Newest Bonus Tricks

[love2vegas]

Just when I thought that the online casinos had done about any trick you could think of- I am again proven wrong! Lately, I have noticed a move to something that is new, at least to me. In addition to those wagering requirements, maybe from 6 to 8 to 20 to 30 Times and beyond and the sometimes "sticky" bonuses, and the minimum cashout requirements, and the tricky terms about excluding or including only certain games, and - - well, you get the idea. But now comes what I call the "sleeping bonus".

The sleeping bonus has started to creep in to several casinos. You sign up or take a bonus offered through email and you don't see the bonus. Why not?

Because the casino has found a way to delay this bonus. It may be that rather than adding it to your account, they create a separate account (such as Challenge Casino & Golden Reef have started doing). This way, you have less money to attempt to win big and, no doubt, the purpose is to use up your deposit money in one account and then only have the bonus money to play with. (SInce the bonus money is usually credited later.) Another place where this is taken to the max is DESERT DOLLAR CASINO.

I recently signed up there, but didn't receive my "sleeping bonus" until 24 hours later. (Thus, if you want to wait and have your deposit and bonus together, you must wait at least 24 hours and "sleep on it"!) But DESERT DOLLAR adds another twist, they also add the fact that you must play your deposit amount twice, before the 24 hr. period starts. (thus, they get you into playing & hopefully you will lose some or all of your deposit before you are credited with any bonus.)

In addition, they conveniently didn't credit my bonus amount within the promised 24 hours (a fortunate delay for them) meaning that I had to contact support before they credited the bonus. They did then credit my account, but as I'm sure they liked, I had none of my original deposit left. One other little twist- there wagering requirements do not start UNTIL THE BONUS AMOUNT IS CREDITED. (So in my case, I am penalized for wagering due to their inept sytem-since they didn't credit my account within their promised time!)

Now, I do take responsibility for my own play. I could have waited for the bonus to be credited (although I did have to play my deposit a couple of times just to be eligible for the bonus.) But upon notifying them of their part of not crediting my account in time, the service rep said it was probably my fault for entering a different email address! (I only use one email address for all online accounts, so this was a bunch of BS)

So, my message- in addition to reading every term carefully (which I did) and
following every detail to the letter and realizing that if there is some way they can screw they will, also be aware that if THEY make the mistake, it is looked at as an "oh,well" or " must be you" attitude!

WARNING WARNING !!!!

 

[kniepm]

This is the way all Fortune Lounge casinos handle their weekly bonuses. You have to click a link in the offer e-mail to opt in for the bonus, make a deposit between Thursday and Sunday, and play through the deposit once. They credit your bonus on Monday (so they say, I don't remember ever receiving one of their weekend bonuses without having to call CS to ask "what's up?"). After the bonus is credited, you have to play through 5 times deposit plus bonus.

I've fallen into the same trap as L2V -- I'll make the deposit and start the play, only to lose the deposit before the bonus is applied, leaving me only the bonus (never more than 40%) to play with (17 1/2 times). I've also had the situation where I've started to play the bonus and racked up some winnings then, after receiving the bonus, before I reach the required wagering amounts, I've lost my winnings plus the bonus plus part (if not all) of the original deposit.

This weekend I was going to accept one of FL's bonuses (40%). I forgot to opt in before I made my deposit. I'm glad I didn't opt in for the bonus. I played on Saturday and won a couple of hundred dollars and was able to cash out ahead of the casino.

The FL bonuses require a total play through of 6 times the deposit and 5 times the bonus. The amount of their weekly bonuses ranges from 10% to 40%. With a 10% bonus, the required wagering is 65 times the bonus; with the 40% bonus, the requirement is 20 times the bonus. Personally, I will not take a bonus that requires more than 25 times playthrough.

 

[love2vegas]

You know Kniepm, I was thinkinhg there was another place where I had that happen & I think it was one of the fortune lounges. Seems as though I had to wait all weekend & then they were suppose to credit the bonus on Monday. Even on Monday I had to contact them before they actually credited. All this & then if you win- with many places you then have to wait days or weeks to get paid! So much fun!

 

[kmartinusa]

I've played at Fortune Lounge for years now and I for one have been saved after many not-so-memorable weekends with their purchase match promo. I used to get up to 100% offers pretty regularly, (It's been so long ago that I can't say for certain whether it really was "regularly") but I haven't seen one over 40% recently either. Has anyone else gotten over a 40% weekly offer from them recently?

I've always wondered how they figure the offer. I figured that it had something to do with how much you've played and how long it's been since you've played. I've thought about leaving one or more alone for awhile to find out for myself, but invevitably they're the best offer that I get without plunging into uncharted territory with a new casino.

After reading your post, I looked up the wagering requirements on their website because my memory told me that the playthroughs were pretty low, like 4X or something. I guess that I had them confused with the playthrough at Sunnygroup. I came up with this:

"To cash in the Weekly Purchase Match bonus the following wagering obligations apply:

wager the purchase at least five (5) times

wager the bonus at least five (5) times"

You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

I guess that my memory was pretty close, but not exactly right.

Am I wrong? Have you seen or been told differently?

I've really never considered the downside of not opting-in. I always thought that I'd cash out and be done before the bonus hit. I guess that the only real danger that I run is that playthroughs get stacked on top of one another if you're not careful (or unlucky!).

Kevin