Do you play with Signup Bonuses? (2015)

Do you play with signup bonuses?

  • Yes, regularly

    Votes: 133 36.0%
  • More often than not

    Votes: 57 15.4%
  • ------------- About 50/50 --------------

    Votes: 42 11.4%
  • Very Occasionally

    Votes: 48 13.0%
  • Pretty much never

    Votes: 82 22.2%
  • No opinion ... I just wanna see the poll results

    Votes: 7 1.9%

  • Total voters
    369
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.
I have only signed up with a few new casinos in recent years. For the most part I bypassed their signed-up bonus and played with my own cash or took a different deposit bonus with better terms. I agree with others that have stated casinos have adopted tougher restrictions and limited cash-outs on sign-up bonuses.

Back in the old days I enjoyed taking a sign-up bonus most of the time. But times have changed and so have the casinos T&C. And here in the US we only have a limited amount of accredited casinos to sign-up with.
 
Nope, Nope and Nope, By the time every single person uses a bonus, honestly the odds are the same, stacked in favor of the house anyway. All it does is get your more addicted to a game. Deposit my own money, any wins i get are mine.
 
No. I email any casino I have just Signed Up to stating that I wish to take NO bonuses whatsoever. Before I deposit any cash I wait to receive a reply agreeing to my request (which I keep) and only then will I invest.
Sometimes though, when I log in though for the first time, I do sometimes get chat pop up and I get the " Hi, I see you are a new player here and you are entitled to a bonus...." etc. I like to be able to play what I want, when I want and withdraw etc in my own time.
 
I always take bonus as long as there is no max cash out and there are no hidden rules. I've never had an issue with anywhere I've taken a bonus but you need to read the T&C carefully, if a casino provides bonuses with fairs rules they will get my business. I think the bonuses extends your play which is really why we play, it certainly not a place to make money! Everyone to their own though, if you don't want to take a bonus don't but if you do proceed with caution until you fully understand what you have agreed to :thumbsup:
 
Years ago when i first started playing at online casinos i also looked for the biggest sign up bonus but after seeing all the nightmare's that some went through and then beginning to see the way casino's were starting to use them against the players if they won i decided that on the rare chance i hit it big i didn't want them to pull some obscure rule out on me over some stupid bonus so i only play with my money now that way if i win i actually win.
 
Only small bonuses for me please

I come to understand bonuses as poisoned apples. I accepted a large bonus, thus it’s taking a mighty long time to meet the wagering requirements (only BJ), so much so it’s demotivating me from playing all together. I can’t withdraw and my progress is slooow. If and when I meet the requirements, I will only thereafter accept small bonuses.
 

Attachments

  • be_patient.webp
    be_patient.webp
    14.6 KB · Views: 117
Never take a Bonus

Just under 2 years ago we ran the same poll. More has happened since then, new terms added, more restrictions and issues, some new ways of presenting them etc. So I am out to see if opinion is shifting or not.

I never take a sign up bonus, I deposit they put a bonus, i go to online chat and ask them to remove it. I have come across some online casinos that say they "cant" remove sign up bonuses, but quickly change their story when I say, fine, just return my money. Amazing how quickly that bonus disappears after that.

Free spins on sign up a pain in the butt, they wager 1c get you nothing but a few dollars that dont go away as you wager with your won money and say you win big with your own money but have a crappy $5 bonus and then they refuse to pay you your winnings as you had a bonus? screw that, they can keep their bonuses.

I have found online casinos now also send your loyalty points to the bonus money, so i stopped that too. The only online Casino I still transfer loyalty points to my cash account is Royal Vegas, goes to cash and not Bonus.

I have been stung badly with a bonus, so i will never take one. its a pain in the butt going to chat after depositing for the first few times at a new casino to remove their automatic bonuses.I also feel that maybe the system doesnt know youve removed the bonus and pay out like you have one and think they might screw you over with their bonus terms. I think sign up bonuses should always be with a code word, save me heaps of time of not having to deal with slow services in the live chat.
 
I always take sign-up bonuses in casinos that have been getting good reviews from other players and if I don't find anything weird in T&Cs. I also love taking these regular deposit bonuses in trusted casinos (32Red, Redbet, Casinoluck, Nextcasino and Casinoeuro). For me these deposit bonuses are the way to go since I don't have unlimited amount of money to spend for gambling and I want to get extended playtime with my money. Casinos with max cashout I just avoid completely or if they've gotten some valid complaints from other players (and there are tons of these casinos).
 
Since I've started gambling online I've never been a fan of the deposit bonus. Simply put the contemporary bonus (just my opinion from what I've seen of late) is not in your best interest since it's structured with only one thing in mind and that's to solicit more money from you.

If one can go back in time and compare the bonus terms of yesteryear you might find that the contemporary bonus is akin to that of a fox in a hen house. Some of the bonus terms are downright diabolical and I might add have been discussed to the point of exchaustion in this thread.

1. Extreme playthrough up to 80xb.
2. If you accept the sign on bonus some of the operators I've seen even impose a max. win of 3,000 Euros.
3. My old friend the max. bet rule, normally it constitutes 10% of your deposit.

If operators continue to impose bonus terms like the aforementioned their player base will decline like Sunday congregations in an Anglican church.
 
I wouldn't bother signing up to a casino without a sign up bonus. I also don't play if a casino never has reloads or comp points or some other promo. They make it fun and you get more playing time out of your deposits. It's the advantage online casinos have over land based casinos, without them I'd play at my local casino more often even though I don't drink so free drink comps are worthless to me.
 
personally i think all/most bonuses are just a scam.


why bother with getting xyz% added on with a playthrough of 25x minimum to only get the deposit + bonus as your winnings when instead you could just keep the 25x that you've played through? sure there's ups and downs and ups and downs.... but on the whole, i'll take my bonus-free chances...

no deposit bonuses and free spins i'll take to try a casino out.
 
RE Bonuses

I think they are good for a new player to get an extended feel for the nuances of the particular casino you are playing with. It gives you a better opportunity to try different games as well which can possibly give you a more informed decision on whether or not the casino is a good fit for you- You have to understand though that winning is probably not going to happen due to the high bonus affixed to new deposits so you may want to consider it a test drive - seaquest
 
Last edited:
I think the principal point here is whether the depositor has a workable budget to begin with. If you're likely to only be able to deposit eg £15 then it's all very well to state that bonuses are evil but the fact remains even at high wagering requirements, doubling your bankroll to £30 is likely the difference to hitting a bonus round or not.

Most low rollers are happy to grind out a withdrawal and the bonus is pretty much the only thing preventing the hapless player from saying 'thankyou and goodnight!' amongst other less savoury expressions. I'd imagine most of these players also welcome the additional playtime and are not of the hit- and- run variety either.

But there is no doubt that with decent and sizeable depositing means of say £100 and upwards the old bonus system becomes redundant and its effects negligible in my mind.:(
 
RE Bonuses

I voted more "more often than not" and now after I have read your opinion, I will never take another bonus. I realize now how stupid I have been falling for it. The older I got the dumber I got, for sure: :lolup: Thank you for all the fabulous information I have found here. I am an avid reader of most subjects.
 
I think the principal point here is whether the depositor has a workable budget to begin with. If you're likely to only be able to deposit eg £15 then it's all very well to state that bonuses are evil but the fact remains even at high wagering requirements, doubling your bankroll to £30 is likely the difference to hitting a bonus round or not.

Most low rollers are happy to grind out a withdrawal and the bonus is pretty much the only thing preventing the hapless player from saying 'thankyou and goodnight!' amongst other less savoury expressions. I'd imagine most of these players also welcome the additional playtime and are not of the hit- and- run variety either.

But there is no doubt that with decent and sizeable depositing means of say £100 and upwards the old bonus system becomes redundant and its effects negligible in my mind.:(

couldn't agree with you more goatwack, when making smaller deposits say around £20.00 it does seem logical to take a form of bonus just to extend your playtime.

I myself will now never take a bonus, the world of casino t&c is just an open minefield of clauses and restrictions
 
It's a con job

I utilised Casino Bonuses twice (both without realising the "play through" implications)

The first time (out of frustration) I just played until my initial deposit was exhausted and then never went back. It was a paltry amount but their attitude made it certain that they had lost me as a future player.

The second was a bonus credited to me by Royal Vegas that I was simply unaware of until I tried to cash out. The Bonus was again a paltry amount but a more significant amount remains stuck until I get around to complying with the "Play Through" provisions...I contacted them by phone pointing out that I realised that the error was mine but as I hadn't gone even close to using the Bonus that I felt an exception could be made. (You can guess the answer) So...I'll get around to complying with the PT Provisions sometime...But I won't go back...WIN or LOSE

Bonuses are simply a tool used to con the gullible... the ignorant...new players etc.

Casinos will eventually wake up to the fact that these Bonuses may work in the short term but they will lose most "REPEAT" players...and that has got to hurt
 
I am both a player and an Affiliate so I am speaking from both sides of the fence.

My personal opinion is that casino bonuses should be done away with completely as I believe they cause more problems than good.

From an Affiliate point of view - When I am advertising bonuses to players I often feel that I am luring them into a no win situation by offering them a bonus, because I know that they are going to have to jump through hoops to try and cash out the potential winnings.

There is just so many factors that players need to take into account, and many don't read the terms and conditions, so whilst they may know that there is a play through requirement - many don't know that there is often a maximum cashout amount, certain games are excluded, more often than not - progressive jackpots are excluded ( imagine winning a huge jackpot only to discover you were not allowed to play that game due to taking a bonus!! ) a maximum bet amount - lets say you were playing $6.00 per bet but the maximum amount is $5.00 per bet - again you lose your potential winnings. Those are just a few of the potential problems - there is many more I haven't listed.

At the end of the day I believe that My job as an Affiliate is to recommend various reputable casinos to players in the hopes that they become regulars and lose or win a few bucks every month. I am not in it to make money from someone depositing their rent money in order to get the highest bonus they can when they have a slim chance of every being able to cashout. That is just plain unethical, and whilst many may say Our job is unethical in the first place - I believe that an Affiliate should be there to point out the potential pitfalls to the player, so they know exactly what they are in for, and I would prefer them not to take a bonus, so I know that if they win - they can get ALL of their winnings.

The problem is that unless all casinos choose to do away with casino bonuses - we are fighting a losing battle because we have no choice but to advertise the casino bonus if we want to advertise the casino at all and remain in the market.

From a player point of view - I operate in 2 ways - If I am testing out a new casino that I am considering promoting then I will make a small deposit and take up the bonus purely to see how quickly it gets credited, how difficult it is for the player to claim it and how onerous the conditions are. However, When I play it - I have already written off that money in my head and look at it as purely "testing money" I have no intention of trying to cash it out.

If I am playing for my own entertainment and it is a casino I plan on playing at regularly - I won't take up any welcome bonus offers and will only use the odd free spins and loyalty bonuses that get credited to my account once I become a regular as I generally know that the free spins have a low play through requirement as the casino already knows I am not there just to grab the bonus.

Bottom line - I would be very happy for every casino to be on a level playing field and do away with all welcome bonuses. Loyalty bonuses are fine.
 
Not if I can avoid it...

My personal opinion is that I try to avoid bonuses like the plague...
(Except genuine 0xWR bonuses, like Mr Green Thursday 'cash-drop' prize draws ;) )

Fine, a bonus gets you more play time, and you might hit a win, but there-in lies the problem...

If you win on a bonus, you're then stuck with a 30 or 35, or whatever WR, so will more than likely lose all the winnings back in order to meet the WR...

Its a hassle having to work out how much WR you have left, and also whether your sticking to the letter (and spirit) of bonus terms IE wager size etc...

Stick to cash, then if I get a nice win, can cash out without WR worries... ;)
 
I am both a player and an Affiliate so I am speaking from both sides of the fence.

My personal opinion is that casino bonuses should be done away with completely as I believe they cause more problems than good.

From an Affiliate point of view - When I am advertising bonuses to players I often feel that I am luring them into a no win situation by offering them a bonus, because I know that they are going to have to jump through hoops to try and cash out the potential winnings.

There is just so many factors that players need to take into account, and many don't read the terms and conditions, so whilst they may know that there is a play through requirement - many don't know that there is often a maximum cashout amount, certain games are excluded, more often than not - progressive jackpots are excluded ( imagine winning a huge jackpot only to discover you were not allowed to play that game due to taking a bonus!! ) a maximum bet amount - lets say you were playing $6.00 per bet but the maximum amount is $5.00 per bet - again you lose your potential winnings. Those are just a few of the potential problems - there is many more I haven't listed.

At the end of the day I believe that My job as an Affiliate is to recommend various reputable casinos to players in the hopes that they become regulars and lose or win a few bucks every month. I am not in it to make money from someone depositing their rent money in order to get the highest bonus they can when they have a slim chance of every being able to cashout. That is just plain unethical, and whilst many may say Our job is unethical in the first place - I believe that an Affiliate should be there to point out the potential pitfalls to the player, so they know exactly what they are in for, and I would prefer them not to take a bonus, so I know that if they win - they can get ALL of their winnings.

The problem is that unless all casinos choose to do away with casino bonuses - we are fighting a losing battle because we have no choice but to advertise the casino bonus if we want to advertise the casino at all and remain in the market.

From a player point of view - I operate in 2 ways - If I am testing out a new casino that I am considering promoting then I will make a small deposit and take up the bonus purely to see how quickly it gets credited, how difficult it is for the player to claim it and how onerous the conditions are. However, When I play it - I have already written off that money in my head and look at it as purely "testing money" I have no intention of trying to cash it out.

If I am playing for my own entertainment and it is a casino I plan on playing at regularly - I won't take up any welcome bonus offers and will only use the odd free spins and loyalty bonuses that get credited to my account once I become a regular as I generally know that the free spins have a low play through requirement as the casino already knows I am not there just to grab the bonus.

Bottom line - I would be very happy for every casino to be on a level playing field and do away with all welcome bonuses. Loyalty bonuses are fine.

Superb answer! I agree I think the bonus, although a nice incentive to new players creates unncessary problems that outweighs its intended purpose. Another problem I have with the bonus is that the standard playthrough (as you pointed out) is not a stand-alone entity anymore but bogged down by additional bonus terms.
 
Looking at a post on Wizard of Odds regarding the house edge on slot machines in Las Vegas in 2012: On penny slots the casino win is over 10% on average, the rest of the slots ($0.05 up to $100 domination) average around 5.5%, with the megabucks (jackpots) having a house edge over 12%. Online casinos have always offered players a better edge - 4% casino win on slots and as little as 1-2% house edge on table games - in order to attract players to play online. This is understandable because an online casino doesn't have the overheads of a land based casino and also need to give the players an incentive to want to play online by offering them a better chance to win. More recently, slots like DoA are approaching the payout levels of table games with generous average payouts of around 98%.

Looking at online slots with 4% average house edge (or what I like to call a 4% commission on play) in effect means that if 100,000 players bet $10 on slots each at the same time $960,000 will be paid out. Then again if all the payout is wagered $960,000*96% will be paid out on the second round of betting and so on. Of course, this is totally incorrect because new players are coming online with new chips to wager just as players are running out of their chips, so we can say on average 96% is paid out on every spin, with a standard deviation that can turn this into say a 102% payout or 90% payout at certain times. On average a casino enjoys an average 50% gross revenue which quickly turns into a 15-20% net revenues. But let's go back to you - say you are one of the players that won a nice part of one of these payouts because of course you have a very random distribution of winnings. But now you have a problem - you took a bonus :D but on the other hand you only deposited $100 and the casino gave you another $100 and you hit your nice win of $25,000 when you reach your last $20 of your bonus money (from a casinos perspective you always play your own chips first) so on one hand you have won because you had more money to wager with but on the other hand you now need to ensure that you wager the bonus money say 40 times according to the bonus terms. On average $100 will be wagered 20 times before it is lost so 40 times is the equivalent of wagering both your deposit of $100 and your bonus of $100 until they are worked down to zero balance. So, you have won $25,000 and you still need to say wager your bonus 20 times without radically changing your pattern of play and of course within the wagering limits and so if you are level headed and you don't win again (not even once :eek:) you can safely look at a nice $23,000 withdrawal.

I think for social gamblers the bonus is very usefully because they deposit smaller amounts and don't bet larger amounts anyway and this way they get to play longer on the machines with a higher chance of winning. For high rollers, it's a nice way to checkout a new casino but not more than that and anyway after the casino understands you are a high roller you will get the VIP treatment and smaller percentage but larger less stringent bonuses anyway.

A casino that is too lax with their welcome offer bonus terms can find itself in all kinds of trouble as their are no shortage of gamblers online that will make money because mathematically they can and the casino will very quickly find itself running a negative cash flow on new players. This said, I don't think it's realistic for a player to expect a generous bonus together with lax bonus terms.

From a marketing perspective, player surveys show that the welcome offer is overall the single biggest draw card. However, I think there is a very large and growing group of savvy online casino players who realize correctly that it is more important to know that a casino can and will pay you your large or small winnings and treat you with respect all the way than it is to be over-bonused. Plus of course they have great games and good servers etc. Contrary to popular belief the casino business model doesn't make enough money to be able to afford to just give away large bonuses and a casino that over bonuses should be a warning to players because somehow the casino still needs to make money.

Lastly, it is very interesting to see how players from different countries prefer different welcome bonuses and I think this is a reflection of how people from different countries look at things - long term, short term, etc.

Great topic!
 
Thanks Simmo for the great poll.

This is something I question EVERY single day. I look at our promotions and ask why players are not claiming them? What is the perfect balance? Is it a 100% Match up to $100 with 25x Playthrough (Slots only) with a Max Cashout of 20 times the deposit? Or 300% Match up to $600 with 35x Playthrough (Slots only) with a $7500 Max Cashout, are the bonuses redeemable once or multiple times...etc?

At a previous brand where I worked, we never had a bonus to purchase ratio higher than 25% and bonuses were automatically added to the account after a successful deposit. Players were happy and didn't mind the wagering as it was only 30x the BONUS. In the event of a player wanting to cashout, the bonus element would be removed automatically and the player allowed to complete the cashout process. Having said this, it was a totally different market.

Now it's a whole different sorry. Bonus to purchase ratios are insane and we hardly ever see a bonus offer less than 100%.

I thought about cashback bonuses to players who don't claim match offers, but once again what is the magic balance when it comes to wagering and max cashouts off free money?

We don't limit max bets at any of our brands but do have max cashouts on 99% of the offers.

Most of the players which I manage, I advise to rather NOT play off bonus money due to limitations, but how else do you reward your regular players?

Regards
Jason
 
Thanks Simmo for the great poll.

This is something I question EVERY single day. I look at our promotions and ask why players are not claiming them? What is the perfect balance? Is it a 100% Match up to $100 with 25x Playthrough (Slots only) with a Max Cashout of 20 times the deposit? Or 300% Match up to $600 with 35x Playthrough (Slots only) with a $7500 Max Cashout, are the bonuses redeemable once or multiple times...etc?

At a previous brand where I worked, we never had a bonus to purchase ratio higher than 25% and bonuses were automatically added to the account after a successful deposit. Players were happy and didn't mind the wagering as it was only 30x the BONUS. In the event of a player wanting to cashout, the bonus element would be removed automatically and the player allowed to complete the cashout process. Having said this, it was a totally different market.

Now it's a whole different sorry. Bonus to purchase ratios are insane and we hardly ever see a bonus offer less than 100%.

I thought about cashback bonuses to players who don't claim match offers, but once again what is the magic balance when it comes to wagering and max cashouts off free money?

We don't limit max bets at any of our brands but do have max cashouts on 99% of the offers.

Most of the players which I manage, I advise to rather NOT play off bonus money due to limitations, but how else do you reward your regular players?

Regards
Jason

That's probably one reason why. In my humble opinion, max cashouts should only be enforcable on free chips.
The max cashout really undermines the part of your promo which is actually very good and highly competitive...the 25x bonus playthrough.

You'd be better served removing the max cashout and upping the playthrough requirements to 30 x Bonus. It's not done 32Red any harm has it?

And there are ways to reward regular players. Free spins with no (like GUTS) or low (like BETAT) wagering requirements.

I think BETAT especially have an excellent range of promotions and offers that caters to a wide range of players, covering everybody from the lowest of rollers to the highest.
 
the only time I EVER use a bonus is at 3Dice and that's because it's an extremely reasonable 5x wager. Other places with their 30x wager and max cash out and can't bet over $6.25 can take their bonuses and shove it quite frankly. I'd much rather bet what I want and withdraw when I want. Why go through the hassle with all the fine print that you never end up seeing making it all that much harder to cash out? I used to use bonuses all the time way back when but now? Heck no, no and no.
 
casino bonus shmonus

Reckon I have enough supporting evidence; In this year's figures as a low rollin' daily slots player!
32RED CLUB ROUGE member and one time VIP at Spin Palace, me.

Pretty near uninstalled ALL the others now...

God almighty - so easy to be UP yourself when online casinos start making you feel "special"!
This year's been sobering.
After a decade of pursuing the impossible, sorta coming back to reality (relative reality that is)

Still hooked on the bloody things, real pleased though that my family's not financially compromised.
Fact is, I won some thousands in a 2011 tourney.
32Red and SPIN both promptly accorded me special privileges;
"Your very own personal account manager", regular 100% (just for you) bonuses, hampers, birthday pressies... stuff like that.
Four years and many thousands of hours later, I'm still a bit ahead.
But that's all... Just A BIT!
You put in your 25, 30 bucks a day and they double it - Marvellous!
(like, who's gonna knock back 100% extra from the good guys looking after your account?)

All too often it's 7 hours later and you're wasted: "OH WELL, NEXT TIME(?) MAYBE ...

But really, WHY BOTHER - when say, a mere $25 invested can alone produce an outrageous profit ???
Online, plenty of evidence of others' good fortune; My own collection's over 900 such screenshots
Of course, Cold Slots are always waiting to take your money quick smart.
Yep, that hurts!
And yet, lose your $25 in 10 mins - you do feel like a Gambler, rather than a "sucker".
You played like a PRO, were on a mission; You played the game, you had some control!

But 7 hours of GRINDING away, hoping to outlast THEIR $750 worth of required wagering ???
That, my friend, is about the closest thing to insanity that any of us can display.

And Chuck Me Farley, this lil black duck's just gone and done it AGAIN.
Me again at Nedplay: monthly visitor(once at least) for years.
In goes my $25, $50 to play with - AND nothing outa here in a long, long time.

To Bryan; Thanks for the WAKE UP CALL.
Just what I needed to shake myself out of it and make a stand.
SO HERE GOES ... (sob)

To 32Red
Please alter my status from CLUB ROUGE to ordinary!
SEND NO MORE BONUS OFFERS.
Forget about the perks; Cancel the Birthday stuff even. Nuff of the promo emails hey!?!
Your CS is great 'n your feet don't smell - but your payment processing sure does (Ask Anyone).

And compared to Spin Palace (where I have taken not even One single bonus since rejoining a few months ago) you're
lagging way behind; Truly positive deposit/withdrawals ratio there!
Even their software seems to work better...

Spin P?
I'll visit you daily - BUT well, you too can take me off your totally irritating nag list.
PLEEEASE!???
No more texts, no more emails; WHAT's THE POINT?

I'm forever done with the bonuses nonsense !!!!
 
Last edited:
Depends on the size of the bonus, if too low, it's extremely hard to use that amount to get through wagering requirements, especially with all the restrictions/rules.
 
Depends on the size of the bonus, if too low, it's extremely hard to use that amount to get through wagering requirements, especially with all the restrictions/rules.

But the larger the bonus the more you must wager to meet the bonus requirements.
 
Hi Guys,

Great to hear everyone's feedback and thoughts on bonuses.

I guess it depends on what you want to achieve, I have seen players that love deposit match bonuses as it affords them more play time. A lot of gamblers know that in the long run the house always wins, thus they don't gamble thinking that they are going to make a killing. If they win a nice jackpot, it just ads to their player experience. Some players meet the wager, then continue playing and playing and playing. Sometimes playing the balance back down to zero. Once again, they playing for the entertainment aspect.

Then you have players that take match offers and try to smash the living daylights out of the casino. They will take the max bonus and place max bets. In the event of them winning, they will visit a high frequency slot, choose a min bet and just wager just enough to meet wager and cash in.

I agree that some bonuses have ridiculous wagering terms. But I do think it depends on the offering. If a player is willing to accept a 300% or 400% match bonus, they need to understand that the casino is giving the player between 3 or 4 times the deposit, so the casino is risking more than the player. So there has to be some kind of terms in place to protect the casino (within reason).

At the end of the day, it all boils down to building relationships with your players. We have many cases where we waver terms/bend the rules for our loyal players.

Bottom line, own deposit = no restrictions :o)

Regards
Jason
 
Sign Up vs. Deposit Bonuses?

Reading through the responses it looks like were talking both. I have only one casino that I do deposit bonuses at, mainly due to the play through being 10X. I have done the 30X, 40X, etc., and in all cases in my little pea brain decided that by the time I had met the play through requirements I had wasted a lot of time regardless of whether I was up or down at that time. I took a deposit bonus not too long ago, had one of those lucky days and at the time of meeting play through requirements was up about $6000. I played a while longer and decided to make a withdrawal for $5000. Shortly after making my request, I received an e-mail stating that I had made a $20 bet and the maximum allowed by the bonus requirements was $10 so my withdrawal was not allowed and my account was zeroed. After going to the deposit bonuses requirements and spending an hour or two reading them, I found the restriction. After getting sick to my stomach, I made myself a promise to not use any bonuses offered except the one casino mentioned above. My memory is not photographic by any means and I always read the requirements prior to using a bonus but being able to remember all of them is just not a possibility. I guess what gets to me the most is that any and every casino could build their software to not allow a move that is not allowed by the bonus requirements, or at least alert you prior to the move being made, but they don't. I understand to the tune of $5000 plus why they don't do this. Soooooooo, I do not take part in the casino's offering of "free" money to play their games. My gaming activity is basically an entertainment based activity with the sidebar of the possibility of the entertainment being free "break-even days" and occasionally a rare "paid" activity and I definitely realize that most of the time you pay for the entertainment enjoyed. Playing with "my" money pretty much assures that I am able to make the decision when I am offered that rare opportunity to get paid for my entertainment whether or not I want to take advantage of it without having to worry about missing something in the "fine print" (it's all fine print for me). I would just like to finish with this -- Casinos, if you really want to offer "bonus" money for me to play at your business, fix your software so that you are helping me to not make a stupid mistake by not having a photographic memory! Thinking about it, perhaps this is the players way of giving you bonus money!

Thanks for the opportunity to express! Loop Nelson
 
With respect to all the reps on here, how much of your day - on average - is dealt with dealing with an issue that is in some way related to a bonus issue? I can safely say here that 95% of the handful of times I have had to contact a rep it has been in some regard to related to a bonus?

I say this as sure as hell if I was running a large online casino I would be pretty happy about the death of the bonus - bar payment issues what other main issue are my clients going to be utilising my Customer Service for if not for bonus questions/issues? Thats one big resource that could be reduced straight away. Player disputes are going to be limited to rare technical glitches and not much else. Cashout resources are also reduced as you can afford to automate these as there is no bonus abuse to worry about/investigate.

So it works very well from the business side.

From the players side? Less play time, fewer casinos as the smaller ones that stay afloat by offering more generous bonuses - why would you want to use these anymore? At the moment new casinos have a fighting chance by offering generous SUBs and regular reload offers. But with more/totally automated cashouts and limited interaction needed with CS there would be little incentives to try new brands.

The likes of competitions for holidays or other non cash incentives are a poor substitute. Without falling into cliches, the rich casinos would get richer and the poorer casinos would get poorer.
 
For many reasons stated I am getting bored with bonuses. The grind stops being fun.

However much I love slots the problem with bonuses is I start enjoying the play less as I'm too focussed on the WR rather than simply having fun.

I'd like to see far more casinos offering slots tournaments like 32 Red.

But I'd also like companies like 32 Red to be more innovative with these tournaments. Take their daily Avalon freeroll.... It's been several years why not mix it up with some other slots. :)

More interesting tournaments are a better incentive than bonus play. Be creative. Also why not have attached chat rooms like bingo sites do?
 
I guess what gets to me the most is that any and every casino could build their software to not allow a move that is not allowed by the bonus requirements, or at least alert you prior to the move being made, but they don't

This would seem like a sensible investment....

...how much of your day - on average - is dealt with dealing with an issue that is in some way related to a bonus issue.

...which would easily be paid for by this IMO. And some.
 
This would seem like a sensible investment....



...which would easily be paid for by this IMO. And some.

The proofs in the pudding I think - if its more profitable to disallow a conservative 10-15% of cashouts where the the player has "fallen foul" of bonus terms than to pay some reps the time to do it, it aint gonna happen. From an integration point of view I would say its a piece of cake but i'm not a developer.
 
The proof in the pudding I think - if its more profitable to disallow a conservative 10-15% of cashouts where the the player has "fallen foul" of bonus terms than to pay some reps the time to do it, it aint gonna happen. From an integration point of view I would say its a piece of cake but i'm not a developer.

The bottom line is that keeping an existing customer is 5-7 times (some years ago when I researched it for another business) more cost effective than finding a new one so it is the best interests of a casino not to leave a player with a negative feeling. Bonuses and withdrawals I would say are the two areas that are most likely to piss of a customer.

Transparency is a key issue because it is effective in managing a player's expectations and to keep a customer you have to at least meet, preferably exceed, their expectations. If a player falls at the first hurdle then no-one wins.
 
I do play with bonuses. I made a mistake at moneygaming.com of depositing via Neteller. As you know for some bizarre reason, some casinos do NOT allow you to claim the welcome bonus if you deposit via an eWallet. Why? I'll never know. I made the deposit but the £600 withdrawal was confiscated even though the bonus was added automatically when I deposited via Neteller. Bizarre.
 
I used to spend time searching through the Casino's for best deposit match bonuses and try to hammer them looking for the big win. However, although I may have succeeded in meeting the t&c's and claiming the bonus, once this was achieved that was "free play" time over and done with and I would start searching for a new casino to start again.

I soon got sick of this and now restrict myself to just a couple of big name casino's who offer a wider range of games and a general better casino experience. The big guys don't necessarily offer the biggest deposit matches but they do offer re-load bonuses and great regular promotions that are another great way to take advantage.
 
Most times

What I’ve seen lately with signup bonus at some casinos is this ridiculous concept of buy whatever and receive whatever but you only gain the bonus in increments after you play a determined amount. So basically receive 100%, but receive it in 10% lots once you have met play through requirements. Deceptive is an understatement. Considering the casino web page has the promo in BOLD, "Buy 100 Get 100". Can end up costing 1000s more in deposits just to meet play through

Casinos can stick their signups, I look for casinos that compensate you when you have bad play through sessions and endless depositing. Any casino that fails that task instantly sees my ass leaving. Take LEOVEGAS, after heavy session of deposits im given the finger and told come back tomorrow as there are no bonuses to be had today. Yea right, back tomorrow I won’t be. There are many casinos willing to throw you a bonus without restrictions after a bad day. Of course freebies are dependent on individuals gaming habits. Casinos that take notice of their players don't need signup bonuses in my book. Eventually you stick with the set few that look after you, those casinos that don't, well, they are their own worst enemy.
 
sign up bonus any one?

Recently, I have run into play thrus that actually expect you to win 100x depo as well as bonus. Really? No progressive play with bonuses, no this, no that, but we want you to bet 100x your depo and bonus and then take home the big cash win? Really? What a crock! Suitable for dreamers, schemers, screamers, and fools! However, if I am just looking to check out a new playground, I might take the bonus IF they have reasonable terms, which are getting harder and harder to find. However you play it, here's hoping we are soon looking at a screen shot of your big win!
 
So true, thanks!!

With respect to all the reps on here, how much of your day - on average - is dealt with dealing with an issue that is in some way related to a bonus issue? I can safely say here that 95% of the handful of times I have had to contact a rep it has been in some regard to related to a bonus?

I say this as sure as hell if I was running a large online casino I would be pretty happy about the death of the bonus - bar payment issues what other main issue are my clients going to be utilising my Customer Service for if not for bonus questions/issues? Thats one big resource that could be reduced straight away. Player disputes are going to be limited to rare technical glitches and not much else. Cashout resources are also reduced as you can afford to automate these as there is no bonus abuse to worry about/investigate.

So it works very well from the business side.

From the players side? Less play time, fewer casinos as the smaller ones that stay afloat by offering more generous bonuses - why would you want to use these anymore? At the moment new casinos have a fighting chance by offering generous SUBs and regular reload offers. But with more/totally automated cashouts and limited interaction needed with CS there would be little incentives to try new brands.

The likes of competitions for holidays or other non cash incentives are a poor substitute. Without falling into cliches, the rich casinos would get richer and the poorer casinos would get poorer.

So true!! thanks
 
I always take the SUB.
Otherwise, what's the point in trying a new casino, when they probably don't offer anything different from the casinos I'm already a member at.
If I'm going to make a straight cash deposit, I might as well do it at a site I know and trust, where I'm an existing member, and where that deposit may add to my loyalty points or whatever.
I see the SUB as a sort of reward for taking the chance on trying a new casino.
 
I always take the SUB.
Otherwise, what's the point in trying a new casino, when they probably don't offer anything different from the casinos I'm already a member at.
If I'm going to make a straight cash deposit, I might as well do it at a site I know and trust, where I'm an existing member, and where that deposit may add to my loyalty points or whatever.
I see the SUB as a sort of reward for taking the chance on trying a new casino.

I agree, thats my feeling towards the subject too
 
Occasionally in cases of bonuses on deposits, and only if those bonuses have a Low Wagering Requirements and have no restrictions on Max Cashout, and all of this in cases of Reputable Online Casinos only . No deposit free chips - almost always.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread

Accredited Casinos

Read about our rating system and how it's done.
Back
Top