Am I missing something?

[imcasual]

[COLOR=DarkGreen][FONT=Lucida Sans Unicode]....because if I have as much info on this industry as anyone ~ and, after all, that's the primary reason why I drop in on this forum (besides the entertainment value; yes, Bryan, you can be funny as hell) then all generally accepted methods of reasoning go flying right out the window. I don't like to consider myself an idiot, but I must be one. I continue to play site after site and, with the understanding that this is a conservative estimate, I have lost well over 30 thousand dollars over the last 3-4 years and have never won anything substantial. There has been an occasional royal flush but I ended up 'frittering' it away (a polite term for what I do with it) typically before my next logoff.

Now that's my problem and I think we'd all agree that it must be considered a problem. I could give you more exact figures on my losses but frankly I'm terrified to add them up. I have most of the records and could obtain what's missing, no doubt, from the sites who use the bounty of my bad judgment to buy new servers and increase their bandwidth.

But what's up lately with these so-called bonuses and promotions offered up by these casinos as if they're doing us a big favor? If I purchase and wager some ungodly amount, several times over and still lose my shirt, they will 'reward' me with a paltry percent of the initial deposit. ORRRRR! Even better: purchase and wager (same basic terms, multiple times, blah blah) and if you wager the most on a given game or machine over a specified period of time that makes up the structure of this tournament or some similar 'gamename' I will receive an ENTRY into yet another 'sweepstakes' to be added to the bin of thousands upon thousands of similar entries the associated prize of which is a couple hundred dollars. Then there's an old favorite. If I hit the progressive jackpot of tens of thousands of dollars or more, the casino will kick in an additional 2 grand. Let me tell ya, if I hit a progressive that big, they can HAVE their 2 grand.

I hope you guys aren't buying this, literally or figuratively. In fact, I hope that you have come to the same conclusion as I (and one or two other forum posters) have which is: KEEP YOUR BONUSES! I feel more confident in my ability to win and cash out with my own bucks on my own terms. I wasn't the first, nor will I be the last player to lose my newly won shorts trying to fulfill some outlandish wagering requirement set forth in these bonus rules and regs.

Since I've given up on my ability to keep any New Year's resolutions whatsoever, I will instead, put a biggie on my Christmas wishlist. Maybe if Santa has enough advance notice, he can make this happen, and it's a doozy. Keep my no-will-powered fanny out of these online casinos! Let me spend my hardearned dollars foolishly elsewhere...maybe at a retail location where I'll actually have something to show, once the cash is gone.

Phew! I do feel a tad better now. Time to go check the emails and see what Valentine slot offers are waiting.

Allzfair