Quote:
Originally Posted by Bindiana_Jones
Just spotted this thread after having my accounts locked and over £200 in funds stolen after receiving emails from them last Friday (as it appears many others have).
Have pitched a bitch so hopefully Casinomeister will be able to help me. I tried PMing the representative beforehand but he just said my play was 'regarded as bonus abuse' and my funds 'have been forfeited'.
I've played with these lot regularly for the past 6 months and thought they could be trusted but obviously not.
I've been extremely carefull to only play at reputable casinos as I really don't want the hassles you see other people having and I'm gutted to have these lot pull a stunt like this.  |
That seems a contradiction, if you have played regularly for 6 months, how can you suddenly be a bonus abuser.
They have now defined "bonus abuse" in rep replies and E-mails. It consists of a pattern of making one big bet with all the bankroll, and following this (if successful) with tiny and numerous bets on a low variance game such as French Roulette and Blackjack. The floor manager finds it a coincidence that a number of players have played in this pattern, and assumes they must be part of a syndicate. Perhaps they are referring to the syndicate headed by Michael Shackleford, who has this very method on the site as a theoretical solution to the traditional -EV bonus. Once the preserve of the "nerd", this method is now so widely discussed on the internet that it would be hard to find a gambler who does NOT know it.
There are accusations that these players breached the terms, this is wrong, there is no term that defines what is meant by "bonus abuse", and players who are asked for clarification are told it would damage the security of the casino for them to know what they are not permitted to have done.
We now have two field definitions of "bonus abuse", big bet followed by tiny Roulette/Blackjack bets, and numerous small bets on a single low variance game. Unfortunately, all that will happen is that as soon as another method of play comes along that ends up producing too many winners, the casinos will simply make an internal decision that this too is "bonus abuse", and the first players will know about it is a locked account and no winnings.
I had no idea that this mass locking was 4000 accounts, unless this means they consider one player who has played all the bonuses as 9 accounts.
This will scare off future players that might be profitable to the casino, they will lack the mathematical knowledge to realise how single big bets can be very low risk in promotional circumstances, and believe it is just a matter of banning players who win big by betting big.
Players who do this only once also get branded as abusers, however, if they had $200 and a mere $20 deposit was needed to put it in play, them betting $220 on a single game is, to them, only betting $20 of their own money in the hope of starting with a really big bankroll. They may then have second thoughts, and want to end up ahead and resort to low wagers to see how they will do. With all the problems in the industry it is good common sense for a player to do this once, so that they can test the withdrawal process. Far better to be screwed for $20 + bonus than deposit and play for months, only to have your very first cash-in voided due to some "security issue" or activity that the casino was quite happy about while said player was losing. This only happened to me the once, and it meant the group concerned lost out on well over £100,000 of action over the following 2 years in a fuss over £40 worth of loyalty points (at which point everybody knows who I am talking about!)
I have accounts at 8 of the FL casinos, I have played on and off for over 2 years, now should I worry that my next cash-in will be denied because in a mad moment I found $50 of "bonus" in my account and blew it in a big bet, happening to win, and continue winning of other smaller bets?
As a player of long standing, I have not seen a bonus offer for several months, despite the fact that I am sure I am down as an occasional, but serious, player. Unknown new players are STILL offered these forever bigger bonuses on their first deposit, followed by absolutely nothing but "lucky draws" where the odds of winning seem miniscule. Other groups offer constant deposit bonuses, as well as other promotions, including lucky draws, where the odds of winning something are much greater.
Casinos want good long term players, so why don't they have promotions that give more to these players as opposed to new players.
One thing I don't expect to see is a spamming campaign for FL casinos to start up again to replace these 4000+ "bad" players that have been cut loose.