Accounts and Shared Devices
The five casinos whose full terms we read limit you to one account, and some apply that rule to your whole home. BitStarz allows “only one Account for each household, IP, PC”, so two people on the same home network can break it without knowing. This is what each casino says can happen when a second account turns up:
- Stake: it can close every account, "retain all monies in such Stake Accounts" and ban you for good
- BitStarz: all extra accounts "may be blocked or closed and any bets may be voided"
- Rainbet: "all associated accounts will be closed and any remaining funds will be locked and withheld"
- Gamdom: a second account breaks its terms, and its help center says that where abuse is involved "funds and rewards may be confiscated"
BC.Game is the exception among the six casinos: its help center lets you link up to three accounts to one verified ID.
João Mourato, our Head of iGaming Product, has worked in the industry since 2014, including on the operator side:
“Casino back end software flags multiple accounts automatically, most often through the same IP address, the same device or the same payment method, and many terms add the same home address. Management decides what happens next, and a flag often gets a close look only when that account asks to withdraw a big win.”
João Mourato, Head of iGaming Product at VIP-Grinders
VPNs and Restricted Countries
Every casino we checked excludes some countries, but the VPN rules differ. Rainbet bans VPNs outright, while Stake, BitStarz and Gamdom ban using one to get around a country or game block:
| Casino | What Its Terms Say | What Can Happen |
|---|---|---|
| Stake | Using a VPN or proxy to “manipulate your real location” and get around country blocks is a breach | It can close or suspend the account and void bets |
| BitStarz | Using a VPN to get around a game provider’s block is “strictly prohibited” | It “may lead to confiscation of winnings” |
| Rainbet | “You may not use a VPN, proxy or similar services” | After any breach it can void bets and “withhold any money in your account (including the deposit)” |
| Gamdom | Hiding your country with “VPNs, proxies, or similar tools” | Your account “may be restricted” |
Roobet’s terms do not mention VPNs, but they bar you from using the site from a restricted territory. Play only where the casino accepts players from your country, and check its list of restricted countries before you deposit.
As João notes above, a closer look often comes with a big win.
Bonus Abuse
Bonus abuse covers claiming one offer on several accounts and betting in ways the terms forbid while a bonus is active. The cost can be everything linked to the offer:
- Gamdom: its terms allow "reversing associated winnings" and closing the accounts involved
- BitStarz: its terms say it "will enforce immediate confiscation of winnings and closure of the account"
The bonus rules themselves differ from casino to casino. Our guide to casino bonus terms goes through them clause by clause.
Someone Else’s Payment Method and Chargebacks
Deposits must come from a card or wallet in your own name, and a chargeback, where you ask your bank or card issuer to reverse a deposit, breaks the terms too. This is what each casino says can happen:
- Stake: an account "can only be funded" by "payment methods owned by You", and after a breach it can "withhold and/or retain any and all amounts"
- BitStarz: "your winnings will be confiscated" and the deposit goes back to the owner of the payment account
- Rainbet: a chargeback can mean account termination and the loss of the full balance
- Gamdom: a chargeback made without a valid reason, or without contacting support first, "may lead to temporary restrictions, confiscation of funds or rewards linked to the transaction", and to permanent closure in serious or repeated cases
Game Errors and Irregular Betting
When a game or system goes wrong, the terms let the casino cancel the results, wins included, and some also void bets placed in patterns they forbid:
- Gamdom: it can "cancel and revert affected bets, rounds, and winnings" after a malfunction
- Stake: winnings credited by mistake, for example after a technical error in the pay tables, "will remain our property"
- Roobet: "Irregular or unusual betting patterns" and bets it believes "automated systems" placed can lead it to void bets or close the account
Real cases of games that paid out wrongly, and how testing labs check them, are in our guide to how casino games are tested.
Failed KYC, Fraud and Underage Play
Accounts are also closed when a player fails ID checks, sends edited documents or is under 18. At Rainbet, failing KYC or sending falsified documents means permanent closure and “forfeiture of all funds”, and an underage player’s winnings are retained.
Curaçao, Malta and the UK each set rules on returning a balance after a failed ID check. Our guide on what happens if you fail KYC compares them.
What Happens to Your Balance When Your Account Is Closed
It depends on the reason. When a casino closes an account at its own discretion, the terms we read mostly return the balance, but after a breach they let it keep your winnings and sometimes your deposit:
| Why the Account Was Closed | What the Terms Allow | At the Casinos We Checked |
|---|---|---|
| The casino’s own decision | Balance paid out, sometimes minus fees, or frozen | BitStarz and Gamdom return it; Roobet can freeze it |
| A second account | All money in the accounts can be kept | Stake and Rainbet |
| Bonus abuse | Winnings, bonuses and linked funds lost | BitStarz, Gamdom and Rainbet |
| Someone else’s payment method | Winnings lost, and at some casinos the deposit too | BitStarz returns the deposit to its owner; Stake can forfeit both |
| Failed KYC or false documents | All funds lost at some casinos | Rainbet |
| Self exclusion | Usually withdrawable, with a deadline at some casinos | See the self exclusion section below |
Winnings are what is most at risk: every breach on this list lets at least one of these casinos keep them. Your deposit is safer, but Rainbet’s and Stake’s terms let them withhold it too in some cases.
What Regulators Allow
The license decides which rules apply. Curaçao requires the terms to spell out when winnings can be confiscated, Malta goes further and limits the confiscation itself, and Anjouan has published no rule on it:
| License | Rule on Your Balance | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Curaçao | Terms must say when accounts can be closed, “what happens to funds, fiat or crypto” and when winnings can be confiscated | Curaçao Gaming Authority terms and conditions guideline, published April 2026 |
| Anjouan | No published rule on closures or balances, but player balances must be kept apart from the casino’s own funds | Anjouan code of conduct for licensed operators, checked October 2026 |
| Malta | Confiscation only in situations the terms name, and it “shall be proportionate and reasonable” | MGA Player Protection Directive, article 30 |
| UK | Deposits you have not staked stay your property, and terms cannot let the casino take them unless a legal or regulatory duty requires it | UK Gambling Commission guidance, February 2022 |
All five casinos in our table hold a Curaçao or Anjouan license, and of those two regulators only Curaçao has published rules on closures and balances. Under its guideline, which applies to all Curaçao licensees within 6 months of its April 2026 release, a casino’s terms must also say how you can escalate a closure and how your funds are returned.
Dormant Accounts and Inactivity Fees
An account you stop using can cost you money. Casinos and regulators set different points at which an account counts as inactive:
| Casino or Regulator | When an Account Counts as Inactive | What It Means for Your Balance |
|---|---|---|
| BitStarz | 6 months without logging in | A fee of at least 5 EUR a month while the balance is positive, until it reaches zero |
| Roobet | 6 months without logging in | It can close inactive accounts with a zero balance |
| Curaçao | No set period | Fees must be disclosed and “fair and proportionate” |
| Malta | At least 3 months, with 30 days’ notice | Fees cannot push the balance below zero, and unclaimed funds stay yours for at least 5 years after a final notice |
| UK | No set definition; the repayment rule applies after 12 months | The casino must try to return the balance to your last payment method |
The fix is to withdraw before you take a long break, since BitStarz stops charging the fee once the balance reaches zero.
Self Exclusion and Closing Your Own Account
You can close your own account or self exclude at every casino we checked, but the rules on coming back and on your balance differ widely. Some exclusions can never be reversed, and after a permanent exclusion at BC.Game, a balance left behind after 7 days is lost:
| Casino | Can You Come Back? | Your Balance |
|---|---|---|
| Stake | At least 6 months, then “an internal review”; an account you closed yourself can be reactivated after a 24 hour cooling off period | Wagers and “reward funds” are forfeited during the exclusion; the page does not mention your cash balance |
| BitStarz | You close the account by contacting support | All funds returned, minus withdrawal charges |
| Rainbet | Exclusions “cannot be reversed under any circumstances”; closing an account takes 24 hours plus 90 days | Not stated in its self exclusion rules |
| Gamdom | You can ask to reactivate once the period ends, but it “may deny reactivation” | You can still ask support for a withdrawal |
| Roobet | An exclusion cannot be ended early, and the account reopens on its own afterwards | Not stated in its help center |
| BC.Game | Exclusions are “irreversible and cannot be removed” | After a permanent exclusion, 7 days to withdraw, then “any remaining balance will be forfeited” |
Curaçao’s rules go further than some of these terms. Its Responsible Gaming Policy says that when a player self excludes from all products, “any remaining funds in the player’s account must be refunded to the original payment method within two business days”, unless they are frozen under money laundering rules.
Before you self exclude, take these steps:
- 1Withdraw your balance first, so nothing is left in the account
- 2Finish or cancel any bonus, since funds still under wagering can be forfeited or locked until the exclusion ends
- 3Check how long the exclusion lasts and whether it can ever be reversed
- 4Exclude at each casino where you hold an account, unless all of them belong to the same national self exclusion scheme
Our page on self exclusion and blocking tools also covers national exclusion schemes and software that blocks gambling sites.
How to Challenge a Closure: Deadlines That Matter
Act fast and put everything in writing. Every appeal starts with the casino’s own complaint process, in this order:
- 1Ask for the reason in writing. Find out which term the casino says you broke, and ask what will happen to your balance.
- 2Save your evidence. Take screenshots of your balance, bet history, deposits and every message before your access ends.
- 3Make a formal complaint to the casino. Use its complaint channel and do it inside its deadline, even while you wait for support to reply.
- 4Take it to the ADR body the casino names. ADR, or alternative dispute resolution, is an independent service, and under Curaçao and Anjouan rules the casino pays for it.
- 5Contact the regulator last. A Curaçao casino must not stop you contacting the regulator, but neither Curaçao's nor Anjouan's will rule on your money.
The deadline depends on the casino’s terms and its license, and the shortest is a matter of days:
| Rule | Deadline to Complain | What Happens Next |
|---|---|---|
| Rainbet terms | 3 days from when the disputed bet is decided | A complaint to “Gaming Services Provider N.V.”, named in its terms |
| Anjouan complaint policy | 30 days for account disputes such as suspensions, 14 days for game disputes | The casino must reply within 30 days |
| Stake terms | 6 months from the incident | Receipt confirmed within a week, then the ADR service CADRE |
| BitStarz terms | 6 months from when the claim arose | The gambling authority or a dispute resolution service |
| Curaçao rules | 6 months, free of charge | A reply within 4 weeks, which can be extended once by 4 weeks |
| Roobet terms | No deadline stated | Its own complaints procedure, then binding ADR with Resolvo Curaçao |
If you play at an Anjouan casino, a suspension has to be disputed within 30 days, far sooner than the 6 months in Curaçao. Check the casino’s own terms too, since its deadline can be shorter than the license allows.
Why Skipping the Casino’s Process Backfires
Going straight to an outside body is a common reason a complaint goes nowhere. In UK data for October 2019 to September 2020, 46.9% of the disputes the ADR service eCOGRA refused were turned away because the player had not finished the operator’s complaint process first.
Regulators will not settle the money for you either. This is who decides what:
| Who | Their Role in Your Complaint |
|---|---|
| The casino | Hears your complaint first, inside its own deadline |
| ADR service | Decides cases the casino did not resolve; in Curaçao this should take “no more than 90 days”, and the regulator expects the outcome to bind the casino |
| Curaçao Gaming Authority | It “will not resolve or make decisions on any player complaints” |
| Anjouan regulator | Players “should not contact the Authority to resolve a dispute” |
Our guide to the complaint route for each license covers who to contact under Curaçao, Anjouan and Malta rules.
How to Keep Your Account in Good Standing
Most closures in this guide trace back to a rule the player could have checked first. These habits keep you clear of the common ones:
- One account per person. Check the household rule before a partner or flatmate signs up on the same network.
- Play only from a country the casino accepts, and without a VPN.
- Pay from a card or wallet in your own name, and never reverse a deposit through your bank.
- Read the bonus terms before you claim, above all the max bet and the excluded games.
- Verify your account early, before your first big withdrawal rather than after it.
- Keep records. Screenshot big wins, your bet history and your chats with support.
- Withdraw your winnings regularly instead of holding a large balance.
- Empty the account before a long break, so inactivity fees have nothing to take.
João sums up the approach we recommend for crypto casinos:
“Deposit, play, withdraw. Crypto withdrawals are near instant, so there is no reason to keep a big balance sitting in a casino account.”
João Mourato, Head of iGaming Product at VIP-Grinders
Every casino in our crypto casino rankings has been tested with real deposits and withdrawals, and each review says where we have completed a withdrawal.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a casino close your account for winning?
Casino terms let it close an account at its own discretion, and at BitStarz, Rainbet and Roobet that needs no breach of the rules. What a closure like that should not cost you is your balance: BitStarz and Gamdom say they return it, Malta only allows confiscation in situations the terms name, and the UK bars terms that leave it to the casino’s sole discretion. Sportsbooks go further and limit winning bettors, and João Mourato, our Head of iGaming Product, had accounts restricted for winning as a professional bettor.
Can an online casino keep your winnings?
Yes, in the situations its terms set out, such as a second account, bonus abuse, someone else’s payment method or a failed ID check. Curaçao requires casino terms to state clearly when winnings can be confiscated, and Malta requires any confiscation to be “proportionate and reasonable”. After a closure on the casino’s own decision, BitStarz and Gamdom say they return the balance.
What happens to my balance if a casino closes my account?
It depends on the reason. After a closure on the casino’s own decision, BitStarz and Gamdom say they return the balance, while Roobet’s terms let it freeze it. After a breach, the terms can let a casino keep your winnings, and at Rainbet and Stake in some cases the deposit too.
Can I use a VPN at an online casino?
Not to get around a country block. Rainbet’s terms say you “may not use a VPN, proxy or similar services” at all, Stake treats one used to “manipulate your real location” as a breach that lets it close the account, BitStarz says using one to get around a block “may lead to confiscation of winnings” and Gamdom can restrict your account. Play only from a country the casino accepts.
Can I have two accounts at the same casino?
Not at most casinos. The five whose full terms we read allow one account per person, BitStarz allows “only one Account for each household, IP, PC” and Stake’s terms let it “retain all monies” in every account you hold. BC.Game is the exception, since its help center lets you link up to three accounts to one verified ID.
What counts as bonus abuse?
Bonus abuse is claiming or using an offer in a way the terms forbid, such as claiming it on several accounts or breaking the bonus rules while it is active. BitStarz’s terms also cover using a bonus to create a positive expected value through the practices they list. The usual result is losing the bonus and its winnings, and at several casinos the account too.
How long do I have to complain about a closed casino account?
It depends on the license and the terms. Curaçao rules give you 6 months, Anjouan’s policy gives 30 days for account disputes such as suspensions, and Rainbet’s terms give 3 days to dispute a bet once it is decided. Complain to the casino in writing first, since ADR services can refuse a case that skipped that step.
Can I reopen a self excluded casino account?
Usually not until the exclusion ends, and at some casinos never. Rainbet and BC.Game say exclusions cannot be reversed, Stake reviews reopening after at least 6 months, Gamdom can refuse reactivation and Roobet reopens the account on its own when the period ends. Withdraw your balance before you exclude, since BC.Game forfeits what is left 7 days after a permanent exclusion.