Warning: OlyBet ignored my gambling problem and let me lose thousands

[Detru]

Hello everyone,

I’m sharing my case as a warning about how OlyBet – and the Estonian regulatory system – failed to protect a player who explicitly asked for help.

In June 2022, I set a two-year self-exclusion on my account (18.06.2022–18.06.2024).
While that exclusion was active, on November 4, 2022, I contacted OlyBet support, explained that I have a gambling problem, and requested a permanent closure of my account.

Their response?
A generic template: “Log in and do it yourself.”

This was impossible, because:

• My account was already excluded and inaccessible.
• Even if I could log in, the only option would have been to extend the exclusion, not request a permanent closure.
• As their own support (chat with Līga) later confirmed, a permanent closure requires manual action from their Responsible Gaming team – something a player cannot do alone.

My request should have been escalated immediately. Instead, it was ignored.

When the exclusion expired in June 2024, OlyBet reopened my account, despite knowing about my gambling problem and my request for closure.
I resumed playing and, according to their own data, lost €8,283.67.

I tried to seek justice:

• EMTA (Estonian regulator) admitted that if a player asks to close their account due to gambling problems, they expect the operator to close it across all sites – but the exact method is up to the operator.
  When I showed that their method had failed, EMTA refused to re-investigate.

• Chancellor of Justice said EMTA has broad discretion and told me to go to court.

• ADR's rejected the complaint, misunderstanding that I had already self-excluded and was asking for a stronger, permanent block.

• OlyBet’s final defence: “No permanent closure exists under Estonian law.”
  Yet their own support admits they do have an internal process for permanent blocks.

Eventually, OlyBet even wrote:

“We genuinely regret that the process did not provide the level of protection you expected or that we aim to offer today.”

But their final decision?

“No compensation or goodwill gesture can be granted for this matter.”

---

Bottom line:
OlyBet ignored a direct plea for help, gave an impossible instruction, reopened my account, and hid behind legal technicalities.
And the regulators let them.

As a player, the only conclusion I can draw is this:
If you tell OlyBet you have a gambling problem, they will do practically nothing. Ethical responsibility doesn’t seem to weigh heavily on them.

Be careful out there.

[cocopop3011]

11 hours ago, Detru said:

When the exclusion expired in June 2024, OlyBet reopened my account, despite knowing about my gambling problem and my request for closure.

Hi and welcome to the forum. 

Do you have a screenshot of what their rules are once a self-exclusion ends please? So we can see whether or not they should have made contact or whether or not it is automatically opened. 

[Detru]

11 hours ago, cocopop3011 said:

Hi and welcome to the forum. 

Do you have a screenshot of what their rules are once a self-exclusion ends please? So we can see whether or not they should have made contact or whether or not it is automatically opened. 

Hi, and thanks for your reply. That is indeed the key question.

I have not yet received the exact Terms of Service document from 2022, but I have formally requested it from OlyBet support and will share it here as soon as I get it.

What OlyBet has already confirmed in writing is that their "standard process" was to allow gambling after the self-exclusion ended. In their final email to me, they wrote:
"...after the end of the self-exclusion you were allowed to gamble according to the standard process..."

This means the account was reopened automatically, exactly as I experienced.

The critical issue is not just automatic reopening, but that on November 4, 2022, while I was still in the 2-year self-exclusion, I contacted OlyBet explaining my gambling problem and asked for a permanent closure.

That request was ignored. It was never escalated to their Responsible Gaming department, which their support chat confirmed exists.

Instead, they let the temporary ban expire naturally, leading to my losses totaling €8,283.

I will update the thread with the 2022 document once I receive it.

Thanks again for your interest.

[cocopop3011]

5 minutes ago, Detru said:

This means the account was reopened automatically, exactly as I experienced.

The critical issue is not just automatic reopening, but that on November 4, 2022, while I was still in the 2-year self-exclusion, I contacted OlyBet explaining my gambling problem and asked for a permanent closure.

Aha, and this is vitally important, Do you have a copy of the email or live chat transcript from this?

[Detru]

6 minutes ago, cocopop3011 said:

Aha, and this is vitally important, Do you have a copy of the email or live chat transcript from this?

Yes, absolutely. I have the complete record.

I requested my entire data history from OlyBet via a formal GDPR request, so I have all associated emails, chat logs, and even internal notes related to my account.

[Detru]

I sent a formal request to OlyBet support asking them to provide the specific Terms that were in force in November 2022. Since their entire defense is that they 'acted in accordance with the rules of 2022', you would think this document would be easy to produce.

However, they have not replied to my request or provided the document yet.

It seems they are basing their defense on a set of rules they are unwilling (or unable) to show me. I will post it immediately if they do eventually send it, but for now, I have nothing but their claims.

[cocopop3011]

On 11/14/2025 at 11:27 AM, Detru said:

Yes, absolutely. I have the complete record.

I requested my entire data history from OlyBet via a formal GDPR request, so I have all associated emails, chat logs, and even internal notes related to my account.

 

2 hours ago, Detru said:

I sent a formal request to OlyBet support asking them to provide the specific Terms that were in force in November 2022. Since their entire defense is that they 'acted in accordance with the rules of 2022', you would think this document would be easy to produce.

However, they have not replied to my request or provided the document yet.

It seems they are basing their defense on a set of rules they are unwilling (or unable) to show me. I will post it immediately if they do eventually send it, but for now, I have nothing but their claims.

This is great that you have all the evidence. Have you opened a complaint on our main site yet? If you have all the evidence you need, I suggest you do this. If they received correspondence from you to permanently close your account, but they never actioned this, then they were at fault. If you submit a complaint they may submit the tc's to our team.

[Detru]

2 hours ago, cocopop3011 said:

 

This is great that you have all the evidence. Have you opened a complaint on our main site yet? If you have all the evidence you need, I suggest you do this. If they received correspondence from you to permanently close your account, but they never actioned this, then they were at fault. If you submit a complaint they may submit the tc's to our team.

That sounds great, thank you.

I actually submitted a complaint on your main site earlier, but it was rejected with the instruction to forward the dispute to the Gambling Authority (EMTA):

“After careful consideration of your case, AskGamblers Complaint Team reached the conclusion that you must forward the dispute in front of the relevant Gambling Authority directly, as they are the only competent authority to conduct proper investigation and reach a justified decision whether there was any breach of the regulatory requirements or not.”

I followed that instruction exactly. I went to EMTA and even the Chancellor of Justice. However, both declined to investigate, citing “broad discretion” or stating that the operator may use any method they choose (even if that method is impossible for the player).

At this point I have fully exhausted the regulatory path as AskGamblers advised and the regulator has failed to act.

Now that I have completed the regulatory escalation as instructed and have new evidence that was not available during my original complaint (OlyBet’s written admission that their process was inadequate), am I allowed to submit a new complaint based on these exhausted channels and new evidence?

Please let me know if I now have the “green light”.

[Flatzem888]

3 hours ago, Detru said:

That sounds great, thank you.

I actually submitted a complaint on your main site earlier, but it was rejected with the instruction to forward the dispute to the Gambling Authority (EMTA):

“After careful consideration of your case, AskGamblers Complaint Team reached the conclusion that you must forward the dispute in front of the relevant Gambling Authority directly, as they are the only competent authority to conduct proper investigation and reach a justified decision whether there was any breach of the regulatory requirements or not.”

I followed that instruction exactly. I went to EMTA and even the Chancellor of Justice. However, both declined to investigate, citing “broad discretion” or stating that the operator may use any method they choose (even if that method is impossible for the player).

At this point I have fully exhausted the regulatory path as AskGamblers advised and the regulator has failed to act.

Now that I have completed the regulatory escalation as instructed and have new evidence that was not available during my original complaint (OlyBet’s written admission that their process was inadequate), am I allowed to submit a new complaint based on these exhausted channels and new evidence?

Please let me know if I now have the “green light”.

what games did you lose on?

[cocopop3011]

8 hours ago, Detru said:

That sounds great, thank you.

I actually submitted a complaint on your main site earlier, but it was rejected with the instruction to forward the dispute to the Gambling Authority (EMTA):

“After careful consideration of your case, AskGamblers Complaint Team reached the conclusion that you must forward the dispute in front of the relevant Gambling Authority directly, as they are the only competent authority to conduct proper investigation and reach a justified decision whether there was any breach of the regulatory requirements or not.”

I followed that instruction exactly. I went to EMTA and even the Chancellor of Justice. However, both declined to investigate, citing “broad discretion” or stating that the operator may use any method they choose (even if that method is impossible for the player).

At this point I have fully exhausted the regulatory path as AskGamblers advised and the regulator has failed to act.

Now that I have completed the regulatory escalation as instructed and have new evidence that was not available during my original complaint (OlyBet’s written admission that their process was inadequate), am I allowed to submit a new complaint based on these exhausted channels and new evidence?

Please let me know if I now have the “green light”.

If you didn't submit all the evidence the first time, it may be worth trying again. However, I can't promise that you won't receive the same reply. This is a complex case. But you are welcome to try again with more evidence but it is absolutely VITAL that you make sure you explain all this.

[Detru]

15 hours ago, Flatzem888 said:

what games did you lose on?

Blackjack and poker mostly, no slots or sports betting.