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Always Cool Casino: Possibly the Most Ironic Name in the Industry
Despite the stupid name, Always Cool Casino was plagued by a myriad of problems, which eventually led to them shutting down.
Namely, they were unresponsive to player complaints, enforced withdrawal fees, and used to wipe the account balances of their players. They also never displayed any license and relied on the lack of regulation and dodgy Terms and Conditions to perpetuate their scam.
However, this rogue behavior came back to haunt them. With the substantial amount of unresolved complaints all over the web, their player base quickly diminished.
General Information
Always Cool Casino was an online casino powered by Betsoft. During their miserable existence, the casino operated without a license and was caught running pirated software (Playtech and Microgaming) in 2015.
The casino earned its rightful place among other blacklisted casinos due to unethical business practices. More specifically, Always Cool Casino enforced ridiculous withdrawal fees and had an atrocious attitude towards players. And yes, you read that right. This casino used to apply fees on every single withdrawal, on top of their already dodgy terms and conditions.
This “Never Cool” mockery of a casino refused to respond to an ever-increasing number of player complaints. Eventually, they just packed their bags and left the industry.
First Impression
It’s impossible not to chuckle at this casino’s god-awful name. But that’s as much as anyone’s getting out of this poor excuse for a casino because it no longer exists. And it’s probably for the best. We’re convinced no one’s going to mourn another rogue casino that was blacklisted for unethical business practices.
Always Cool Casino pulled a classic ruse by targeting the U.S. audience, offering “out of this world” bonuses, and accepting Bitcoin. On the surface, they appeared to be filling the need of a growing market. But in reality, they were merely looking for easy targets for their scams.
Always Cool Casino abused the lack of regulations and relied on vague and confusing Terms and Conditions to justify their rogue behavior. However, what’s especially interesting are their bonuses, which were nothing more than a way to lure new players in.
The bonus T&Cs were practically impossible to decipher yet obviously fraudulent once you tried to withdraw your winnings. The maximum withdrawal limit for playing with bonuses was equal to the bonus received. In other words, if you received a $100 deposit bonus, filled the wagering requirements, and got up to $10,000 — you could have only ever withdrawn the $100. And they’d even tax you on it. Ridiculous.
And since they operated without a license, they were pretty much free to do whatever the hell they wanted. And they pushed the boundaries by enforcing these absurd fees on withdrawals. We’re confident something like this would never fly today, as the players are becoming increasingly wary of rogue casinos.
Games and Software
As we’ve mentioned, the AC casino was caught offering pirated Playtech and Microgaming software. This is unforgivable in the online gambling industry and alone would’ve been enough to earn them the blacklisted status.
After the scandal with the pirated games, obviously, neither Playtech nor Microgaming were willing to work with this casino. So the Always Cool Casino ended up going with Betsoft, which isn’t a bad choice by any means.
Betsoft provides a large selection of graphically impressive casino games and is among the first providers to offer 3D slot games. Although not quite on par with NetEnt just yet, the impressive graphics make Betsoft games quite appealing. Additionally, with Betsoft-powered casinos, you can expect to find all of the standard features within their games, like doubling-up or autoplay.
However, this tells you very little about the casino itself. If anything, rogue casinos tend to provide premium games by leading software developers. After all, they need some way to ensure their player base sticks around once they reveal their true face.
Bonuses
The Always Cool Casino used to boast that they gave away some of the “best” bonuses in the online gambling industry. One of the baits this casino used to lure new players into their trap was the astronomical 2222% slots bonus. And apart from that, they offered $100 free chips as well.
However, a glance at their bonus terms and you’d realize just how “generous” the casino really was. The slots bonus had wagering requirements of 87x deposit + bonus, and was non-cashable. So you would actually do yourself a disservice if you ever decided to claim this bonus. With something like a $50 deposit, you’d have to wager more than $100,000 before you could request a withdrawal. Also, the original bonus amount would have been removed from your account during cashout.
So the Always Cool Casino bonuses weren’t nearly as cool as they might have appeared on the surface. The lesson to learn here is that, when a casino offers such astronomically high bonuses, they are probably sticky and come with insanely high wagering requirements.
User Experience
Surprisingly, the user reviews for the Always Cool Casino aren’t entirely negative.
On one occasion, they even refunded the money deposited by a player, despite that player breaching the casino’s terms and conditions. Granted, their T&Cs were questionable. Also, the mediator played a huge role in resolving this complaint. Still, this is uncharacteristic of a rogue casino and could have potentially signified an attitude shift for the better.
However, these instances are an exception to the rule. And they were few and far in-between. On the other hand, there are far more player complaints claiming their account balances were wiped without any reasonable explanation. In addition, the AC casino’s customer support was unresponsive and unwilling to provide much information, let alone help players resolve their issues.
At best, you’d get an illiterate response from a representative in the live chat. They would typically ask you to be patient while they look into the issue. And if you pushed them to provide an actual answer, they would mumble some nonsense about their ridiculous terms and conditions. Either way, claiming your winnings at the AC casino was a long and arduous process.
Finally, prior to them closing, the Always Cool Casino cut out all communication with its players and mediators. They showed complete disinterest in addressing any problems their users were experiencing. And after a while, they just vanished without a trace, taking the players’ money with them.
Pros and Cons
| PROS Great software with a variety of visually impressive games | CONS UnlicensedConfirmed to have been running pirated softwarePoor customer serviceDodgy Terms and Conditions, especially regarding bonuses Withdrawal fees |
Our Verdict
The Always Cool Casino was a rogue pit that would stop at nothing to ensure you lost every last penny. Their rogue tactics involved everything from running pirated software to coming up with dodgy terms and conditions and enforcing fees on withdrawals.
It’s apparent that the AC casino tried their hardest to come up with inventive ways to rip players off. Thankfully, this casino is out of commission today and won’t be giving players any more headaches.
That said, there’s a valuable lesson to be learned from Always Cool Casino’s example. We can’t stress this enough — read the casino’s terms and conditions before accepting any bonuses or depositing money.
Casino Rating
Customer Support: 2/10
Cashout Time: 3/10
Software: 6/10
Jurisdiction: 1/10
Total: 3/10
