I've all but given up with VS, very unusual for me as I've pretty much played to some degree daily for years and years and I'm a loyal customer that tends to prefer one site for all my gaming activity. I've got 24 freeroll battle tickets which always seem to redeem fine, so I'll use them at key choice moments when the games list is ok and deposit the twenty quid to qualify, but after that I'm afraid we will part ways as a main go to casino website.
I remember over a decade ago my regular bets were £1 to £2 all the time and I didn't really feel like I lost the money *that* quickly. Prior to that I was over at Jackpot Party and thought nothing of £2.40 bets on all the WMS stuff - particularly the Life of Luxury slot. The next 10 years saw a gradual decay in play time and my normal bet size for the last few years has reduced down to 20p-50p bets.
The issue I have now is just how bad base game play is these days. There's not a lot of recycling wins to give play time - I would normally deposit £200 and play on 20p but the deposit can be gone in a couple of hours if you hit a slot on a brutal run. Repeat this all too often and you think what's the point. Bonus rounds can also be woefully low on slots that already deliver poor base games.
The whole scene seems geared to removing the customer from the deposit as fast as possible these days with the types of profiles that current games are delivering. Videoslots and most other casino's approach with the lowering of RTP's on top of this just adds another nail to the coffin. The lowering of RTP was what made me head over to other sites for the first time in the last few months but now it's a crap shoot and I just can't be bothered having to research everything prior to playing for what should be a fun pastime.
I've just been hit by Pokerstars SOW for meagre deposits in the grand scheme of things, and my brain is just protesting that I can't be bothered to bare my financial arse once again to some complete stranger in a back office to choose whether they think I'm mature enough to play. So, for the first time I found myself in a unique position of not having a go to casino over the last couple of weeks. It's funny when you aren't playing how much time you realise you did spend playing....I've watched more boxsets than ever and even signed back up at the gym and now enjoying 10k runs on the treadmill after just a couple of weeks getting back into it.
Maybe it's not my own choice, but has been forced upon me by the woeful state of affairs in the UK regarding online gambling but I kind of thank this state of affairs for forcing me to change my views, lifestyle and involvement.
I'm sure I'll still play, but compared to the old me, it will dabbling at best. I still find it hilarious that you can be blocked from playing from as little as a few hundred online but go to any bookies, bingo hall or casino in the UK and pretty much be unchallenged over the amount you spend.