Casino bonus hustling

[mathare]

I read a book recently about hustling the online casino bonuses using a 'loot and scoot' approach. Basically you make the deposit, claim the bonus, meet the wagering requirements and then take the money back out never to return. Repeat at a new casino. And so on.

Anyone had any experience of bonus hustling? From a couple of hours of scouting about on the web for info on this and looking at the terms and conditions of a few of the bonuses I would say it's not as easy as it was maybe 2 or 3 years ago due to the casinos changing the way they handle bonuses to prevent (or at least limit) bonus abuse.

If I get a chance I may elaborate on the bonus scheme changes tomorrow but in the meantime anyone been down this route already or got anything (useful) to offer?

[presto]

had a look at it mat, but (like arbing) it looks like free money with catches. probably the biggest question i have would be how easy is it to get your cash out? if it's easy then probably one to go for. but the tales of bookies not releasing cash (ask for passport, C card etc..... like betfair KYC) then that would really put me off.
i have to say casino games arn't for me - but i know how you like them mat :D
a lot of the bonus schemes i have had 'spammed' to my e-mail look excessive - like wager 100 times over :yikes: - but i suppose you could knock up a decent spreadsheet to calculate the 'house edge + a bit for safety' and what the balance + bonus would look at after requirements have been met. to see if it is worthwhile.

also - it may be worth hanging on for a while - as with the demise of american online gaming - then the casinos will come over here to entice new players - could be bigger bonuses.

[roma]

I do it a lot, playing blackjack to the wellknown 'perfect' strategy for minimum stakes.

Generally I prefer the UK bookies' casinos (for trustworthiness & because you don't lose out in currency exchange) or well known international ones like 888.com. It's vital to read the bonus terms and conditions every time - with the ones that offer monthly bonuses you have to read them again every month, they keep changing. Watch out for the restrictions on what games you can play, and obviously avoid bonuses that are "non-withdrawable". I have sometimes played videopoker using the Wizard Of Odds strategy, if blackjack was not possible, but it's riskier than blackjack (his strategy is based on the best land casino payouts and you don't get such good payouts on the net). And for me it's not worth the time put in if the wagering requirement is more than about 20 times the bonus.

Good ones for ongoing monthly bonuses are William Hill, Littlewoods, Intercasino (the UK variety, they have two), Coral, and 888.com who have a 'happy hour' once a month where you have a 2-hour slot to make your deposit - obviously you then get a lot longer to play out the wagering requirement. A lot of the others have stopped doing monthly bonuses recently. I've lost track of the initial sign-up bonuses I've claimed, but among the UK ones I remember Totesport, Racing Post, Harrods, Sporting Odds, Bet Direct, & if you're happy to play in dollars then also Starluck and Planetluck.

Good luck - though as long as you are disciplined, you don't really need it. You can lose your deposit very occasionally but as long as you're playing perfect strategy it will be rare and more than made up for by the times when you come out with the full bonus (or more). :D

The main risk is getting bored and increasing your stakes - that's when it can all go horribly wrong, and that of course is just what they're hoping you will do.

[Workshy]

There is a website that tells you how to play the specific software on some sites out there. It also includes reviews. I think you can find it with a quick google. an online blackjack guide. :)

[mathare]

Cheers for that Roma. You too Presto.

I know a few years back most casino bonuses were non-sticky. You deposited $100 and the casino would give you another $100. Play through that $200 total at least 20 times and whatever is left at the end of it is yours. But these days most bonuses seem to either be sticky bonuses or of the EZ/Clear Play type. Sticky bonuses aren't so bad and they can result in a decent enough payday if you know how to play them* but I am struggling to get my head round the proper strategy for the EZ bonus schemes.

*Sticky bonuses cannot be withdrawn, they are for wagering purposes only. So if you deposit $100 you may find the casino will top that up to $400 with a sticky bonus and ask you to wager through that lot 25 times. Obviously games have a house edge so assuming 0.5% for blackjack you need to give the casino $10,000 worth of action which will cost you $50. Your account now has $350 in it but only $50 of that can be withdrawn as your cash. The remainder is the sticky bonus. Now is the time to get aggressive. You're looking to turn that $350 into either $0 or something more acceptable like $600 so you need to be making $25-$50 blackjack bets and hoping for a little bit of luck. If you lose then all you have lost is your original $100 since the extra $300 was never yours to withdraw. But of you get your balance up to $600 you can withdraw $300 of that as your cash. The idea is to grind out the wagering requirement to release as much of your initial deposit as possible, withdraw that and then get aggressive with the casino's money and try and make yourself a few quid. Unlike a non-sticky bonus where you would want to use low stakes to really grind out the bonus for the least risk you can afford to be a bit more aggressive right off the bat with a sticky bonus because you need to try and make it worth your time as you could still end up with nothing at the end of it. Spending many hours grinding out the action for the sticky bonus at minimal stakes is daft if you're then going to ramp up the stakes and start taking riskier shots at winning cash. Why not risk a bit more earlier on and get through that wagering requirement earlier?

These EZ bonuses are odd, and harsh. They don't restrict what games you can play or when you can withdraw. That said, games like blackjack count only 2% towards your wagering requirements so a 30x WR suddenly becomes the equivalent of a 1500x WR. And withdrawing cash at any time resets your bonus balance to zero so you'd lose that. But as the bonuses are quite generous a potential strategy may be to play these aggressively hoping to double or triple your original deposit and then withdraw your cash forfeiting any bonus cash. I'm not sure about this yet though, I need to look into it a bit more.

I am also working on blackjack staking plans - the one thing no-one in the BJ world seems to have addressed for situations where you're not counting cards. Is it best to flat bet throughout the wagering requirement period? Should you use some form of progressive staking plan to get through the WR quicker? Everything I have read says to use basic strategy (obviously) but doesn't tell you how best to stake the bets. The best staking plan may vary dependent on the bonus terms and conditions too. For a non-sticky bonus you want minimal risk and to get into the long term so low stakes whereas sticky bonuses (and maybe the EZ bonuses too) need a more aggressive staking plan.

[mathare]

There is a website that tells you how to play the specific software on some sites out there. It also includes reviews. I think you can find it with a quick google. an online blackjack guide. :)There are loads of such sites about but not much in the way of the best approaches to husting specific bonuses. I know of two online backjack sites that claim to cover it (including one by Arnold Snyder who wrote the book I read) but the info there isn't great.

If I decide to have a crack at this I will try and keep a diary on here and let every one know where I have signed up, how I plan to meet the WR and how I have done with the bonus.

[roma]

I do increase my stakes sometimes. Say I would be comfortable playing at £4, then I will start at £1, keep track of my high, and any time I am £15 down from my high I increase to £2. If I get within £5 of my high I go back to £1. If I go down another £20 (ie total £35 down from high) I increase to £4. Again if I get back within £5 of my high I go back to £1, but if I go down I would just stay at £4 forever, or until a good run sometime in the future takes me back to my high. This is particularly good in the casinos that offer monthly bonuses where you know you will come back month after month (until they change the rules!)

[tacker]

Im not sure about casino offers but bonuswhore list poker bonus offers

[mathare]

These EZ bonuses are odd, and harsh. They don't restrict what games you can play or when you can withdraw. That said, games like blackjack count only 2% towards your wagering requirements so a 30x WR suddenly becomes the equivalent of a 1500x WR. And withdrawing cash at any time resets your bonus balance to zero so you'd lose that. But as the bonuses are quite generous a potential strategy may be to play these aggressively hoping to double or triple your original deposit and then withdraw your cash forfeiting any bonus cash. I'm not sure about this yet though, I need to look into it a bit more.I have run my strategy past a few people and they seem to think it holds water and makes sense, which is nice to hear. These EZ bonuses seem to be all over the place now, certainly in casinos that are not UK-based or aiming themselves primarily at the UK market, so it makes sense to know how to get the best out of the bonus. And that seems to be aggressive staking.

The EZ bonuses are usually quite generous, 200% or 300% of your deposit. Often the deposit required is quite small too, $100 or less. This is all good news as it reduces your risk a bit. After all your max loss on this is your deposit. The bonus cash has such a massive WR for the best games that you're never actually going to cash it out so forget about it ever being yours. Instead you should be looking to win an amount roughly equal to the EV of the bonus where it a traditional non-sticky bonus with the regular WR. So for a $150 EZ bonus when you deposit $50 with a 30xB WR (BJ counts as 2%) you should be looking to make a profit of around $127.50 (the EV on the non-sticky equivalent of this bonus). So deposit $50, get a $150 bonus and use that $200 for some aggressive blackjack (staking $20 or more a hand) and when you get up to $320 or so think about cashing out. You'll lose the $150 bonus but keep the rest as a nice fast profit on your initial deposit.

These bonuses work by separating out your cash (deposit) from theirs (bonus). You play your own cash first and if you lose that then you're playing out of the bonus fund. As you work towards the WR the bonus fund will be transferred to your cash fund but you shouldn't expect to see much of that with this hit-and-run approach. Winning bets made with the cash fund get paid back into the cash fund (so if you hit a hot streak right from the start the money is all yours anyway). Winning bets made from the bonus fund (when your deposit has been spent) are paid back into the bonus account but if doing so would push the bonus balance above the amount you haven't met the WR for then the excess is transferred to your cash account. This is worth a quick example to demonstrate what it means..

Suppose you deposit $50 and they grant you a $150 EZ bonus. You have a $200 bankroll and start betting at $25 a hand. You lose the first two and hence your deposit is gone so bets are now coming out the bonus fund. You bet out at $25 again and get a natural so you get 3/2 on that. Your returns go into the bonus fund to give $187.50 in there but because you have met the WR for all but $150 of the bonus (the starting amount) you get the $37.50 transferred into your cash account.

I have yet to play an EZ bonus casino yet so all the above is just theory at this stage but I am confident it will work. As I start to hit these casinos I will let you know via my blog how this strategy works out.