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Congratulations on Your Jackpot: Now Try to Collect It!

Aloha Casino & Sportsbook has such an announcement now on its home page. It says: "The DAZZLER has been hit at Aloha! Congratulations to Christine D. from Kunkletown, PA for hitting the DAZZLER Progressive Jackpot for $60,312.00!"

The announcement is mostly accurate. Christine Dafcik is real. She and her husband do live in the tiny eastern Pennsylvania burg of Kunkletown. She did hit a $60,000 jackpot at Aloha. It was not on the Dazzler; it was on another slot game called Rio Grande. But that's a minor detail.

The biggest problem with this announcement is that Aloha never got around to paying Dafcik. Obviously, the casino doesn't deny that she won. It advertises that fact on its home page and in emails to potential new players.

But for weeks since the April 2 win, Aloha has strung her out with one story after another about why she hasn't been paid.

Hitting the Big One

Dafcik said she doesn't gamble a lot online. "I'd rather go to Atlantic City," she said. "At least it's real. You can lose sight of how much you're playing (online), because it doesn't seem real. You can get so caught up in it."

And of course in Atlantic City, you get paid immediately if you hit a jackpot.

But in March Dafcik got an email from Aloha promoting wagering on March Madness, with her account number on it. She was surprised, she said, because she didn't remember playing there. She said it must have been a year or two earlier that she had gambled at the site.

The end of March was a painful time for Dafcik, because her mother died March 25. She and her mother had frequently gone to Atlantic City to play slots together.

As a distraction from thinking about the loss of her mother, Dafcik said, she deposited money at Aloha and began playing slots. About 9:30 on the evening of April 2, she was up about $1,000 on the Rio Grande. It's a dollar slot, and she was playing maximum coin, three dollars, at a time. She said she had just begun to wonder whether anyone ever hits the progressive jackpot, when three sun symbols showed up, signaling that she had just hit it.

Her account was credited with the $61,000 and some change. She called Aloha and spoke to Alex in Customer Support, who told Dafcik that the casino had to verify that there was not a computer malfunction. The next day, Alex told her that she really had won.

The Delays Begin

A few days later, Dafcik began the ordeal of cashing out. To document her story, she recently sent RGT Online copies of her email correspondence with Aloha.

Everything seemed proper at the start. Dafcik requested that $750 be credited back to her credit card. That was the amount she had deposited at Aloha to play slots at the site. She requested a bank wire for $21,000 and a check for $25,000, to be sent by FedEx.

(Dafcik isn't sure what happened to the balance of the money. She said she gambled more at the site, and it's possible she lost the remainder of the $61,000.)

Saturday evening, April 7, Dafcik received an email signed "Casino Manager," stating: "We have successfully received your redemption request. All redemptions are processed by end of business day on Mondays."

That same evening, she emailed Aloha to ask how long it took for bank wires to be posted to one's bank account, and how long it took to receive a FedEx check. Jerry in Customer Service replied that bank wires usually take three to 10 business days and checks sent by FedEx usually take seven days.

Monday afternoon, April 9, Dafcik emailed to ask if the bank wire and check had been processed. Jerry wrote back that evening: "This redemption has been processed today. We will be contacting you later with specific information on the Bank Wire as well as the FedEx Tracking Number."

Five days later, Saturday, April 14, Dafcik still hadn't heard from Aloha about the bank wire details and the FedEx tracking number. She emailed Jerry, and this is when Aloha's story started to change.

Jerry responded that evening: "Due to security reasons we cannot send you such a large amount in one payment, as well as for tax purposes, you have been sent a bank wire for $25,000 which should be hitting your bank account in the next few days. The rest will be sent to you in installments within the next 2 weeks."

Dafcik replied, asking Jerry to "please explain to me why I was lied to on Monday by your accountant Frank telling me I was issued a bank wire for $21,000 and a cashiers check via FedEx for $25,000? Please at this point I don't know what to believe. What is the truth am I going to get paid????"

In his response, Jerry assured Dafcik, "You are going to get paid in full that is the truth. I understand you want your money right away, but the truth is due to the large amount we are doing it by installments like I told you earlier, you will be getting the bank wire I told you and the remaining in wires as well until you get paid in full, yet you have to be patient with us.

"Like I already told you, due to tax and security purposes for our company as well to you we are not sending the whole amount at once.

"The reason Frank told you that is because it was processed like that in our system, yet our banking center got back to us telling us that it could not be done that way, and the way I told you is the way it's going to be done, for the reasons mentioned above."

Of course any tax issues would be Dafcik's, assuming she got paid, and then the IRS would be concerned about the total winnings received, not the increments of each check. And what is the "security" issue in delivering a check by FedEx?

Aloha Changes Its Players

Tuesday, April 17, Dafcik emailed Jerry to complain that she had not received any of the $46,750 that was supposedly redeemed on April 9. Her credit card had not been credited with $750, and she had not received the bank wire for $21,000 nor the $25,000 that was originally going to be a check by FedEx and was now supposed to be a series of smaller amounts by bank wire.

Apparently it was time for Aloha to change players. The response to Defcik's April 17 email came that same afternoon, but from Laura, not from Jerry. Laura began her email, "Your situation has been transferred to me and I will be the one staying in touch with you."

Laura said the credit to Dafcik's credit card had been processed and that the bank wire was sent the previous Wednesday or Thursday. She said the Easter holidays may have slowed the notifications to Dafcik's banks, and she promised to find out "when the rest of your money is expected to go out and in what way."

Laura also tried to reassure Dafcik: "I understand your concern and your position being so much money, but we have total respect for this business and to you as a customer, and we would not do something to jeopardize the relationship we have with you or our reputation. We are glad that the jackpot was hit once again, it is not the first time and it is not the highest amount and we have always paid it out; however I do ask for your understanding since we have to be careful on how we send this winnings out for your protection and ours."

Wednesday, April 18, Dafcik thanked Laura for her information and asked her to send confirmation on the credit card credit and bank wire, because her bank had no records of these. Laura replied on April 19, giving Dafcik some confirmation numbers on the credit card credit. She said the bank told her the credit may have been held up by "Easter celebration." She said she'd get back later that day with information on the bank wire.

Aloha Changes Its Story Again

Saturday, April 21, Dafcik emailed Laura asking for information on the first bank wire. Laura replied the same day, apologizing for the delay in contacting Dafcik. Laura said she had been out of the office for a couple of days. But then Laura began another change in Aloha's story to Dafcik:

"I got a response from the bank and your wire hasn't been sent as of yet; according to the girl that works with us at Nevis where our banking center is, the reason being was that our cyber cash company has been 2 weeks behind with the sending of wires to our accounts and this is why we haven't been able to send the wire out for you; we are expecting our transfer by Tuesday at the latest this week, so the minute the money hits our accounts we'll be able to process your request; however as I said before we won't send you the total amount of your winnings all at once for your own protection; . . . ."

Laura went on to suggest that if Dafcik had offshore bank accounts or other bank accounts besides the one being used to receive the first bank wire, it would be easier and faster to send the additional bank wires to those.

Aloha, which is based in Costa Rica, uses the St. Kitts-Nevis-Anguilla National Bank Ltd., which apparently has an affiliation with Bankers Trust in New York. St. Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla are a small group of islands in the West Indies.

Wednesday, April 25, Dafcik emailed Laura to tell her that her credit card had been credited with the $750 and that she did have another bank account that could be used for additional bank wires. It was not an offshore account.

Laura promptly requested the information on the other account. She said the first bank wire "is going out today." That was April 25. Dafcik emailed the information on the other bank account.

Laura replied, still on April 25: "Thanks I will start working on your next wire. We are waiting on a transfer to our accounts in Nevis from the Progressive company and as soon as we have it we will proceed to send the second wire."

Wednesday, May 2, exactly one month after she won the jackpot and more than three weeks after trying to cash out her account at Aloha, Dafcik emailed Laura:

"Being you never got back to me and I never received one cent of any of this money . . . I'm beginning to seriously believe I have been screwed and stiffed by Aloha Casino . . . tell me that's not true." There was no response.

Dafcik Wins Again at Aloha, and Gets Paid

As of Friday, the only money Dafcik has received from her April 2 Aloha jackpot is the $750 credited back to her credit card. Incredibly, during this whole process of unsuccessful redemption, she played at the site again.

She bought in for $900, won that much back plus another $1,780. And she got paid promptly. She said her credit card was credited for the $900 and on May 4, she received a check for $1,780 that was delivered by DHL.

Aloha apparently is able to pay out smaller amounts in timely fashion.

Frank, Charlie and "Our Boss in the States"

May 4, Dafcik filed a complaint with the Online Players Association over the $46,000. Steve Adkins, president of the OPA, posted Dafcik's complaint on the Casinomeister's Forum, along with a letter to Aloha requesting proof that any bank wires were sent to Dafcik.

Monday, May 7, Adkins, with Dafcik on the line, called Frank at Aloha. Adkins told RGT Online that Frank "assured me twice" that Dafcik would receive the entire $46,000 by the end of this week. But as of Friday afternoon, Dafcik said, her banks had not received any funds from Aloha.

Thursday afternoon, RGT Online called Frank. It was his day off. We spoke with Charlie, who said he's the Supervisor for Customer Service. He declined to give his last name, saying, "We only work on a first-name basis."

We told Charlie about Frank's promise to Adkins and Dafcik. "Well sir, the week's not over and the money should have already been sent this week," Charlie said.

Asked why this was taking so long, Charlie said, "There was a little problem with the bank, a little computer problem. Actually, we're behind with most of our redemptions. Hers happened to be there. We're just catching up by now."

Asked about other customers, Charlie responded, "I believe the other customers did not complain to you, so I assume that all of them have been paid."

Yesterday, RGT Online was able to reach Frank, who said his last name is Fonseca. Asked for his title, he said, "I'm a lawyer."

Reminded about his conversation Monday with Adkins and Dafcik, Fonseca said, "What I told them was to wait until Monday because of the big amount of the bank wires."

Asked if this takes longer because of the large amount of money, he said, "Yeah, our boss in the States has to approve it. They already approved it, so you don't have to worry."

Fonseca said the money had already been wired. We asked if he knew when it was wired. "No sir," he said, "we don't have a confirmation of the wires. Please give me a call on Monday. I think on Monday she will receive that money. . . So we're willing to pay, you know, the thing is sometimes it takes a little longer because of the amount."

We asked Fonseca who owns the Aloha site. "I'm not able to give that information, I'm sorry," he replied.

"Gambling Commission Approved"!

At the end of Aloha's home page -- the same home page that says "Congratulations to Christine D. from Kunkletown, PA" – is a small box that reads "GAMBLING COMMISSION" in black type, followed by "APPROVED" in red type. Next to these words is a shield that reads "GAMBLING" on the top and "COMMISSION" on the bottom. In the middle are three playing cards.

We asked Fonseca just what commission this refers to. "I don't really know," he said. "I don't have that information."

Few countries in the world regulate Internet gambling, least of all Costa Rica, where Aloha is based. And organizations that regulate land-based gambling typically have a name that reflects their jurisdiction, such as the Nevada Gaming Commission.

A reporter who has covered gambling in Costa Rica told RGT Online that he believes there is some commission there that sells permits to land-based casinos. It doesn't actually regulate casinos, he said, but just issues a piece of paper to anyone that pays the fee.

According to Network Solutions, the name Aloha Casino is registered to Perplexa S.A., with an address in San Jose, Costa Rica. The administrative contact is Godfrey Volk and the technical contact is Antonio Cheng, both with the same San Jose address as Perplexa.

The same registration and contacts are given for Shangrilacasino.com, a URL that takes you to Gambling Stadium, a site that says it has a sports book and five casinos, including Shangrila. The site says Gstadium Group is headquartered in San Pedro, Costa Rica, and is in the process of buying 10 Internet casinos.

Aloha Casino uses software from Unified Gaming. Adkins said the OPA does not recommend any site that uses Unified Gaming's software.

Previously, he said, another OPA member had problems collecting a $50,000 jackpot from another Unified Gaming site.

"The excuse was that Unified contracts with another company for paying off the progressives," Adkins said. That may explain Laura's email to Dafcik on April 25 in which she said, "We are waiting on a transfer to our accounts in Nevis from the Progressive company."

Eventually that winner was paid, Adkins said, but it took 45 days.

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