StrikeSapphire: New cashback program. Up to 18% back on play.

[ssaCEO]

Folks, based on conversations I've had in gambling forums and conferences, I'm pretty sure we are the first casino to ever offer anything like this -- whether Bitcoin, fiat, or brick & mortar.

Last month, we were the first Bitcoin casino to give a no-deposit bonus of 10%. I will be honest about this - I did it at the urging of people in the gaming industry, who thought it would be a great way to get new people into the currency and bring new players to the site who otherwise might have ignored it because it was only in Bitcoin. That was, in my estimation, a failure. We have had an enormously high ratio of duplicate account fraud and other shady stuff centered on it since then, to the point that we are now requiring ID and proof of residency from people who use that bonus and want to withdraw before clearing it. Of players who've taken the bonus, about 3% have gone on to deposit and play. What this tells me is that there's already a slave-based farming industry centered around trying to retrieve a few mBTC at a time.

I don't want to support that shit, and I know you don't either.

The new idea is different, and is designed to counteract what happened with the no-deposit bonus. We are no longer interested in distributing free mBTC to scammers, grinders and people who have nothing else to do all day and no other way to make money. We are effectively telling them to fuck off. You, the loyal player who just wants a fair game of roulette or blackjack or poker, should be king, and there's no fucking reason to hand your money back to someone else. We should be handing it back to you. To wit: The new bonus increases with player loyalty, and depends completely on how much you deposit and how much you play. It is the direct opposite of a no-deposit bonus. And the way it's designed is generous enough to make our players 99.95% equals to the house over the long run.

For people in the highest class of deposits and playthrough, this bonus goes up to 18% cash back on losses which negates 95% of the house edge. We think that's pretty generous, and we're not aware of any other casino that does it.

So, real gamblers take heart; others be afraid (and get better at making fake IDs) -- StrikeSapphire wants to reward our best players, and now's the time to take us up on it.

[1715309651]

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[1715309651]

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[ssaCEO]

Oh. I got carried away and forgot to mention how to get the cashback 

On the site, go to Rewards > Sapphire Cashback up in the menu bar, and you can see how much you can get back on your last deposit!

[kjlimo]

Bummer, I hope my signature didn't bring you scammers.

Also, my buddy was going to be traveling to Dubai and was gonna try it out, haha.  I'll let him know the site has been updated.

Good luck!

[01BTC10]

Back in 2005-06 I've made a couple thousand bucks abusing first deposit bonus playing BlackJack. Since then most online casino upped their minimum hands requirement making the expected return negative. I'm banned at most major casino network.

Advantage player for the win!

Lucky you I did not try taking advantage of your casino since I don't care about small bonus or if I don't have an edge. 

[ssaCEO]

Back in 2005-06 I've made a couple thousand bucks abusing first deposit bonus playing BlackJack. Since then most online casino upped their minimum hands requirement making the expected return negative. I'm banned at most major casino network.

Advantage player for the win!

Lucky you I did not try taking advantage of your casino since I don't care about small bonus or if I don't have an edge. 

It's pretty hard to find an EV+ situation in a casino, and that casino won't be in business long since it's the house edge that lets us run the games. But plenty of players try, and cruise from one place to the next looking for a loophole or a way to usurp a bonus to give them an edge over the house.

In this case, the 99.5% or higher RTP that results from the cashback over time is about as good as it gets if you're looking to gamble your own money for a win with as little working against you as possible. If you're looking to grind a bonus so your own money's never on the line, then no, it's not for you. If you want to earn money that way, you're probably better off clipping your coupons and shopping at Target.

[01BTC10]

In 2005-06 it was common for casino to give +EV bonus.

One exemple with PartyCasino:

- 100% first deposit bonus up to $200
- 5000 bets to unlock
- BlackJack count toward unlocking bonus
- House edge of BlackJack using perfect strategy ~0.5% Source: http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/calculator/

Using $1 bet to minimize variance.

$1 * 5000 hands = $5000 total bets
$5000 * 0.5% = $25 average loss against the house.
$200 deposit bonus less $25 loss = $175

It was common to play several hundred hands per hour on a good casino software. Let's say 250 hands per hour to be conservative. Sometimes I was averaging 400+

5000/250 = 20 hours. $175/20h = $8.75/h profit. Not bad for clicking buttons. Most of the time I was averaging $20/h sometimes up to $50/h.

It's possible to bet higher amount or multiple hands to maximise profit per hour but variance and risk of ruin get higher as well. Dozen of reputed casino (888, Microgaming, Playtech, Betfair, Cryptologic, etc.) where offering deposit bonus between $50-$500 and only once they refused to pay. But I have to agree those bonus are now long gone and the only one still around are a waste of time.
 
Good luck with your casino anyway maths are on your side  

[ssaCEO]

I mean, the problem is obvious. I want to offer bonuses with real meat - and I think a loyalty based (after-play) bonus is better in that respect than a deposit bonus in most cases.

The problem with running an EV+ deposit bonus is the same problem with Groupon. The only people who show up are looking for a bargain and are not return customers. Or worse, they just bot the bonus and leave. It seems contradictory, but the retention rate on new players we've seen from our attempts at EV+ deposit bonuses has been very, very low. The retention rate on all other players who never take a bonus is much higher. In general there are some players who like to gamble and will take an edge if they're offered one, of course; and other players who show up for the freebies and leave.

Ultimately, a casino can't survive on bonus grinders and bots; but worse than that, I started to get angry that grinders were basically vacuuming up the same margin that we really wanted to give back to regular players, who are the people we would obviously prefer to reward. So based on the play pattern you're describing, what you're telling me is great news, which is that we've finally got a formula where guys who only play when there's no risk involved aren't interested in our casino, and we can give more back to loyal players.

It's the same with a bar, you don't give away free drinks to new customers. You give them to regular customers. Casinos are in business to make money. Free money with no risk only comes from the government (and it comes out of everyone's pocket anyway).

[01BTC10]

I completely agree with your side of the business 

Cashback is great for people who really wants to play anyway.