Gambling Log

[awstick]

I won at both the Grand Prive bonus offers tonight ($100 match and $150 match). I bet half my balance on my first hand, won, bet the same next hand and won a double. The exact same series of events happened at both casinos for a $750 win, so I'm getting pretty close to even. I also got in on the Mansion football promotion for a $1000 win so things are looking up again.

 

[aka23]

I won at both the Grand Prive bonus offers tonight ($100 match and $150 match). I bet half my balance on my first hand, won, bet the same next hand and won a double. The exact same series of events happened at both casinos for a $750 win, so I'm getting pretty close to even. I also got in on the Mansion football promotion for a $1000 win so things are looking up again.

I did not receive the $100 match offer. Which casino's promotion was this? I only received the $150 offer at Jupiter. Recall that I busted at Jupiter a few days ago and lost $50. I increased from $150 to ~$200 playing VP, received the bonus of $150, then bet half and won. I considered repeating, but at this point the bonus was less than 30% of my total, and my balance was too high for a half bankroll bet, so another bet wasn't worth the risk.

Mansion football was a big disappointment for me. I spent so much time trying to figure out the catch that I was too late to get in on the bet. However, I am expected to gain ~$1000 at Winward, assuming that they credit me the bonus as promised.

My list of non-paying casinos is increasing:
Peach Casino -- Owed $1200 (not receiving withdrawl code in mail for unknown reason)
Shark Casino -- Removed $400 bonus
Casino Vega -- Returned $400 withdrawl for unknown reason
Golden Spur -- Removed $125 from account

 

[awstick]

Lake Palace offered the $100 match.

What problem did you have with shark casino that caused them to remove the bonus? I just played that casino, but I haven't withdrawn yet.

I'll have to check into Winward.. seems like you're making a lot of money there.

 

[aka23]

Lake Palace offered the $100 match.

What problem did you have with shark casino that caused them to remove the bonus? I just played that casino, but I haven't withdrawn yet.

I'll have to check into Winward.. seems like you're making a lot of money there.

I signed up at Lake Palace less than a week ago and may have still had a cash out pending at the time of the promotion.

Shark Casino claims that they changed the terms of their promotion to make the bonus a sticky if you play BJ at 4PM on 8/25. I signed up on 8/25 a few hours later and am certain there was nothing in the T&C about the bonus being a sticky, yet they insist it is sticky. If I make a withdrawl, I lose $400. If I try to make $400 with the sticky bonus, I run the risk of losing $470 (my gain of +$270 changes to -$200).

Winward still hasn't given me the bonus. I'll post more later, after the situation is resolved.

 

[wangpoker]

I did not receive the $100 match offer. Which
Peach Casino -- Owed $1200 (not receiving withdrawl code in mail for unknown reason)

request the code letter again.

 

[aka23]

request the code letter again.

I've requested it 3 times over the past two months. They insist that it is being sent to the correct address and is not being returned back due to a failed delivery. They claim that the only other option is to pay $20 to send it by insured mail and get a tracking number. I requested that today.

 

[aka23]

Shark Casino claims that they changed the terms of their promotion to make the bonus a sticky if you play BJ at 4PM on 8/25. I signed up on 8/25 a few hours later and am certain there was nothing in the T&C about the bonus being a sticky, yet they insist it is sticky. If I make a withdrawl, I lose $400. If I try to make $400 with the sticky bonus, I run the risk of losing $470 (my gain of +$270 changes to -$200).

I played the sticky bonus with large bets. After a long series of bets I was at $820. I bet $400 and drew a pair of 8s while the dealer showed an 8. I split increasing my bet to $800. I had a feeling I was going to lose it all on this hand. Fortunately I won one of the two hands, so I broke even. I bet $400 again on the next hand and drew a BJ, increasing my total to $1420! I stopped at this point, as I had more than made up for the $400 bonus loss. If I lose the bonus, my net gain at Shark will be +$820. If I get the bonus, my net gain will be +$1220.

 

[aka23]

I've decided to take a break from online gambling. I'm calling this "semi-retiring." Rather than play almost every day, I'll be playing closer to once a week. A lot of factors influenced this decision. One of the biggest one is losing $425 at Virtual Casino, my largest loss. My frequent playing and wins were usually tied to casino promotions (the big exception is King Neptune's). I've played the quality casino promotions. I'm left with casinos like Virtual with SW that I don't trust, or high risk promotions with little gain. I also want to make time for some other things.

I'll still be posting on the forum and working on a website that I mentioned wanting to start in early posts on this log. I've gained about $19,000 in the 3.5 months I have been gambling. I'll be cashing out and spending some of these winnings rather than keeping a large bankroll on hand for play.

A summary of my results is below:

Gains of $500 or greater:
1. King Neptune's: +~$2300 (Increase)
2. Winward: +~$2000 (Increase, Estimate)
3. Casino.net: +~$1500 (Banned from receiving bonuses)
4. 888.com: +$1100 (Increase)
5. Shark Casino: +$820 (Increase)
6. Palace of Chance: +$800 (New, Estimate)
7. Venetian (B&M Casino): +$750
7. USA Casino: +$750
7. Casino Euro: +$750 (Increase)
10. Intercasino: +$740 (Increase)
11. Jupiter Club: +$730 (Increase)
12. Casino Vega: +$660 (Increase)
13. Golden Rivera: +$600
14. Nine.com: +$530
15. Sun Vegas: +$510
15. Littlewoods: +$510 (Increase, US Players Banned)
16. Golden Reef: +$500


Losses of $100 or greater:
1. Virtual Casino -$425 (New)
2. Slots Royale: -$350
3. Villento: -$300 (Decreased, Smaller Loss)
3. Connecto: -$300
5. Luck N Roll: -$250
6. Trident Lounge: -$200
7. Online Casino: -$190
8. Cinema Casino: -$150 (Decreased, Smaller Loss)
9. Crazy Vegas: -$125 (Increased, Larger Loss)
10. Omni Casino: -$100
10. Kiwi Casino: -$100
10. Casino US: -$100
10. Player's Club (Boss): -$100 (New)


September Gains/Losses:
Winward: +$1000 (Estimate)
Palace of Chance: +$900 (Estimate)
Lake Palace: +$350
Intercasino: +$200
Casino Lux: +$200
Littlewoods: +$195
888.com: +$165
Jupiter Club: +$160
Sun Palace: +$160
Casino Vega: +$160
Shark Casino: +$150 (+$550 gain -$400 bonus loss)
Casino Grand Bay: +$150
King Neptune's: +$150
Cherry Casino: +$120
32 Red: +$100
Villento: +$100
Bella Vegas: +$90
William Hill: +$75
Casino Euro: +$50
Cinema Casino: +$50
Authorian Casino: +$35
VIP Casino: +$20
Grand Monaco: +$10
Club Dice: +$0
Crazy Vegas: -$25
Player's Club (Boss): -$100
Virtual Casino: -$400

September Net Gains/Losses: +$4050 (Estimate)
Overall Net Gain/Loss: +~$19,000 (Estimate)

 

[wangpoker]

I remember virtual casino is a rouge.

OK! I search casinomeister and get
https://www.casinomeister.com/rogue-casinos/

it's absolutely a rouge.

 

[wangpoker]

3. Casino.net: +~$1500 (Banned from receiving bonuses)

I thought this was a accredited casino!

 

[NoMouthToScream]

aka23 - great decision to make use of that money. Good luck and this was a great ride. Can't lose with 19k in 3.5 months.

 

[aka23]

I remember virtual casino is a rouge.

OK! I search casinomeister and get
https://www.casinomeister.com/rogue-casinos/

it's absolutely a rouge.

Wow! I knew it was a rougue, but I didn't read the full story. I have a feeling there is more to the events, but in any case, I have never heard of an online casino physically assaulting a player. That is incredible!

 

[aka23]

I thought this was a accredited casino!

I don't see it on the accredited list. I've also been banned from receiving bonuses at several others. A list is below:

Casino.net -- The casino refuesed to tell me why I have been banned from receiving bonuses. They referred me to manager, who did not reply. The only reason I can think of is making a large gain on the sign up bonus and not losing it by playing without bonuses. Ever since this change I have busted at all Boss Media casinos. I obviously no longer play at this group.

All of Casino Rewards Group -- Group did not tell me why it occurred or how much I need to wager of my own cash for them to remove the block. They have done this to various other posters on the forum. One poster said they ban you from receiving bonuses if you sequentially use to sign up bonuses within the group. That fits my expeiences, as it occurred after using my second signup bonus (which was given twice!).

All of Jackpot Factory Group -- I have been locked out of my account at all of these casinos. It occurred after I cashed out with a $300 gain on one of their weekly promotions. I used a low risk strategy in which I played through the 3xD wagering on video poker, then withdrew everything. The bonus was credited a few days later, so I only risked the bonus without a deposit. This is disappointing, as the group offered my favorite weekly promotion.

All of the Fortune Lounge Group -- I am not sure why this group banned me from receiving bonuses. The group refused to give a reason. My guess is gaining $500 on a signup bonus. Individual casinos have allowed me to play and credit bonuses manually, bypassing the group ban.

Prism / Slots of Vegas -- I was banned from receiving bonuses after asking a question about cashable bonuses with no playthrough. The change may relate to a couple large percentage gains (but not large $) using a streaky betting strategy.

 

[aka23]

aka23 - great decision to make use of that money. Good luck and this was a great ride. Can't lose with 19k in 3.5 months.

I appreciate the support. Yes, it was a nice gain. Thinking back, there were a lot of unlikely big wins, which inspired me to get so into gambling:

1. When I went to Vegas on Memorial Day, I was not a serious gambler. I might spent a few $ on slots, but was not willing to lose more than a total of ~$10. Immediately before leaving, I found $1 of cash in my pocket. We decided to use it on one slot spin, then go. That spin won $750 and caused me to look into online gambling.

2. I started online gambling at Casino.net because I heard of Boss Media's small player edge on their single deck game. Casino.net does not even offer a single deck game, but at the time I did not know this. I did not know about bonuses or other casinos. I selected casino.net because the name sounded more trustworthy. I was impressed with the $200 25% bonus (I would not be now) and deposited $800 to get the full bonus. I did not calculate risk of loss and standard deviation and instead used a large wager of $25 per hand with an incorrect strategy (as if it was single deck). I could have easily lost all $800 and given up online gambling. Instead I gained ~$1300 and was never below my starting bankroll of B+D throughout the long wagering!

3. I made about half of my gains though Microgaming Clearplay bonus risky bets. My first time using this strategy with a large bet was at King Neptune's. I bet the max of 200GBP on a hand and doubled for a total of 400GBP = $760. I could have easily lost my 200GBP = $380 deposit on this hand. Instead I won the $760 bet! I gained even more playing French Roulette to clear the bonus and cashed out with a $1,330 gain!

All three of these events were extemely unlikely. If any one of them turned out badly, I would have played very differently.

 

[BobbySoxs]

your strategy

i truly do save all your posts to a file to study for
my entertainment but your LUCK was so amazing
I thought
you MUST be making it all up for a novel.
HOWEVER you really played so WELL when offered these
bonus opportunities as so well described by YOU in
your analysis of a BIG BET BONUS strategy
..:notworthy

 

[aka23]

i truly do save all your posts to a file to study for
my entertainment but your LUCK was so amazing
I thought
you MUST be making it all up for a novel.
HOWEVER you really played so WELL when offered these
bonus opportunities as so well described by YOU in
your analysis of a BIG BET BONUS strategy
..:notworthy

I appreciate the support. I've done quite a bit better than expected with large bets at Microgaming casinos. This pattern has continued in recent days. Since "semi-retiring", I received two offers that were too good to pass up -- $300 match at Jupiter and $250 match at Casino Share. While working on my website, I found that I never played the $50 bonus at Fortune Room. I came out ahead at all three casinos, using my typical strategy of betting half my bankroll on ACBJ. I played more conservatively than I have in the past and stopped after getting up by 1 win. My results are below:

Jupiter: +$330
Casino Share: +$275
Fortune Room: +$50
===============
Total gain since "semi-retirement": +$655
Overall Net Gain/Loss: +$19,650


While I have done well with large bets at Microgaming, I've done slightly worse than expected with large bets at RTG and Playtech, and I've done much worse than expected at Boss Media (I have busted every time since casino.net banned me from receiving bonuses). I never play at BM anymore. And I only play a sticky bonus at RTG or Playtech if there is at least a 100% match. Even then I'll risk much less than I would at a Microgaming Casino, often well below the bonus limit.

 

[endanger]

WOW !!! This thread is fantastic. I've learned lots of information through your log.

I'll be trying the Fortune Lounge bonusses and need help on how to clear the play through on these bonusses. The playthrough requirements are counted as follow:

Slots, American Roulette and Parlor Games 100%
Table Poker games, Casino War, Sicbo and all Roulettes except American Roulette 50%
Video Poker games, Craps, Baccarat and all Blackjacks except Classic Blackjack 10%
Classic Blackjack & All Aces Video Poker 2%

Noticed that you cleared the some of your bonusses which have similar playthrough requirement by playing French roulette but I've no idea on how this is done. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[aka23]

WOW !!! This thread is fantastic. I've learned lots of information through your log.

I'll be trying the Fortune Lounge bonusses and need help on how to clear the play through on these bonusses. The playthrough requirements are counted as follow:

Slots, American Roulette and Parlor Games 100%
Table Poker games, Casino War, Sicbo and all Roulettes except American Roulette 50%
Video Poker games, Craps, Baccarat and all Blackjacks except Classic Blackjack 10%
Classic Blackjack & All Aces Video Poker 2%

Noticed that you cleared the some of your bonusses which have similar playthrough requirement by playing French roulette but I've no idea on how this is done. Any help would be appreciated.

Some quotes from my future website are below. I didn't reformat the tables, so the tables did not come out correctly:

=========================================================

Microgaming Clearplay Bonuses



Introduction

Most Microgaming casinos use the "Clearplay" bonus system. Under this system, you can withdraw your winnings at any time, whether you have met the wagering requirements on the bonus or not. This makes the bonus like a sticky with no playthough, if cashed out early. The largest expected gain occurs, if you bet the bonus before playing through. This strategy carries a high risk. You may win big and you may lose your deposit. I gained ~$10,000 playing through the Clearplay Microgaming sign on bonuses with this higher risk strategy. The expected gain from all of the Clearplay sign on bonuses is near $2,000-10,000 depending on currency and strategy. Some Microgaming casinos offer other Clearplay bonuses to their customers that are similar to the sign up bonus several times per month. You can still make a gain at many casinos without higher risk bets. . If you have a low risk tolerance, I'd recommend either making a smaller deposit or playing through the bonus without betting it first (see "Playing Through The Bonus") section below.



The BIG Bet

Lets take a coin flip as an example. Imagine a coin flip where heads you get $200 and tails you lose $100. This is obviously a good deal. The expected return is (+$200-$100) / 2 = +$50. A Microgaming Clearplay bonus with a 100% match of $100 can be treated the same way as this coin flip. If you bet all $200 of it on a hand of craps or baccarat and win, your balance increases to $400 -- $300 cash and $100 bonus. If you withdraw the $300, your bonus disappears, and your gain is +$200. If you lose the bet, you lose $100. Again, the expected gain fo this bet is ~+$50. If you bet all of it a second time after winning, then 1/4 of the time, you would gain $600 and the other 3/4 of the time, you would lose $100. This increases the expected return to (+$600 - 3x$100)/4=$75. If you keep betting all your winnings over and over, you approach an EV of the bonus size. The obvious downside of rebetting over and over is you would typically lose your deposit. Most people would prefer a strategy where they typically win, and would forgo some of the expected gain to do so.

One strategy is to bet all of the bankroll on a hand of craps (don't pass), baccarat (banker), or french roulette (red or black). I'd recommend against blackjack. Blackjack has a lower player edge under typical circumstances, but without the option to double or split, the house edge increases to ~2.5%. An alternative is to bet a portion of the bankroll on a higher paying roulette option, such as 1-12 or a numbered bet. For example, you might bet 1/3 of your bankroll on a 3:1 bet like 1-12. This option can be useful, if limited by maximum bet size.

I like to bet half of my balance on a hand of Atlantic City Blackjack. I favor this strategy over betting all of my bankroll at once because I can choose to double my bet when the odds are in my favor or surrender half of my bet win the odds are against me; I like to be able to play more than one hand; and I am expected to come out ahead the majority of the time. Using this strategy, and stopping after a win above bankroll, you are expected to retain ~35% of the bonus and win ~2/3 of the time. If you bet half the bankoll a second time, the expected bonus retention increases to ~55% and win ~1/2 of the time -- roughly the same gain as betting all of the bankroll at once. I have had much better than statistically expected results with this strategy.

There are countless other alternatives. Choose a game, make large bets, then stop if you get far enough ahead. Games like VP and slots have a high variance, so you are likely to bust and lose your deposit. However, if you do win, you have the potential to gain more than with the low variance games.





Playing Through the Bonus

The bonus becomes cashable in $10 increments as you meet a portion of the wagering requirement. Game selections are weighted such that the player is expected to lose the bonus at a higher rate than it becomes cashable. The most common setup is being required to playthrough the bonus 30x with the games weighed as follows. If you played only slots, you'd have to play through the bonus 30x before it became cashable. If you played only Video Poker, you'd have to play through the bonus 300x before it became cashable.


Slots, American Roulette and Parlor Games

100%

Table Poker games, Casino War, Sicbo and all Roulettes except American Roulette

50%

Video Poker, Craps, Baccarat and all Blackjacks except Classic Blackjack

10%

Classic Blackjack

2%

Expected bonus retention for a variety of games with this system is listed below:

Game

Wager

Expected Gain/Loss



French Roulette

60xB

+0.2xB

Atlantic City Blackjack

300xB

-0.1xB

Jacks or Better VP

300xB

-0.15xB

Slots

30xB

-0.5xB?

American Roulette

30xB

-0.6xB

Pai Gow

60xB

-0.7xB

Casino War

60xB

-0.7xB

Baccarat

300xB

-3.2xB



A few groups weight the games higher towards wagering than listed in the tables above. The Trident Group's System is listed in the two tables below:

Slots; Progressive Slots; American Roulette; Keno; Scratch games; Red Dog; Sic Bo & Cyberstud

100%

Video slots; Roulette; Paigow Poker; Poker Pursuit & progressives games

67%

Craps; Blackjack; Video, Power & multi-hand Pokers; 3-Card Poker; Casino War & Baccarat

33%

Expected bonus retention for a variety of games with this system is listed below:

Game

Wager

Expected Gain/Loss



Risk of Loss

Atlantic City Blackjack

90xB

+0.65xB

High

Jacks or Better VP

90xB

+0.55xB

Very High

French Roulette

45xB

+0.4xB

Medium

Red Dog

30xB

+0.1xB

Very High

Baccarat

90xB

0xB

Very High

Traditional Slots

30xB

-0.5?

Very High

American Roulette

30xB

-0.6xB

Very High

Pai Gow

45xB

-0.7xB

Very High

Video Slots

45xB

-2xB?

Very High



Under the common Microgaming weighhting in which only French Roulette has a positve expected gain/loss, obviously the best game to choose is French Roulette. Under the more favorable Trident Lounge game weighting, there ar more choices. I'd strongly recommend against video poker due to the high variance. You have a much higher risk of busting than with BJ or French Roulette. BJ has a higher expected gain. The downside is a larger variance due to the higher wagering and a larger risk of a loss. Completing the wagering requirement will also take longer due to the larger wagering and slower hands. For both roulette and BJ, Microgaming offers an autoplay feature and a quick hand/spin option. This makes such a large wagering requiement practical.

To minimize risk in French Roulette, you may be tempted to bet on both red & black; or bet $36 on red, $36 on black and $1 on zero (all game results return same value). A few Microgaming casinos have rules against this strategy in their T&C. However, the more typical result is to pay the player as expected. After paying the casino, may later ban the player from receiving further bonuses. If you have made a big win with a large bet, I'd recommend against betting on both red & black, and giving the casino an excuse not to pay you.

Remember that under the Clearplay bonus system, you do not have to play through the bonus. After winning with the big bet, you may wish to stop there or just play until reaching the first $10 portion of the bonus is converted to cash. Gaining an extra 0.2xB may be a small amount compared to your win.



Cashing Out

I'd recommend not cashing out immediately after a big bet. Play some minimum bet hands or minimum value slot spins. This reduces the risk of being labeled as a bonus abuser and being banned from further promotions within the group. For similar reasons, you should not cash out all of your balance at once. I cash out my deposit, wait for it to be received in Neteller, then cash out my winnings or a portion of my winnings. Microgaming tend to pay out winnings quickly. 24-48 hours is typical.

 

[GrandMaster]

If you want to treat the Clearplay bonus as a phantom bonus, you should read the complete scientific treatment at

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

.

 

[soflat]

For similar reasons, you should not cash out all of your balance at once. I cash out my deposit, wait for it to be received in Neteller, then cash out my winnings or a portion of my winnings.

What difference does it make if you cash out everything at once, or cash out your deposit first then cash out everything that's left?

 

[aka23]

If you want to treat the Clearplay bonus as a phantom bonus, you should read the complete scientific treatment at

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

.

That is interesting. I'll look the page over in detail when I have some more time.

 

[aka23]

What difference does it make if you cash out everything at once, or cash out your deposit first then cash out everything that's left?

I used to withdraw everything at once when I first strated playing. One of the first casinos I played at mentioned that my withdrawl was taking a long time because they have a filter that catches all withdrawls larger than the deposit amount and go through extra checks on these withdrawls. This casino eventually banned me from receiving bonuses.

Since then I've been withdrawing as described earlier. Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it does not. It seems like common sense that a guy who takes the sign on bonus makes a few bets and then withdraws everything a few minutes after signing up is more likely to be labeled as a bonus abuser than a guy who withdraws his deposit, waits a few days for it to be received, returns to the casino and plays some more (a few min bet hands), and withdraws some more.

 

[Amigo]

Im curious as to how you know (when its a sticky bonus) that they wont automatically void the bonus as soon as you make a withdrawl?

 

[aka23]

Im curious as to how you know (when its a sticky bonus) that they wont automatically void the bonus as soon as you make a withdrawl?

The usual procedure with a sticky bonus is to eliminate the bonus when you make a withdrawl. I'll make that clearer in the Clearplay Bonus Summary when I add the finished page to my site. A few groups allow you to keep the bonus after making a withdrawl, including the following:

Winward Group
Grand Virtual Casinos
Wager21 Casinos
Sunny Group (Playtech)

You can check/confirm by looking at the T&C carefully.

 

[GrandMaster]

A sticky bonus stays in your account, whereas a phantom bonus is removed when you make a withdrawal.