A casino deposit refund is a request to get back money you paid into a casino account but haven't bet. Before you ask, save the payment receipt and your balance history, then ask the casino in writing how it returns unused funds. Some casinos call this a refund and others a withdrawal. Either way, find out the fee, the verification it needs and which payment method the money goes back to before you count on it.
This guide doesn't cover getting back money you've already lost, and it doesn't suggest placing bets to unlock a deposit. We read the English terms of two casinos, Bitz and BitStarz, on 8 October 2026. They show what such documents say; they aren't tested refunds, and they may not be the terms attached to your account.
First, work out what happened to the money
The right request depends on whether the payment arrived and whether any of it was used.
Situation | What to ask for |
|---|---|
Deposit credited, no bets placed | Return of the unused cash deposit without gambling |
Payment taken but not credited | A payment trace, the casino's receiving record and the return route |
Some money already wagered | A breakdown of unused cash, settled winnings and losses |
Payment you didn't authorise | Your card issuer's or payment provider's procedure for unauthorised payments |
These are four different cases, not four reasons for a chargeback. A bonus credit isn't money you deposited, and a payment you authorised doesn't become unauthorised because you regret it. If the money left your account but never reached the casino balance, our guide to a deposit not showing covers the trace.
Write down the casino's exact domain, the amount, currency, payment reference and time zone. If several deposits or bonuses are mixed in one balance, ask the casino to separate them before it calculates anything.
What two casinos' terms say
These two documents show why a normal withdrawal rule and a refund policy have to be read separately. They're examples, not a comparison of how either casino handles refunds in practice.
Bitz: a fee for withdrawing a deposit you didn't wager
Bitz's terms (last updated 19 August 2026) let you withdraw "unutilized and cleared funds" under its withdrawal conditions. There's no withdrawal commission once you've wagered the full deposit amount at least once. If you haven't, Bitz says it is "entitled to deduct" an 8% fee with a minimum of €4, which it describes as a measure to combat money laundering.01
The same section sets a €10 minimum per withdrawal, except when you close the account and take the full balance. Bitz can ask for photo ID, proof of address or further checks such as a selfie or a verification call. Withdrawals must go back to the original payment method unless Bitz, at its discretion, allows another one, which always brings extra security checks. If your account is inaccessible, dormant, locked or closed, the terms tell you to contact customer service. Bitz also says it can't guarantee withdrawals or refunds if you've broken its restricted-use rules.01
None of this tells you what will happen to a particular request. Ask which amount the 8% is taken from, whether any other charge applies and how the account-closure exception works. The anti-money-laundering reason is Bitz's own explanation; it doesn't mean the law requires an 8% fee.01
BitStarz: a 24-hour window for refund requests
BitStarz's English terms (last updated 25 June 2025) set out a refund policy in §8.8. A refund request has to be made "within the first 24 hours of the transaction in question for it to be considered", or within 30 calendar days if you claim someone else got into your account. The 30-day window isn't a longer deadline for an ordinary unused deposit.02
Before any refund is calculated, BitStarz removes all bonuses and winnings from the balance (§8.8.3). You contact support to ask "about the possibility of a refund", and the terms ask for a photo of your ID, a photo or screenshot of the payment system and a photo or screenshot of a document confirming your current address, adding that more documents could be requested (§8.8.5). Approval isn't automatic.02
A separate clause, §8.8.2, is about ordinary withdrawals rather than refund requests. If you deposited by credit card, BitStarz reserves the right to process withdrawal requests, up to the total you deposited, as refunds against those card purchases, and to pay anything above that by another method. That can decide where your withdrawal goes. It isn't a refund you can claim.02
On fees, the same terms say neither BitStarz nor its payment processor charges anything for a withdrawal, though your bank might (§8.7.10). They also require deposits to be played through once before a withdrawal (§8.7.5 and §9.9; our guide to wagering requirements explains how such rules are counted) and say BitStarz doesn't refund or cancel funds already wagered (§8.7.3).02
Don't read the refund window and the playthrough rule together as an instruction to gamble. Ask support which procedure applies to unused money, and whether closing the account changes the answer: §6.3.1 says BitStarz returns the funds in a closed account minus relevant withdrawal charges, by a method at its discretion.02
Both documents say their English version prevails over translations, but that doesn't settle which document applies to you. When we opened BitStarz's homepage from our location on 8 October 2026, it loaded in Russian and we found no link to these English terms. We couldn't confirm that this document is the one attached to every account or country, so treat it as a dated example, not as BitStarz's policy for everyone.0102
Calculate the fee, but confirm what it's charged on
An 8% fee with a €4 minimum works out as:
fee = max(0.08 × fee base, €4)
The minimum takes over whenever 8% would be less than €4, which means any base under €50.
Assumed fee base | Fee | Left after the fee |
|---|---|---|
€10 | €4 | €6 |
€25 | €4 | €21 |
€50 | €4 | €46 |
€100 | €8 | €92 |
€500 | €40 | €460 |
These are worked examples, not observed deductions. They assume euros, one deduction and no other charges. The minimum withdrawal and the minimum fee are separate rules: on Bitz's €10 minimum withdrawal, a €4 fee would be 40%.01
Don't bet the balance just to avoid the fee. That turns a request for unused money into gambling. Ask for a way to get the money back without wagering, and for the calculation in writing.
Great Britain has its own rules
If your account is with a business licensed by Great Britain's Gambling Commission, the Commission's guidance on deposit withdrawals says you must be allowed to withdraw your deposit balance at any time, including while a bonus is pending or active, except where that's needed to meet regulatory obligations. You can't be made to meet wagering requirements before you withdraw deposited money.03
The same guidance still lets the business deduct a fee for processing the withdrawal and, if you take out less than your full deposit balance, reasonably limit the size or number of separate withdrawals, but only under a fair and transparent term. Any charge must be made clear before you deposit and mustn't exceed the direct processing cost. Separate guidance on un-staked deposits says that money remains the customer's property and that licensees mustn't have terms letting them confiscate it, again except where regulatory obligations require it.0304
This guidance is for Gambling Commission licensees, and neither casino's terms name a Gambling Commission licence: Bitz's cite one from Anjouan and BitStarz's one from Curaçao, and both list the United Kingdom among the countries they don't accept players from. An English-language site or a balance in pounds doesn't mean a casino holds a British licence. Check which company, domain and licence your account is actually with; our guide on how to check a crypto casino licence shows how.0102
Send one clear request and keep the reply
Save the payment receipt, the transaction history, your current balance, the terms you accepted and any record of a bonus being activated or cancelled. If the casino's policy has a request window, like BitStarz's 24 hours, ask straight away rather than assuming it stays open.02
Adapt this message to your case:
I request the return of the unused funds from deposit [reference], made on [date and time zone] for [amount and currency]. Please confirm the unused cash amount, the procedure that applies, any fee and what it is calculated on, the payment method the money will be returned to, any verification still outstanding and when you will next update me. I do not want to place bets to access this balance. Please acknowledge this request and send me your formal complaint procedure if you refuse it.
Keep the acknowledgement and the case reference. If your account is closed or self-excluded, ask for a way to return the funds that doesn't reopen access to gambling; our self-exclusion guide explains how closing an account, taking a break and self-excluding differ.
Send documents only through the casino's official secure channel. Never post payment details or ID in a public complaint, and never share passwords, private keys or wallet recovery phrases.
If the casino refuses or changes the amount
Ask for the exact clause, the version of the terms applied to your account and the calculation. Keep unused cash apart from bonus credits, disputed winnings and settled losses. A general answer about "AML" doesn't explain an amount deducted or which check is still outstanding.
Our guide to a casino refusing to pay covers documenting and escalating a refusal. If the problem is a payout limit or timing rather than a refund decision, see crypto casino withdrawal limits.
For card or bank payments, ask your card issuer or payment provider which process fits the facts: a refund, a trace or a dispute. This guide doesn't promise a chargeback right, a reason code or a deadline. Both casinos' terms penalise chargebacks: Bitz says you must compensate it for reversed deposits and may charge a €50 administration fee for each one, and BitStarz reserves the right to take your available balance, claim further damages and close the account (§9.3). Describe what happened accurately, including any money already credited, spent or returned.0102
For crypto, keep the asset, network, transaction ID and the casino's receiving record, and ask how any agreed return will be sent. Terms can set hard limits here: BitStarz's say a crypto deposit below the minimum shown on the deposit page won't reach your account and can't be returned (§8.6.8). Don't assume a crypto return follows card-refund rules, or that a recovery service can reverse the transfer. Don't make another deposit to "release" the first one.02
What we couldn't check
We didn't hold accounts at either casino, make a deposit or ask for a refund, so nothing here shows how a request is handled in practice. Two documents aren't a sample of the market, and the casino may apply a different document to a different domain or company, or change its terms after we read them.