"The Welcome Bonus Gimmick" - STOP GETTING BLINDLY ROBBED

[oracleongoodbye]

I've always hated these things. They're complete scams and this article sums it up perfectly. When you see a website offering you a deposit bonus, you will pretty much NEVER get your money back. It's an illusion and it gets you playing the games with close to no chance of actually cashing out.

Don't get me wrong, some people successfully beat the odds, but your chances are VERY low.

Article below quoted from the Crypto Gambling Foundation

https://cryptogambling.org/articles/welcome-bonus-gimmick/

---

Online casino bonuses come with Terms & Conditions that are not player friendly. Accepting these bonuses often leads to bettors not being able to withdraw their winnings, and in some cases having both their deposit and bonus confiscated by rogue casinos.

The average gambler, especially those unaccustomed to the online casino scene, are often not aware of some of these bogus T&C’s. Many see the welcome bonus sign and proceed to deposit funds, thinking it is all free money. Sadly, a lot of online casinos operate solely to cheat players, and do everything possible to ensure players lose.
Wagering Requirements

The most controversial welcome bonus condition set by casinos is called the wagering requirement. This is the amount set by casinos which a player has to bet before their bonus is credited into their cash balance.

Most times, when a player opts in for a bonus, they are unable to withdraw their deposits and bonus until they have made enough bets to reach the required turnover threshold set by the casino.
It is worth considering that casino games are always established to be in favour of the house. The house-edge, vig or over-round are set in a way that ensures players lose in the long-term. Even when gamblers go on winning runs, they eventually lose trying to reach the turnover limit set by the casino.
To add insult to injury, some bets are deemed ineligible for clearing turnover requirements. For example, bets made playing blackjack don’t often qualify because very good players are capable of devising strategies to minimize losses and increase their win rates.

In sports betting, the required odds are set very high by the casinos. This, coupled with the number of times a player must turn over their deposit and bonus amount ensures they lose it all. Generally casinos aren’t enamored towards winning gamblers and often ban or limit them as soon as possible.
Experienced online gamblers often say claiming welcome bonuses is too much of a hassle these days. However, there are still genuine offers that aren’t designed to cheat players.
Casinos also use this method to protect themselves from players that abuse sign-up offers. There are a few things a player can do to ascertain if a bonus is worth claiming or not, before depositing their hard-earned money into an online casino.

Look out for predatory T&C’s

• It is the player’s responsibility to always read the casino’s bonus terms and conditions. The player must make sure they fully understand all the clauses before making a deposit. If the turnover requirement is draconian, avoid the casino at all cost.
  Operating with true fairness
• Before depositing into any casino, it is very important to confirm that they are either providing provably fair gambling, or in some way or another are regulated and have a license. If they don’t have any form of fairness system in place, avoid them at all cost.
  Positive reviews and endorsements
• Players must try as much as possible to search online for reviews and feedback from other players, both positive and negative before making a deposit. This is often the best way to gauge if a casino will cheat you or not.
  Verification & jurisdiction
• Most casinos require KYC to determine if a player is eligible to use their platform. Always confirm if a casino allows players from your country. And whenever possible, confirm your identity before depositing to save yourself future hassles during the withdrawal process.

Established casinos have a brand to protect and more often than not offer bonuses with reasonable terms. However, these conditions are designed to keep players betting for extended periods and only a lucky few complete them. The only way players can protect themselves is by researching and due diligence. Always read the T&C’s before committing.

[Aengus]

Good article. Welcome bonuses may sound appealing at first, but in most times it's more or less selling a daylight robbery dream.

Keep in mind this article isn't just about the welcome bonus, but reading T&C. A lot of traditional websites have websites which "allow" them to hold your funds due to some unethical terms they tend to add in.

Be cautious people.

[omonuyak]

Good article. Welcome bonuses may sound appealing at first, but in most times it's more or less selling a daylight robbery dream.

Keep in mind this article isn't just about the welcome bonus, but reading T&C. A lot of traditional websites have websites which "allow" them to hold your funds due to some unethical terms they tend to add in.

Be cautious people.

I experience this enticement from option24 when I was gambling in what was name binary options and put in good money with the aim of making it big in option trading but i was disappointed when the odd is always high against me and I lost heavily in it.  If a company will keep on changing there terms and conditions it then means they have in mind to luck the clients money in.

[abomnibus]

The whole online casino market is scammy af.

Minimum deposits, minimum withdraws.  The minimum deposits are too high, it's a good thing it stops me from gambling and losing money 

[Dutchyyy]

I'm never using those type of bonuses because this is the way to get your money locked under turnover restrictions. People just need to read more before click on "I accept" terms.

[Tenderino]

To claim that all deposit bonuses are a scam is like claiming that all online casinos are a scam! But in reality it depends on the casino that offers the bonus. I personally have used several bonuses and they gave me a financial advantage. Of course do rogue casinos try to misuse deposit bonuses, but it is basically the player's fault if he deposits at any casino without checking it.

[actmyname]

To claim that all deposit bonuses are a scam is like claiming that all online casinos are a scam! But in reality it depends on the casino that offers the bonus. I personally have used several bonuses and they gave me a financial advantage. Of course do rogue casinos try to misuse deposit bonuses, but it is basically the player's fault if he deposits at any casino without checking it.

Most of the time, deposit bonuses are -ev for players. It's essentially trying to get you to choose something you think is a good deal but is in reality shit.There are some +ev deposit bonuses but they are a rare event as most casinos can't afford to waste that kind of money. When you see the typical online casino layout, you know that their bonuses are almost certainly horrible deals.

[MinerHQ]

The whole online casino market is scammy af.

Minimum deposits, minimum withdraws.  The minimum deposits are too high, it's a good thing it stops me from gambling and losing money 

You can't tell everyone is scamming but you need to understand one thing that they are doing the business to bring them a profit not distributing money to gamblers. So when there is a bonus means it comes with some conditions. It is our responsibility to check those terms before start using those bonus. Usually, those terms are very difficult to achieve so I never bother to check those bonus.

[Bitinity]

I dont like this kind of promo to be honest due to the high wagering requirement, but I dont think it can be consideren as scam. Players always need to read all the terms before deciding to take any bonuses or even before registering in any sites. This is why all casinos has their own terms, if players complain the terms after taking the bonuses then it is their own fault.

[Yudhisthir]

I dont like this kind of promo to be honest due to the high wagering requirement, but I dont think it can be consideren as scam. Players always need to read all the terms before deciding to take any bonuses or even before registering in any sites. This is why all casinos has their own terms, if players complain the terms after taking the bonuses then it is their own fault.

Players should abide by terms of the site but such terms too should be clearly visible.
Promo from established and proper gambling sites (talking about the crypto ones) are straightforward.
It's just the  scam and fiat sites with shady promos.

[bigmaster23]

I agree to this because lot of offering site nowadays are with welcome package etc, and that could make how caught a fish out of there ponds.

[TheUltraElite]

I agree to this because lot of offering site nowadays are with welcome package etc, and that could make how caught a fish out of there ponds.

It is a marketing method to promote the site. When the site is still young and needs to gain popularity there are many people who promote the site with the tag line - Join now and get this this bonus. Albeit those bonuses are too small and are just to get potential gamblers to get addicted to the site.

However some scam websites show very lucrative bonuses which one must be careful to judge as to whether the site is legit or not. A big welcome bonus does not mean you can win the minimum withdraw in a short while and you can cash out.

Also some idiots may deposit their money on the site and if it was a scam then obviously we all know what will happen.

[Pursuer]

this is actually a delicate matter that no matter what you do, there will always be one party that is going to regret it.

a casino can not just give money away. and the deposit bonus is exactly that. they are giving money away and when you do that, there will be a lot of people who will rush to abuse this free giveaway and bankrupt the casino. so you need to set some rules to prevent people just making a deposit, playing a game or two and going away with their money and reward for good as much as you can.

but when casinos are trying to do that, they always go overboard because a casino is not a charity, it is a business that was created to make money from people who play there and lose money. so they force people to play more and more to lose more money or have a higher chance of losing money when they play more. and players losing means casino earning more.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

I've always hated these things. They're complete scams and this article sums it up perfectly. When you see a website offering you a deposit bonus, you will pretty much NEVER get your money back. It's an illusion and it gets you playing the games with close to no chance of actually cashing out.

Don't get me wrong, some people successfully beat the odds, but your chances are VERY low.

Article below quoted from the Crypto Gambling Foundation

https://cryptogambling.org/articles/welcome-bonus-gimmick/

---

Wagering Requirements

The most controversial welcome bonus condition set by casinos is called the wagering requirement. This is the amount set by casinos which a player has to bet before their bonus is credited into their cash balance.

Most times, when a player opts in for a bonus, they are unable to withdraw their deposits and bonus until they have made enough bets to reach the required turnover threshold set by the casino.

That is surprising for me. I find it reasonable to have a wagering requirement to withdraw your bonus, but not for your deposits. I suppose this only happens in crypto casinos as I haven’t heard anything similar in fiat ones.

To claim that all deposit bonuses are a scam is like claiming that all online casinos are a scam! But in reality it depends on the casino that offers the bonus. I personally have used several bonuses and they gave me a financial advantage. Of course do rogue casinos try to misuse deposit bonuses, but it is basically the player's fault if he deposits at any casino without checking it.

This. I’ve personally benefited from deposit bonuses in the past and I regretted not having deposited more, so I could have had a bigger bonus and benefited more. It wasn’t in crypto sites, though.

...
a casino can not just give money away. and the deposit bonus is exactly that. they are giving money away and when you do that, there will be a lot of people who will rush to abuse this free giveaway and bankrupt the casino. so you need to set some rules to prevent people just making a deposit, playing a game or two and going away with their money and reward for good as much as you can.

Yes, or without playing any game. Bonuses have wagering requirements so when you free x amount of bonus it's because you have paid y amount of commissions, being y usually x multiplied n times. The thing is, when you don't have a bonus, you just pay commissions and don't get anything back.

[adaseb]

This happens with many different sites, even in the stock trading world they are services that do these "welcome bonuses".

I remember I once registered for a binary options trading site. I deposited I think $100 and was offered $100 extra, and just took the offer.

Basically after a few losing trades I decided to withdraw whichever amount I had remaining I think $70. However due to the "$100 bonus" it states that you cannot withdraw anything until you get a certain rollover amount; which was very difficult.

Ended up I think losing the entire $100. Live and learn I guess.

[valta4065]

Ahahah,

You have to be an idiot if you think you'll earn anything from those bonuses.
I've always thought that the most important features in a casino are, in order of importance:
-House edge
-Diversity of the games and possibilities
-Long term rewards

But welcome bonuses melt like snow under the sun. There is no way you'll get back anything on them just because you'll have to bet something like 20 or 50 times the amount first ^^

[bering]

for the casinos welcome bonus still be main feature to get new players but for the players itself unfortunately sometimes they didn't read the TOS carefully because they're tempting to see their balance can be double even triple although wagering requirements is very high with low chance to get our money back because basically the casinos didn't give money to the players but admitted or not welcome bonus can give profit to the casinos

[Oilacris]

This happens with many different sites, even in the stock trading world they are services that do these "welcome bonuses".

I remember I once registered for a binary options trading site. I deposited I think $100 and was offered $100 extra, and just took the offer.

Basically after a few losing trades I decided to withdraw whichever amount I had remaining I think $70. However due to the "$100 bonus" it states that you cannot withdraw anything until you get a certain rollover amount; which was very difficult.

Ended up I think losing the entire $100. Live and learn I guess.

Same experience, not on binary options but on forex trading which broker did really make some nasty promo of deposit bonus and the common mistake that we do always do is that we dont even think to read up their terms towards it and our expectations would really be broken if we decide to withdraw funds but as usual we would really need to rollover before we can able to cash-out it. Not only on gambling world but also to those kind of businesses.

[man22555]

Anyone that expects to get free money anywhere in the world is just stupid. OF COURSE there are terms & conditions about the bonus and OF COURSE they're hard to achieve.

I don't find anything scammy about this. Read before you "invest" your money and everyone will remain happy.

[amacar2]

The whole online casino market is scammy af.

Minimum deposits, minimum withdraws.  The minimum deposits are too high, it's a good thing it stops me from gambling and losing money 

I don't think so if you are playing in provably fair casino and don't take deposit bonuses or other bonuses with high wagering requirement than you can't get scammed.

Also minimum deposits is considerably low in most of the casino and fee they take on withdrawals are actually network fees not commission that will be taken by casino. Most of the fiat casino can banned you without any reasons or can ask for verification when trying to withdraw out. Also all of fiat based casino are monitored by governments or other authorities.

I always try to not take any of such bonuses with hidden and confusing terms and conditions.