Gambling Log

I receieved another bonus from Bella Vegas today. This one was 50% up to $500. I continued my low betting with 50% bonuses and only deposited $50. I gained $75 on the $25 bonus with the following half+ bankroll bets:

Start -- bankroll = $67
1. Play ACBJG, Surrender -- bankroll = $50
2. Double and win -- bankroll = $100
3. Switch to ACBJ, lose -- bankroll = $50
4. Win -- bankroll = $100
5. Switch to ACBJG, win -- bankroll = $150

This ACBJG pattern of surrender, then double and win has happened more times than statiscally expected. I mentioned the same thing in a post on 10/03. I have seen it many times that I did not post as well.

I finished up by playing some 9 cent Thunderstruck spins. I hit my first free spin bonus round (I don't play Thunderstruck often) during this session, on my 5th spin. I only had one winning result in the 15 spins for a total win of $1.08. I suppose that's no bad for a 9 cent bet, but I was hoping for more.

I've played 10 Grand Prive bonuses in the past 9 days. On each bonus I bet made risky half+ bankroll bets on ACBJG. I only busted 1 out of the 10 times.
 
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Start -- bankroll = $67
1. Play ACBJG, Surrender -- bankroll = $50
2. Double and win -- bankroll = $100
3. Switch to ACBJ, lose -- bankroll = $50
4. Win -- bankroll = $100
5. Switch to ACBJG, win -- bankroll = $150

This confuses me in two ways. First, are you switching between ACBJ and some other game? If so, which? Second, if you deposit $50, and get 50%, wouldn't your starting bankroll be $75 instead of $67?

And on another unrelated note, I'd like to run a hypothetical by you... tell me if this is a bonus you'd want to chase: Sticky bonus, erased on withdrawal. $100 bonus for a $100 deposit. Wagering requirement before any cashouts are allowed is $3000. (The house edge on the blackjack game is .66%).

Just kidding, it's not a hypothetical, it's offered by Casino Extreme, and roughly similar terms are out there for many RTG casinos. By my math, the bonus's advantage if it was cashable would be 3.33%, but since it's sticky, it's risk-adjusted to only be worth just over 1.66%. In other words, it's +EV, but it's not particularly compelling. But I'm not sure if I'm missing anything in the analysis.

BTW, cute puppy :)
 
This confuses me in two ways. First, are you switching between ACBJ and some other game? If so, which?
I switched between ACBJ Gold and ACBJ (not gold).

Second, if you deposit $50, and get 50%, wouldn't your starting bankroll be $75 instead of $67?
The Grand Prive group requires that you play through the deposit once before receiving the bonus. I lost $8 of the $50 while playing 1xD on JoB VP.


And on another unrelated note, I'd like to run a hypothetical by you... tell me if this is a bonus you'd want to chase: Sticky bonus, erased on withdrawal. $100 bonus for a $100 deposit. Wagering requirement before any cashouts are allowed is $3000. (The house edge on the blackjack game is .66%).

Just kidding, it's not a hypothetical, it's offered by Casino Extreme, and roughly similar terms are out there for many RTG casinos. By my math, the bonus's advantage if it was cashable would be 3.33%, but since it's sticky, it's risk-adjusted to only be worth just over 1.66%. In other words, it's +EV, but it's not particularly compelling. But I'm not sure if I'm missing anything in the analysis.

BTW, cute puppy :)
I don't think BJ is allowed at Casino Extreme. With 30xB playthrough Pai Gow/War and war are barely EV positive. If you begin with a full bankroll sticky bet (note the not allowed games when making this bet), the EV is under +$10. VP is probably more EV+, depending on pay tables. It also has a higher variance.
 
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Today's Grand Prive bonus was a 100% match up to $300 at Jupiter. I usually deposit the full $300 on this one, but today I only deposited $225 since the table limit in BJ is $200, and I stop after one table limit win.

I gained $425 on the $225 bonus. The winning $400 bet is shown in the screenshot below.

That moves my net gain at Jupiter to ~$2000. I'll call this #2 on my gains list. Winward used to be at $2000 as well, but I doubt that I'll ever see my $500 bonus (see my bonus complaints thread) at Winward, which knocks it out of the #2 position.

My overall net gain is +~$23,000. I've increased by almost $20,000 since starting this log in June.
 
MissDevil said:
enough info to start an affiliate site

I've seriously thought of doing that. There are plenty of sites with casino & bonus information, but I've been disappointed by the sites skewing infomation in favor of casinos with the largest affiliate payouts. I'd like to make a site that does it right.
I finally followed through and made a bonus list that was not influenced by affiliate payout size. I selected the order before I knew which casinos paid US affiliates. The site is not complete or officially online yet, but I welcome opinons, especially on the table. This includes casinos that I neglected to list, incorrect information, and the order among other things. Note the the table can be sorted by a variety of measures including EV.

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Some things I plan to add in the near future are:
--Bonus listings with other default currencies
--A single deck bj table showing decision weights like the multi-deck table
--Javascript calculator showing expected return and % chance of 1 and 2 SD based on bet size... test version at
You do not have permission to view link Log in or register now.

--Blackjack switch page
--A home page
--Superior navigation and general appearance
--More general text information
 
aka, before you semi-retired (so, like say, a month ago), how much time would you estimate you spent wagering and bonus-hustling, either per day or per week?

I've been doing it a shorter time, but my returns have not been as eye-popping as yours. :)
 
Excellent list AKA!
But i read somewhere earlier in this topic that you wern't expecting to get paid your winnings from winward, does this mean that I shouldnt do the bonus with them?
 
aka, before you semi-retired (so, like say, a month ago), how much time would you estimate you spent wagering and bonus-hustling, either per day or per week?

I've been doing it a shorter time, but my returns have not been as eye-popping as yours. :)
It depends where I play. Most of my recent bonuses have been Microgaming Clearplay. This involves making a few large bets, then a couple dozen smaller ones. I spend less than a half hour on such a bonus, often less than 15 minutes. If I play through the full bonus, then it might increase to 1-2 hours.

The rare times that I play through a non-MG bonus on BJ it takes much longer. I might spend an evening on a $200+ sign up bonus or a couple hours on a $100 monthly bonus. Another factor is bet size. I can clear a bonus quickly with large bets, but I often use smaller bets to reduce the risk of busting.

So one week it might have been under 5 hours of actual playing. Another week, it might have been over 15. When I first started, it was not unsual for me to go over 25 hours per week.
 
Excellent list AKA!
But i read somewhere earlier in this topic that you wern't expecting to get paid your winnings from winward, does this mean that I shouldnt do the bonus with them?
You should be okay with the signup bonus. This is added to your account automatically, if I remember correctly. However, I'd be cautions about taking offers that have to be credited by Mario or any other one person (like their "Mystery" bonus). I received the signon bonus as expected and cashed out with a net gain of near $1000. They paid as expected. Others I have spoken with have also received this bonus without issue.

My problem is with the Labor Day bonus that has to be credited by Mario at Winward. Mario changed the terms of the offer midway through the promotion, partially in response to my email. He then refused to honor the bonus or reply to my emails. Support claims that he is the only one who can credit the bonus.
 
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It depends where I play. Most of my recent bonuses have been Microgaming Clearplay. This involves making a few large bets, then a couple dozen smaller ones. I spend less than a half hour on such a bonus, often less than 15 minutes. If I play through the full bonus, then it might increase to 1-2 hours.
.

So you mean you do not always play through 100% of the bonus? I am always thinking if I withdrawal the bonus before clearing 100% bonus, will I be labelled as bonus abuser?

BTW, what % do you usually play through? W/ your style of playing, I guess it would be less than 40%?
 
So you mean you do not always play through 100% of the bonus? I am always thinking if I withdrawal the bonus before clearing 100% bonus, will I be labelled as bonus abuser?

BTW, what % do you usually play through? W/ your style of playing, I guess it would be less than 40%?
Most of my recent bonuses have been with the Grand Prive group. Under their game weighting (FR = 25%), playing through the bonus has a negative expected return on all games. I play a few dozen bets/spins before withdrawing to avoid being labeled as a bonus abuser rather than playing through the whole bonus. Considering how many bonuses this group gives me, my playing style has not been a problem.

With the typical 50% FR weighting and a +0.19xB expected return on the playthrough, I'll at least play until the first $10 of the bonus is converted to cash. I may or may not continue, depending on how things are going and how much I am willing to risk for the small gain.

With a 67% FR playthrough, I'll play through the full bonus.
 
I finished up my Blackjack Calculator today. The inputs are bonus size, wagering requirement, and bet size. It takes these values and calculates expected return, odds of making a gain on the bonus, and 1SD & 2SD points from the expected return.

I plan to add similar calculators for other games. I may do it as one big caculator where you can select the game from a pulldown menu.

The link is
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I heard back from Montana Disputes recently about a dispute I submitted a week ago regarding a four-figure sum. I'm surprised to hear anything so quickly. The most recent update is

"Initial findings have been sent to the operator. The operator has the opportunity to respond to these initial findings before final findings are issued. Please note this process may take several weeks to complete."

I'll post more information including the casino name and full dispute after the issue is complete.
 
Grand Prive has stopped sending me daily bonus offers, so I have not been gambling as much. I did play a small bonus at Grand Monaco. I expected to get a 20% bonus of $5 on a $25 deposit. While waiting for the bonus, GM sent me emails they intended to send to a woman in Belize who was offered a 50% bonus. They have done this 3 times in the past. I complained, so they gave me a 50% bonus too. Unfortunately 50% of $25 is only $12.50. I cashed out with a $50 gain on the $12.50 bonus.
 
I found out Powerbet has locked my account. They did this immediately after paying out my near $600 gain on the sign up bonus. At least they paid me.
 
I found out Powerbet has locked my account. They did this immediately after paying out my near $600 gain on the sign up bonus. At least they paid me.

They locked me out too. Seemed kind of unsporting, as I don't even think I played their bonus in a particularly unusual manner (except for the immediate cashout request, of course).
 
They locked me out too. Seemed kind of unsporting, as I don't even think I played their bonus in a particularly unusual manner (except for the immediate cashout request, of course).
I suspect they do this to everyone who makes a big win on the bonus playing while playing table games. This group has a history of labeling players as bonus abusers. I recall Casinomeister saying that players should be okay at their first casino within the group. Problems would occur if we chose to do this again at another.
 
Here are some stats on how much the average player gain/losses at Microgaming casinos on the players who were referred through my site -- beatingbonuses.com . I checked on these groups because the stats are easy to look up, not because of unique results.

Casino -- Average Player Gain/Loss
==========================

Well Above Expected Gain
Wild Jacks : +$455
All Slots: +$300
King Neptune's: +$240
First Web: +$130

Near Expected Gain
Trident Lounge: +$135
All Jackpots: +$135
Vegas Palms: +$130
Vegas USA: +$25

I find it interesting that half of them were well above the expected gain and none were well below expected gain. It will be interesting to see if the gains stay abnormally large as I get more data.
 
I said I wasn't going to play the Cherry Casino bonus this month. I changed my mind, due to lack of alternatives. I tried a new strategy this time. I started with $1 bets. After a long streak of sequential losses, I'd switch to $5 after the first win. I continued at $5 until I gained $10-$15. The strategy worked quite well. I gained ~$90 while playing the $30 bonus. My gains are likely just a coincidence. I'll try again next month and see if I can repeat it.
 
One fun little anecdote in my own personal bonus-hustling.

I picked up a $10 freechip from a Casino Rewards family casino (Virtual City). The minimum cashout here is $50, so I just placed the chip on a six-number roulette bet, which pays 5 to 1. It actually hit! Ironically, it even hit number 13, which is the number I would pick if it was a single-number bet. Anyway, immediate $50 withdrawal.

(Course, I've tried semi-aggressive roulette bets with small bonuses at many places, and only a few have actually hit. Them's the breaks).
 

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