[vinylweatherman]

Originally Posted by Jufo

There IS a potential advantage though. If you have bonus in your balance you could invest each win from this bonus into tournaments while keeping only the bonus in your account. This is effectively the same as if you could withdraw each win and keep betting only the bonus until you lose it. I think the bonus system fix tries to prevent this from happening.

Trust a Finn to spot that - no wonder so many casinos BAN Finland


You don't have to WIN a prize though to gain an advantage, nor even play for that matter, you merely have to ENTER an "open" tournament.

This was the kind of exploit MG tried to plug after the initial implementation of the bonus system. Originally, any funds arriving on top of a balance that was wholly bonus balance would appear as cash on top of the CURRENT bonus balance. This had the effect of cancelling SOME of the outstanding WR of a current bonus, and could presumably offer an advantage for players who played with relatively large bets on high variance games.
A cash tournament prize would have the same effect. The most useful time for exploiting this loophole was with a high percentage bonus, which is normally the SUB.

MG fixed this aspect of the loophole, but they cocked it up, and it preserves WR carry over in situations where it is NOT applicable, as well as when it should be.

The tournaments make the loophole even bigger, with the potential to enter a tournament or several with the CASH from the SUB, and then play with the BONUS to either clear WR and bust. If done quickly, players could withdraw from the tournaments they had entered, and then withdraw their initial deposit - in effect, playing the SUB as a no-deposit bonus.

Now, this doesn't work, as when you withdraw from the tournaments your funds will be bonus funds to reflect any unfinished WR. Sadly, the system cannot differentiate between an attempt to manipulate the system, and a player GENUINELY zeroing out and either making a fresh deposit or winning a CASH prize.

With a little more work, MG could have done this better, and even though there was the need for a quick fix at first, they have had ample time now to have done a proper fix.

This loophole is also behind the fact that sometimes you CANNOT withdraw from a tournament, even though the rules say you should be able to do so until they start. This was because some players who were given free entries to tournaments would withdraw instead of playing their free entry, and pocket the free cash. The 20K weekender saw a fair bit of this, so a fudge was implemented to prevent this exploit. Those who complained at the time were quite possibly "trying it on", although it may be that players who had PAID to enter could not withdraw, and those who won through a feeder felt they SHOULD be allowed to take the $20 rather than play.

Casinos (well, JF only really), give out free entries because they want those players to PLAY, it must have been irksome when some players discovered this loophole, and started helping themselves to a free $20 each weekend.