Wagering
Casinos have banned most of the good games for WR. I ran an experiment on 50 line Jacks or Better, and found that is is not that good at beating the wager requirement. The problem is that the lower variance of 50 lines has a sting in the tail, and that is a far lower likelihood of getting the big pat deals on that all important starting hand in order to hold over on all 50 hands. For a very long experimental run a while back I tested the game on a pretty severe bonus, 10% match with a WR of 10x D+B.
To cash out I would have to wager 11,000 on the allowed games. Blackjack and all the usuals were not allowed, not even casino war. Video Poker was OK though. This bonus ran for 60days, and was a free 100 per day for 1000 deposited. Theoretically, this loked like the proverbial free lunch! 99.54% seemed to indicate an easy 3K over 2 months. Experiments beforehand at a play account showed otherwise, even over a simulation of 30 days of doing the bonus. It was certainly profitable, but nowhere near 99.54%
60 consecutive days of $2.5 autoplay JorB might have been noticed too!
I made nothing from this bonus, as I ended up playing "properly" and taking part in the other promotions that ran alongside, mostly involving slots.
Where slots are the order of the day for a WR, I do have a few that I use. These are the 3 reel slots with the 800/1600 jackpots for one or two coins, such as Double Magic. Sonic Boom is also good, as it can be played at even lower coins than Double Magic at most places. Better still, if you can find it, is Carnaval and What a Hoot allowing a 1c coin per line rather than 25c. Play of 5c per line on these (45c per spin), seems to keep you going for ages at times, and at others a stop at around $25 or $50 (depending on bankroll), should be set and play resumed on the "other one".
The 3 reel slots can also eat through WR if they are hitting well, as the balance stays around the same for quite a time. Sometimes though, they will just suck away and it is important to use a modest stop on the autoplay and try another similar slot (they can't ALL suck surely
).
For the chance of a decent hit, but not too much damage, Ladies Nite at no more than 72c per spin can occasionally produce something really big in the bonus round, and in terms of stake to payout I get the feeling that such low stakes produce better big hits than stakes above around $2 per spin.
I will put Ladies Nite on 54c or 72c per spin, and a $50 range on autoplay. If I win $50, I repeat the process, but cut the range sometimes to $25. If I lose the $25 I move to another slot, such as Thunderstruck, and repeat the process. For low bankrolls, halve these figures, 36c and $25 range on Ladies Nite, cutting to $10 range on the win to see if still "hot".
Chopping and changing like this always seems to keep my balance going longer than flogging away at a "random" game that really has it in for me that session.
I have recently tried something else, and it seems to have a slight effect. If I get, say, a run of totally crap spins at Ladies Nite, I change the coin denomination and number of coins to arrive at a similar bet and around half the time the slot seems to have a change of heart and starts hitting every other spin. Occasionally, this seems to set it up to give the bonus round, but quality varies. If several coin changes does not make a difference, I try another game.
On the rare occasions that I can avoid the temptation to play a card game to get the WR over with so I can cash-in and play elsewhere (counts 50% but over with a lot faster if playing to expected return), I seem to do fairly well. I am sure the software can detect when I have lost the will to chip away at low bets, and goes for the kill, thus leading me down chase alley
Hey, I can just see it now, the usual story on 3 Card Poker (counts 50%, or even in full).
ME Dealer
Q High - K High
No hand - No hand
Ace Queen - Ace King
Pair of Q - Flush
Bugger all - Straight
Bugger all - Pair
Pair - Straight
Flush - Straight
Pair - Straight Flush
Pair - Bugger all
Straight - Bugger all
Pair - 3 of a Kind
Flush - Straight
Computer retires to garden via second floor window, utterances under breath about non random b*****d casino software.
Retrieve PC, and play for fun with FUN MONEY
Me Dealer
Pair - K high
Straight - Q high
Flush - 10 High
3 of kind - Pair
Bugger all - Flush
Straight Flush - Pair
Straight - Flush
Flush - Pair
Random? My a***
Return to the relative safety of high paying slots and win 20% of it back.
Quit playing online (till after the weekend anyway).
