on the same US being limited at MG Casinos..
Hello Everyone.
This is my first post, please excuse the long post. I dont have much experience with posts and etiquette, and very often I probably could make my point with less words. So bear with me and I will attempt to improve my skills, Also if I am posting with run on sentences etc. and for the record I DO know how to spell, but it often doesnt look like it,..so please excuse my typing .. because I cant type, and I am dyslexic which doesnt help LOL! .
The post above about US exclusions brings to my mind something I have been wondering about, on another issue similar to the one in the post above regarding US players not allowed in certain MicroGaming games, jackpots and promos.
I was sort of bummed a couple of months back after I was reading posts on many forums about existing players getting free spins every week, and other promotions in which "Random" players win prizes. These were at a reputable MG casino group. While looking around for birthday bonus info and promos , I came across some posts specifically about each weeks free spin games that lots and lots of players were getting yet I never once was even offered any. I am a long time member and depositor , so I was surprised to find there were weekly freebies given yet I never got even one time. WOW what a bummer to find out. It sort of removes a level of the pleasure in which I was previously having playing at a trusted online casino. If this makes sense.
I felt sort of left out since one of the few online casinos I do deposit at, did not even give me a small bonus on my birthday,which was what prompted my search of gambling forums. After I found out about the freebies they gave each week, I wanted see if others had the same experience as I , which was not being offered any. Since money is tight birthday bonuses and contests and promos are ways I try to get a little something for my loyalty.
Based upon what I managed to find about who got these free spins, There was no set standard for the free spins , for example "only for depositing players" or "existing but never deposited players" . I read posts from both depositors and non depositiors , and previous active players who havent played there for some time. What I found was basically all types of depositors and non both were getting these . But I did notice that the posts that did show where the posting member reside, none were US posts, unless they were just general comments. I noticed that nearly every one was from out side of the US that chimed in with " I found them in my account whoopee ! and at the same time nearly every single whine "I did not get any or I have never gotten any or I never win their promos" were from US players.
Hmm a trend was becoming visible. At least to me anyway. I have a suspicious nature anyway so I didnt pay it much attention at first. But seeing these were weekly freebies and many people got them every week , this made me start to think deeper. Its kind of upsetting.
I was especially agitated since I do deposit at one of the casinos who give weekly spins and have never been offered any ever. In the 4 or 5 years of playing there the only thing I was ever offered was a deposit bonus of 30% upto $200 max, and I found many many people had same experience. So I asked and have asked about other promos, and ALWAYS get the same BS answer, and I also noted everyone else got the same lame vague excuse that all the casino live help and email support , when questioned, would only say is their "promotions department" makes the rules and offers to whom they chose, and that the staff had no power to include or exclude any one it was and is purely at their discretion in that department. And the only promo for me at this time was the weekend match bonus..
This seemed dumb to me because the weekend match bonus is very limiting in that the bonus was available for deposits each weekend up to a certain amount. This, provides no incentive to deposit any thing more than the amount that the bonus allowed on. So after the max amount of the bonus was reached all other deposits or large deposits would be without any bonus if the max of $200 given at 30% of deposited funds , so in essence, why deposit more than the bonused amount on the weekend?. I mean for me the 30% equalling $200 is a lot, but many others have lots more than I have and are able to deposit hundreds at a time compared to my smaller amounts in the under $100 range. Yet strangely even large depositors posts claimed they toohad the same max of 30% with a max of $200.
So I am still wondering why the casino seems to be making a bonehead rule here, why not just say unlimited weekend bonus of 30% on ALL deposits, so if a player wanted to deposit a large amount they would still receive bonuses. Duh..they play through is still gonna be a lot in any case, and sometimes these casinos are so tight you get only one playthru for your money and very short play time before you are on empty.
There are plenty of good reputable casinos that give bonuses on every deposit, for higher dollar amounts. However, like myself I saw posts from many others, who only receive this same generic feeling weekend only deposit bonuses and there are lots of gripes on this issue itself posted out there.
Am I alone in this thought, or does anyone else agree that is like they actually seem to prevent their players from enjoying the freedom to deposit as they wish, if in fact this bonus was a reward. Its only a reward to an established limit, after that you get nothing?? Seems sort of backwards in a way.
Well I know at land based casinos, you get better comps etc, when you spend more..so it is a strange restriction for a casino. Well in my opinion anywway.
But when this is the only bonus one is offered, then any deposit made earlier in the week or in excess of the bonus-able amount a player knows wont get them a bonus, I for one only deposit when I can get a bonus, if I know Casino A deposit is a straight $100 or I can deposit at Casino B who offers a bonus , even a small one, with this economy I am gonna take the Casino B. Providing they are reputable and even a small bonus is quite often a feel good element when playing online. I know not all would agree, but the point is really that at this MG group as a US player I am getting virtually nothing over an automatic bonus amount that everyone else gets , and since I dont get the free spins or cant ever seem to be one of the randomly selected players , or apparently meet the promotional departments criteria, when I see a post week after week about this weeks free spins , it makes me feel less than jazzed. Online gambling should be fun, but when you arent included in some of the fun extras the regular playing seems to be less fun. if that makes any sense. Anyway moving on..(again sorry its a long post). I knew I must not be the only person who was feeling slighted or left out.
Well I started searching to see how many posts I could find from others who felt slighted. Here is where I started feeling a bit more than slighted, when I happened across a post that implied that the contests and free spin promos were excluding US players from actually participating and actually winning these constant promos in which depositors could increase their winning chances with more deposits, as well as not actually receiving the weekly free spins.
Yet I and the posting players always received emails saying that I was invited to participate in this or that contests or could be one of many who will share in $50000 giveaway or similar prizes if I play and am randomly selected. Often with the idea the more you deposit the better your chances to win. These invites also state that by depositing I would be automatically entered. Like myself, there are tons of people who entered regularly weekly monthly , newsletter games , suggestions rewards, etc. and also never one time received anything over and above the weekend bonus. Hmmm. A little too coincidental I felt due to the large numbers of people I was noticing posted. Its not like a couple of people posting whines , there are lots out there. So thats why I am mentioning it here.
Again , no one has actually stated that US players wouldnt be winning these contests, but the list of winners is almost never posted or even mentioned other than a generic congrats , unless its a super giant promo MG promo versus the casino groups own promos, however these casino group promos rarely even show any real info as to who won, how much they played or whatever the current criteria for the monthly and weekly events all of us players were invited to participate in, or even how much it would take to beat the ones in the lead etc if it was still going on. This in itself makes the contest seem more like a bunch of BS than it does legit , after not winning yet entering over and over. To a lot of players , some even tried to post lets all boycott these guys, kinds of things. But the real story here is , why is this happening and where can we, the players, find answers to the same questions that keep arising , more and more often.
Mostly I guess what I am saying is, it seems the "randomly selected" players could infact not even exist for all I know , and without really ever seeing the outcome posted or ever having won any of them I am inclined to think
if I have to deposit to enter, I for one would like to see who did win, it sort of makes it seem more legit for lack of a better term. I feel confident at least those players like me, who seemed to never win or recieve freebies, would agree , at least not having to wonder why not me, is better, and the casino could be more willing to offer better info, which is a start anyway, Of course made up names and details could be posted, its really the number of people who seem to feel excluded for no known reason or criteria made known to them as well, seems to show a pattern. I also think that the canned answer of some unseen promo departments whose criteria is so strict that many US players cannot seem to meet, would then have to be defined if it exists, and in which case a US player or any player could then know whether or not to expect to be included. This is never gonna happen obviously.
Now with these recent US exclusions, that are factual, its really an interesting point that if any of the above speculation is true then US players are being not only excluded but purposely mislead.
This is poor ethics, and quite frankly almost criminal. But whos gonna blow the whistle, the casinos.. not a chance, MG , probably not a chance. Why? that answer is simple. MONEY.. as if MG and the casino operators arent already swimming in money as it is. So unless someone admits it, it can only be speculation. I do think its a plausible theory, maybe a little paranoidish, but not unfounded in thought. So then with out factual evidence, it makes it a definite possibility anyway. So thats why I am bringing it up.
I know the promos on the websites and banners and email spams all make it sound like any depositing player was able to win. But the large number of the exact same story repeating over and over really starts the idea to take a more serious second look. Could it be true? So it isnt surprising why Its starting to make more and more sense all of a sudden, because like in my case, after entering weekly and monthly contests never once winning any of the thousands the casino claims to be constantly handing out ,for those who deposited during a promo or weekly freebies given out, players are posting they are noticing a lot of others besides myself that share this underlying feeling that they are being excluded, and not just unlucky.
Obviously we all cant win every time, but with no details after the promo period about who won what and those who did inquire why this happens to them over and over , like myself, again, given the same scripted vague answers about some unknown criteria none of us (mostly US Players) have not met, nor given info so that we could meet the criteria for future promos.
It made me feel that the explanation for the nonesense answers support and live help gave, could really be a big non spoken policy they have to exclude US players.
Its quite frankly, very plausible that such policies exist, and lets not foget the huge incentive for the MG casinos to keep this stuff rather hush hush because it might hurt business if it were known and a fact..
I know if I knew I wasnt able to win a contest I wouldnt bother entering, and since entering is linked to deposits then I would not bother deposit either. Instead I would play else where , where perhaps i might be allowed to get a freebie here and there or a chance to win something extra be it spins or money.
I also wish to interject that when I saw current posts about the free spins games for that week's game, when I tried to log in to see if I was given any
of the free spins , those games were not accessible or download-able to me during the time of the promotion.
I am certainly not trying to start rumours or bad mouth any casino with out completely knowing the facts, however, this same casino a few months back in fact told me months ago, in live help that multi player games weren't allowed for their players in the US, so that isnt anything new.
I also think I was told that US players may not play the progressive jackpots. Again not sure if this is true or not.
Anyway I am wondering if anyone else thinks or knows if any of the above is true. I did not see any posts from any one addressing this issue in a direct fashion, it was mostly gripes like "how come I didn't get spins" etc. But while read posts and responses I stumbled across someones post that mentioned it was due to US exclusions.
This US exclusion theory actually makes sense out of it all to me. This also would explain why people in large numbers were sharing the same slighted and unappreciated feelings I am having I am unsure if anyone else has put this together in the same possibility, but if this is in fact true, wouldnt there be a lot of pissed off players out there?? Seriously. Since its online the Casinos often can and do play God over our accounts and money. And total open door policies have never been in play. There has always been a secret feeling regarding info casinos let we players know, and what is not known. The casinos and software developers have so much power that cannot be harnessed, or controlled by anyone outside their own office doors , as opposed to most other businesses, its staggering at the mere mention.
anyway I will quit rambling now!
To sum up , I guess I wanted to see if anyone else here at Casino Meister either knows or suspects the same thing, or could enlighten me to a different thought. Maybe I just need some validation here for my over working imagination, and all of these details I have come across, so I can see if its my suspicious nature or is this really happening.
All I know is I am not the only one who had this happen to, and things certainly have changed in other areas for US players,which are facts, when it comes to MicroGaming and the US players... so maybe it isnt as far fetched that there are indeed a lot more US player restrictions than MG would care to be common knowledge.
I also have some thoughts on these rebuy freerolls. Jeez am I the only person who thinks Free Roll means Free. I seriously doubt any players are actually looking at how much money the MG casinos get from rebuys for a fixed amount prize schedule. In poker if there are rebuys the prize pool goes up when rebuy money is added, these regular tourneys every hour or more frequent, often see people depositing 20 or 40 bucks to win 15 or what ever the top prizes are.. You can see they get hundreds playing each one and the ones in top place have ridiculous high scores. Oh and does anyone else ever experience often when you finally get free spins during your free session, they come at the end and you dont get to finish bonus game unless you deposit?? Or you never get any bonus game and the second the tourney starts someone instantly has a zillion points before you barely get in one spin . ISP's could be an issue but seriously I seem to never come close, or if i do manage to stay on top, by the time the rebuys have bought my score is just below the pay outs....
I hope I was able to explain what is on my mind in a way for you all to easily understand...This had been bothering me since Oct. on my Bday!