Bonus Player vs. Non Bonus Player

[addaminsane]

I'm new to online casinos and come from the online poker world where bonuses seem to always be a good thing other than the fact that sometimes they are distracting. By distracting i mean that I ended up losing bankroll because i was too focused on milking a bonus and not playing correct strategy to have positive ev for my money.

Anyways, I've heard casino players talk about not being a "bonus player" and that some prefer to not even go after bonuses.

I was hoping some of those players could elaborate with their individual reasoning on why they prefer to straight up just play with there money.

Some points i'd like to see highlighted...

1. What can be negative aspects of bonuses?

2. When and why is it a good option to straight up play with your deposit?

3. What circumstances arise that you might go after a particular bonus promotion?

Thanks!

[love2winalot]

Hiya: I can sum it up in 2 statements.

1. Play thru requirements.
2. Terms & conditions.

If you take a Bonus, you need to know these 2 things inside out. Sometimes, even making a totaly honest mistake, can cost you the bonus, and or your deposit, and or, get you banned, or all the above.

By playing with your own money only, there are NO restrictions, NO play thru requirements, and you are free to play any game you want, when you want, and for as little or as long as you want.

It is simple. If you are playing for LUCK to shine upon you, then you want as much money as possible to play with, and thus the bigger the bonus, the better.

If you are counting on some sort of skill, then the last thing you want, is to WIN, and then be forced to keep playing, when you really do not want to. It is simply a matter of play style. I prefer to hit, "Bank-Cash Out", at any time i so desire to do so.

[KasinoKing]

I was hoping some of those players could elaborate with their individual reasoning on why they prefer to straight up just play with their money.
Thanks!

As I have said many times, I have been using bonuses to make profit online for 8 years. I admit I'm not the best at it (there's more than one way to tackle them), but I'm happy enough with my results. For the first 4 years I played almost only card games, for the last 4 years almost only slots.

1. What can be negative aspects of bonuses?
As answered by Love2winalot; you need to look out for stupid WR requirements which give you almost zero chance of a cash-out, and convoluted & sometimes entrapping conditions in the T&C's.

2. When and why is it a good option to straight up play with your deposit?
Personally, only if there are no decent bonuses to be had, or if I want to play games for which bonuses have crazy WR (e.g. BlackJack or Roulette), or if I want to play a certain game but the only casinos where I can play it have crap bonuses (e.g. 3Dice, RTG or Rival).

3. What circumstances arise that you might go after a particular bonus promotion?
When I think it will improve my chances of cashing out a profit from my deposit.

To me there are 2 big attractions to using a bonus;
1) The bonus gives me a head start, longer playing time & a better chance of profiting.
2) Using a bonus gives me a stopping point (when WR is finished) and hence a distinct trigger to hit the cash-out button!

What I do does not suit everyone by any means (hours & hours of low-roll grinding to make a few hundred bucks) but it keeps me happy because it means I can have my gambling buzz every day without losing money overall.

KK

[addaminsane]

thanks for the replys. i was confused about casino bonuses at first. Reading several terms and conditions i seen that most of the time you play with the bonus money straight up and have to meet wagering requirements before cashing anything out at all.

i can now see how this could trap your real money in the account because you have to be lucky to be able to make your money reach 10, 15, 20 times what it was when you deposited.

i'm so used to the typical poker bonus where the bonuses are separate and after raking a certain amount a little bit of the bonus is steadily added to real money. And the bonus there doesn't go away when you cash out.

[KasinoKing]

i'm so used to the typical poker bonus where the bonuses are separate and after raking a certain amount a little bit of the bonus is steadily added to real money. And the bonus there doesn't go away when you cash out.

There are still a few casinos where you can forfeit your bonus & cash out; a handful of MG's and most Wagerworks casinos for example, but these are no good to you in the USA.
The only USA OK casino I know where you can still do this is All Star Slots.

Poker bonuses are totally different really because all they are actually doing is giving you a proportion of your rake back.

KK

[Jasminebed]

Well, I play more often with bonuses at some casinos than others.
Even good bonus offers (excluding free chips), only slightly increase your chance of winning, eg from 98.2 to say 98.5, and you do get tied into meeting WR frequently.

Frequently, your first deposit bonus at a casino is the best one you will ever get, but bigger is not always better. In a few cases, these SUB's (sign up bonuses) actually favour the player minimally. A winning player will usually return as they have probably had to go through the identity verification process. Even without a cashout, the player may have had a good spin or two, which would give them a "lucky" feel.

Intercasino used to have quite a good monthly, but the new structure is poor I feel, so if I feel like playing Crytologic, I've switched to not taking any bonuses there.

Inetbet is my most frequently played RTG, and some of my play there is without bonuses, increasingly so lately so that I do have freedom to switch games freely, and the fact that I've never achieved a cashout from a deposit bonus. At CherryRed, I've never met the WR on any bonus I've taken.

I mostly play slots, and I want to play for a while, my main expectation from a deposit. Even with a win, I usually carry on playing just to see if this time my luck will hold up.

I've sometimes ending up winning a higher amount with a bonus because I use that extra money to place bigger bets, or I hit more decent wins while trying to meet the playthrough requirements.

I prefer now to take bonuses on smaller deposits so I'm not stuck with such huge amounts to play through.

It is very important to make sure you check the terms and conditions with bonus offers, because these can vary greatly. If you have any questions, get them answered BEFORE beginning play.

BTW, I don't agree with KK's assessment of the 3Dice bonuses as "crap". They don't offer a ton of them, they are not huge, but IMO very player friendly, and you will not run into problems by playing restricted games. Although certain bets will not count towards wagering requirements or count at reduced rates, but no bets will disqualify you from receiving your winnings.