What's the deal with bonuses?

[XMaNIaC]

So I've opened an account at betfair. They match my deposit of 75€ with a bonus. I play at the BJ table with 140 chips. Loose 75 (over 100 hands). I transfer back the remaining chips and it says that the max amount I can trasnfer is 0. So basically I've lost the whole deposit.

Can someone explain the usefulness of them?

Regards

[chuchu59]

Are you saying you are withdrawing the chips and not transferring them. If that's the case, they are right in not allowing you to withdraw otherwise you are not taking any risk and you will certainly not be able to lose as it's their money you are playing with. Maybe you should make it clearer what you are talking about.

[XMaNIaC]

I'll try to be more clear this time. I deposited 75€. I got a bonus of 75€ in chips. I played about 150 hands and lose 75 chips (borderline incredible).

So, at this point, I'm not sure I want to continue playing at this casino and try to withdraw to my bank as much as I can. This number is 0€. The report engine shows bets that always involved my deposited money and the bonus amount is constant at 75€ as it was never touched.

What is it for then?

Regards,

[james01]

I'll try to be more clear this time. I deposited 75€. I got a bonus of 75€ in chips. I played about 150 hands and lose 75 chips (borderline incredible).

So, at this point, I'm not sure I want to continue playing at this casino and try to withdraw to my bank as much as I can. This number is 0€. The report engine shows bets that always involved my deposited money and the bonus amount is constant at 75€ as it was never touched.

What is it for then?

Regards,

Bonuses are for playing with. They aren't money as such. Rather they are money which you can use to wager with. Additionally, each casino has wagering requirements. What you should do now is examine the wagering requirements. You probably cannot meet the requirements by playing blackjack. You'll need to play slots or another game. If you come out ahead after meeting those requirements, then you'll be able to cash out. You can't use the bonus as cash. It wouldn't make sense for casinos to give away that kind of money, would it?

[zuga]

Bonuses are for playing with. They aren't money as such. Rather they are money which you can use to wager with. Additionally, each casino has wagering requirements. What you should do now is examine the wagering requirements. You probably cannot meet the requirements by playing blackjack. You'll need to play slots or another game. If you come out ahead after meeting those requirements, then you'll be able to cash out. You can't use the bonus as cash. It wouldn't make sense for casinos to give away that kind of money, would it?

Actually the given bonus at betfair is both cashable and BJ allowed. The WR(wagering requirement) is 30xb.
The games that are excluded from this promotion are Craps, Single Deck Blackjack, Baccarat, Roulette and all Zero Lounge games.So XMaNIaC can play for example multihand BJ..

[XMaNIaC]

If I've understood correctly once I've wagered 2250€ I could cash out the 75€ of the bonus. Is this correct? So, basically I would have to deposit again and play around 2000 hands, not loose a dime and then I would be on par...

Do you consider a bonus like this interesting at all? 2250 hands seems quite a number for 75€

Regards

[zuga]

Actually 30xb is pretty much low for BJ allowed bonus.Of course there are better BJ bonuses out there( bet365,888.com,ect)., but decent number of casinos dont allow BJ, or if they do the WR is huge,or bonus is sticky...And yes 75x30= 2250 to wager to be able to withdraw any bonus and possible winnings.. You can try to meet the WR with the money left..

[Jufo]

If I've understood correctly once I've wagered 2250€ I could cash out the 75€ of the bonus. Is this correct? So, basically I would have to deposit again and play around 2000 hands, not loose a dime and then I would be on par...

Do you consider a bonus like this interesting at all? 2250 hands seems quite a number for 75€

Regards

You don't have to re-deposit, you can continue to play with the bonus funds until you have wagered 75*30 = 2250 total. You can check how much you have wagered at Casino -> My Account -> Player Profile. 30x Blackjack bonuses are rare and very good, but of course it is always possible to lose.

[paul02085]

Obviously the OP is new to bonuses. All he needs to know is that this is one of the best bonuses he is going to see so if dont like this one i would say dont play with any bonuses. Good luck!

[aka23]

Can someone explain the usefulness of them?

If you play without bonuses, the casino has an edge. You are expected to lose over time. If you play with bonuses, you may have an edge over the casino during the bonus play, or the casino may have a smaller edge. You have a much better chance of coming out ahead over time.

Loose 75 (over 100 hands).

I played about 150 hands and lose 75 chips.

Is it losing 75 over 100 hands, or losing 75 over 150 hands? You can check the chance of results occurring in the calc on my signature. It says the chance of losing 75 in 150 hands (with a 1 chip initial bet) is >5 SDs below normal, which is the rarest result I have ever heard of with a large, well known software. I suspect that you either weren't using optimal BJ strategy or your bet size was higher than 1 chip.