IMHO there is only one way to really clean up being an AP and that is MGS tournaments that pay real cash and not bonus cash (as shown recently by our beloved VWM), a big gamble sure (around 3.5k dollars iirc), but a nice profit of 1.5k, if you have a good bank roll, copious amounts of amphetamines, and more patience than the Pope on rohypnol, then this is the way for you
.
P.S.
I`m not saying that VWM takes speed, but fck, does this guy ever sleep lol?
I didn't actually spend that much TIME playing that tournament.
What I DID do though, was to think through my strategy, and possible options, as well as the likelihood of success BEFORE I bought my first continue.
It was actually alot CLOSER than it looked. I nearly "cocked it up" at the end, and I was in danger of coming second if my adversary had one of those great bonus rounds so close to the end that I didn't have enough time to make up the ground.
The problem was not just winning, but doing so at a PROFIT. This involved using as FEW continues as I could get away with, rather than piling in to guarantee victory, but making an overall loss.
Being a cash prize, the maths was fairly easy. Bonus prizes are harder, because unless you beat WR, NOTHING has actually been won in the end.
I may not have the luxury of repeating the same strategy, because on the last day my rival COPIED it, probably hoping to throw me off balance. I believe he/she has now discovered the how & why of my strategy, and may already have figured out how they are going to get their revenge next time
32Red run a similar tournament.
The tournaments can be good for Advantage players because you are not playing the house, but other players. When playing against the house, advantage players really need to look at bonuses and competitions, rather than consistently beating the games with their own money.
KK's approach is seeking out the best bonuses, and beating enough of them to come out ahead overall through disciplined betting and bankroll management.
One reason advantage players don't win HUGE amounts is that the casinos are quick to show them the door, so an advantage player quickly runs out of decent casinos, and has to start taking chances with the rogues to carry on winning. This results in all these non-payment issues we see in complaints, where the complainant has run into trouble with a casino they shouldn't have played at in the first place.
I am sure KK could "win more" if he played his game at the rogue end of the market, but he would probably have trouble getting PAID.
I have found that where I get bonus banned are also mostly where I am ahead overall. I am far less likely to get bonus banned where I am losing. The ONLY group that I know for CERTAIN bonus banned me when I was down was Grand Prive. There are a small number of others where I think I MIGHT be bonus banned, yet am down overall at.
The only way an advantage player can win long term is to win at virtually EVERY casino, but the fact that most will then ban them from further bonuses puts a limit on the overall profit made. Now that casinos freely share information about "clever players" with each other (they deny it of course
), advantage players will find it even harder in the future.
The other way to make a quick profit is to find a glitch in the software, and hammer it before it gets noticed. This is the MAIN way that FRuit Machine players make profits, but it has become almost impossible now. I know of one or two profitable glitches that have ocurred online, but this has been AFTER it was hammered, and then fixed. Unless you discover something yourself, or are with "the inner circle", even the average advantage player will only hear about it when it is too late.
Glitches that favour the CASINO are more common, and get more exposure because players will complain. This impression may be distorted because some player favouring glitches NEVER get revealed, even when they are over. The casinos rarely admit to a glitch unless they are "called out" on a forum about it, and unless the advantage players feel like bragging about it, the rank & file will not find out.
I bet there ARE a few "exploits" live right now, not so much "glitches", but "unintended consequences", where clever interplay between standard and special promotions can provide a +EV opportunity for a while.
An example might be where a casino offers 50% back on losses at Blackjack, but where their standard comps and bonus offers will mean that whilst losing their bankroll, the player can recover MORE than the other 50% through their comps and bonuses.
I have not seen a casino make this mistake with an obvious game like Blackjack, but it HAS happened in more subtle forms.
The casino still has the option to renege on the money after the fact, as amply demonstrated by Betfair