It’s easy to see why people flock to progressive jackpot slot machines. The allure of winning life-changing money is strong. The odds of winning such a jackpot may be small, but when you see a $700,000 jackpot total posted on the website of your favorite online casino, you just have to wonder if today is your lucky day.
But before you rush off to play your favorite jackpot game, you should check with the casino’s terms and conditions about withdrawing. This is especially true for US-based gamblers. You see, many online casinos impose strict limits on the amount of money that you can withdraw every month.
The Maximum withdrawal Clause
Online casinos in the United States have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get their players paid. The legal situation is… difficult to say the least. Most of you have to know by now that withdrawing from casinos today isn’t the same as it was pre-2006.
Back then, you could withdraw any amount of money instantly to your Neteller account and then transfer all that money straight to the bank. Withdrawing back then was as easy as clicking a couple buttons.
Now days, you have to wait a few days at least for a direct bank transfer or paper check. The best online casinos have this process down pretty well. Lucky Red Casino, Bovada and Sun Palace have all been doing great despite the difficulties in the United States.
So on one hand, it is understandable that casinos limit your withdrawals in some situations. But on the other hand, I am convinced that some casinos place these limits arbitrarily.
How A Good Casino Does It
Let’s look at Lucky Red Casino for an example. In their terms and conditions, they state that the maximum withdrawal is $4,000 per week which works out to $16,000 a month. With the current state of the industry, I can live with that – especially considering that they pay out quickly.
But here’s the kicker:
Lucky Red makes an exception for progressive jackpot winners. The above policy does not apply if you win a networked progressive jackpot. So if you win a six or seven figure jackpot, you get it all at once. Otherwise, it would take FOREVER to get your winnings.
Here is it from their terms and conditions:
11. With the exception of Network Progressive Jackpot wins, the maximum withdrawal per week is $/£/€4,000 or 25,000 ZAR. As such cash out requests of a larger amount will be paid in weekly installments.
So with that policy, I’m content. I wish they didn’t have the $16,000/month maximum on other games, but you have to understand how hard it is to process payments in the offshore gambling industry. As long as they let me get my progressive jackpot wins all at once, that’s good enough for me.
When You Should Be Careful
Other casinos don’t make their withdrawal policy as clear as Lucky Red does. For example, I found the following terms at a different USA casino site:
- · Players are allowed to withdraw up to $1,500 USD per request (all other currencies pegged to USD). If the amount wished to be withdrawn is greater than $1,500, then the remaining funds are left in the account. Once the first withdrawal is approved, a player can request an addition withdrawal with the money in his account. Player has the right to cancel the withdrawal request at any time while it is still pending. This also applies to the withdrawals of progressive jackpots.
I’m not naming this casino because I don’t fully understand how this clause works. But the thing to note is that they make no mention of how they treat progressive jackpot wins. Does this means that you have to withdraw $1500 the first time and then you can get the rest in one lump sum? Or does it mean you’re limited to $1500 at a time?
But the lesson here is to proceed with caution. If it’s unclear how the casino treats progressive jackpot wins, you should do a little research. Contact them and ask them what happens in that case. If they can’t give you a straight answer, then it’s probably best to avoid them.
Also, run a Google discussions search on the casino to see what other people have to say. Most of the time, you’ll find at least a few forum posts from former players at that casino. See what those people say about their withdrawal experiences.
Tagged with: slots