StrikeSapphire - Another 10 BTC to the top winner this Weekend!

[ssaCEO]

5 BTC?
Make that 10 BTC EVERY WEEKEND to the top player on our leaderboard at https://strikesapphire.com/blog


It's not easy running a casino for crypto-anarchists, okay? It's like inviting the Mexican guys from the kitchen home for carnitas and beer after work at your apartment. They eat it, maybe they even like it, but they're like, "what do you know about cooking, boy?"

Nothing. I don't know shit about cooking, and almost less about cryptography. I got berated by a girl in 7th grade when I told her I was an anarchist. She was a smokin black chick from south central with an IQ of like 180, and it was right after the LA riots. I thought I was a little anarchist because I ran a WWIV website with a buncha warez. She basically tore my fucking knees out while explaining what anarchy looks like while they're looting your house. It took me almost a decade to even say the word again.

Still, I'm a rebel, of the tear-the-heads-off-parking-meters variety. Or at least I have an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. I once fired a potato at 250mph from a home-built cannon and took out the first speed camera in LA. I was 17. But I digress.

Here's something new from the small but devoted crew at StrikeSapphire.com, who've unwittingly put our lives and souls into building up the Bitcoin gaming community: We're giving away 5 BTC every weekend, rain or shine, to the top overall winner in our games for the weekend. We've built a new leaderboard here just for this purpose. The contest starts every weekend at 00:00 GMT Thursday, and ends 00:00 on Monday. Payouts are made Monday during the day, by hand in case it's a close race.

5 Bitcoins, ppl... we're not fuckin around. We're your guys, and we're spreading the word to gamblers, far and wide who are still waiting months on Moneybookers and Visa/Mastercard transactions. Come and support us!

[1713903066]

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[Stephen Gornick]

I have an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. I once fired a potato at 250mph from a home-built cannon and took out the first speed camera in LA. I was 17.

And now the cameras have been turned off.  Who knew the way to beat an unjust system was to simply ignore it as if it didn't even exist.  [About a year ago the cameras were turned off because there were nearly 200,000 tickets that went unpaid which caused the scheme to become unprofitable to operate.]

And Glendale just turned theirs off also:
 - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/glendale-gives-up-on-red-light-cameras-wont-enforce-tickets.html

[ssaCEO]

I have an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. I once fired a potato at 250mph from a home-built cannon and took out the first speed camera in LA. I was 17.

And now the cameras have been turned off.  Who knew the way to beat an unjust system was to simply ignore it as if it didn't even exist.  [About a year ago the cameras were turned off because there were nearly 200,000 tickets that went unpaid which caused the scheme to become unprofitable to operate.]

And Glendale just turned theirs off also:
 - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/glendale-gives-up-on-red-light-cameras-wont-enforce-tickets.html

That. Is. Fucking. AWESOME.

I had no idea. Maybe it's time to consider moving back from France?

If only they'd legalize unpasteurized dairy products and pull the fucking fluoride out of the water supply...

[FreeMoney]

I have an anti-authoritarian streak a mile wide. I once fired a potato at 250mph from a home-built cannon and took out the first speed camera in LA. I was 17.

And now the cameras have been turned off.  Who knew the way to beat an unjust system was to simply ignore it as if it didn't even exist.  [About a year ago the cameras were turned off because there were nearly 200,000 tickets that went unpaid which caused the scheme to become unprofitable to operate.]

And Glendale just turned theirs off also:
 - http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/03/glendale-gives-up-on-red-light-cameras-wont-enforce-tickets.html

wtg LA, ignore this bitch to the ground.

They get a lot done by leveraging implied violence.

[foggyb]

If only they'd legalize unpasteurized dairy products and pull the fucking fluoride out of the water supply...

The city of Calgary, Alberta has pulled the fluoride from their water supply....Canada's a decent place to live. But don't expect free health care - the system's broke. Private clinics are popping up all over.

[ssaCEO]

Quick note - tonight's freerolls at 9pm and 11pm will be for $6 each instead of the usual $3 

[ssaCEO]

Our second All-Casino 5 BTC Weekend is underway...

(S)he who wins the most casino-wide from now through Sunday also wins the 5 Bitcoin prize.

Follow the leaderboard on our blog.

Freerolls have been moved back to 7pm ($1), 8pm ($3), 10pm ($3) and 11pm ($1) GMT, and the $3 freerolls have been expanded to two tables. See you there!

[ssaCEO]

Congrats to Dooglus on winning the second 5 Bitcoin tournament!

Just a quick note - we're putting the weekend tourney on pause for Easter weekend, and picking up the next week. Thanks to all our new players and fans!

[ssaCEO]

After a short hiatus, we're back this weekend with a whole new casino-wide tournament, and another 5 BTC prize will be awarded to the top winner between Thursday and Sunday!

Winnings that count towards the grand prize, as always, include whatever you get from our poker freerolls, plus whatever you win at our Bitcoin Roulette tables, Blackjack and any other game in the house!

Follow the leaderboard on our blog.

[ssaCEO]

Congratulations to player Dooglus who just won our 4th weekend, 5 Bitcoin tournament prize, on a combination of freeroll poker, blackjack and willpower!!! We'll be back with more...

[dooglus]

Congratulations to player Dooglus who just won our 4th weekend, 5 Bitcoin tournament prize, on a combination of freeroll poker, blackjack and willpower!!! We'll be back with more...

I won the 5th weekend tournament too, and am currently winning the 6th.

I seriously need some competition here; if I win it many more times I think I'm going to be asked to leave!

Here's my referral link: https://strikesapphire.com/?afc=NG3Vhagxta - it doesn't cost you anything extra to use it, and gets me an extra $20 if you make a deposit.  I'm not sure how that works.  Like what if you deposit $5.  Do I still get $20?  Seems like that would be too costly for the casino.  Since nobody ever clicks on my referral link I guess it doesn't make any difference.

[dooglus]

Congratulations to player Dooglus who just won our 4th weekend, 5 Bitcoin tournament prize, on a combination of freeroll poker, blackjack and willpower!!! We'll be back with more...

I won the 5th weekend tournament too, and am currently winning the 6th.

I seriously need some competition here; if I win it many more times I think I'm going to be asked to leave!

Never mind.  A run of bad luck fixed that for me.

Here's my referral link: https://strikesapphire.com/?afc=NG3Vhagxta - it doesn't cost you anything extra to use it, and gets me an extra $20 if you make a deposit.  I'm not sure how that works.  Like what if you deposit $5.  Do I still get $20?  Seems like that would be too costly for the casino.  Since nobody ever clicks on my referral link I guess it doesn't make any difference.

It turns out I get the same amount as your first deposit, up to $20.  And then I have to bet it 30 times over before I can withdraw it.

[ssaCEO]

It turns out I get the same amount as your first deposit, up to $20.  And then I have to bet it 30 times over before I can withdraw it.

That's true. The upshot is that we have rolling wagering requirements, and unlike most casinos we don't require you to play through the whole thing before you're able to withdraw.

Consider it like this: The 30x requirement is a withholding against that original $20. So lets say you bet $3, your withholding goes to $19.90, and 10¢ of the bonus capital becomes available for immediate withdrawal. Now suppose you win that $3 bet and double it. You have a $23 balance, of which only $19.90 is withheld. Because the withholding only continues to go down, any winnings are withdrawable immediately, assuming you're willing to forfeit the rest of the withholding. Often once people double their bonus amount, they just forfeit the first half and walk with the winnings, which is not a bad strategy. As far as I know, we're the only online casino that allows you to withdraw your bonus winnings and a portion of the capital without clearing the whole of the actual bonus. We're basically giving you a chance to beat us with our own money, which is different from just giving out money directly.

Also to the player's advantage, in most cases we will waive any leftover wagering requirements whenever a player's account goes to zero without a withdrawal taking place. This prevents wagering requirements from counting against the next referral or bonus. What this means is your long-term odds are better if you play each referral through before the next one comes in; and it's safer not to take deposit bonuses on top of existing balances. It's important to note that this is a courtesy we extend to players and not an official policy, but it is our standard practice.

Lastly: We do have revenue-sharing plans available for large affiliates outside the normal referral channels. These contracts require a background check and access to site demographics, and pay monthly based on the affiliate's ability to drive high-value players to our site. Owner/operators of affiliate websites with good page rankings and volume traffic are invited to contact help (at) strikesapphire.com for more information.

[dooglus]

[...] in most cases we will waive any leftover wagering requirements whenever a player's account goes to zero without a withdrawal taking place

The terms of service (https://strikesapphire.com/tos.html) puts it like this:

Should a player lose her entire deposit and associated bonus, the casino will generally waive any left over wagering requirements at the player's request.

I was reading that as saying that the balance doesn't have to go to zero, just that I have to lose the deposit and bonus.  For instance, if I have $100 already, then get a $40 bonus on a $20 deposit, I have $160 total.  If I bet $10 six times and lose every bet, I've just lost $60.  That's the entire deposit and associated bonus.  My balance isn't 0, but I've lose the deposit plus bonus.  If that's not what you mean by "Should a player lose her entire deposit and associated bonus" then I think the TOS need to be clarified.

What this means is your long-term odds are better if you play each referral through before the next one comes in; and it's safer not to take deposit bonuses on top of existing balances

What happens if I'm working my way through a deposit bonus when someone deposits after signing up with my referral link?  Can I defer the bonus for their deposit until after I've finished my current bonus?  Do I have to decide right then whether I want the bonus for their deposit "now or never"?  Or does it just automatically get added on to the WR I'm currently clearing?

Thanks!

[ssaCEO]

The terms of service (https://strikesapphire.com/tos.html) puts it like this:

Should a player lose her entire deposit and associated bonus, the casino will generally waive any left over wagering requirements at the player's request.

I was reading that as saying that the balance doesn't have to go to zero, just that I have to lose the deposit and bonus.

A gratuity clearance of remaining WR is done only as a courtesy, and usually when a player wants to deposit again without facing overhanging requirements. It's intentionally a vague policy because there are a lot of edge cases here, and it depends on whether we actually want someone to deposit again. Even though we have a liberal policy about withdrawing prior to clearing a whole bonus, those wagering requirements do continue to ride on a rolling basis until a player either withdraws winnings or runs out of cash, not when one particular bonus runs out. The reason is, once you have more than one bonus it's hard to tell where the cash on one stops and the other ones begin. If you have a $40 bonus and a $20 bonus, and go down $40, which one do we charge first? Neither. The wagering requirements are the same as if you had one single $60 bonus, and if you lose both the withholding continues to stay against any other balance, because we can't clearly say whether prior winnings were made off one or the other. This goes to your question about referrals adding up. Yes, wagering requirements are cumulative. Statistically the odds are the same, but for players who take one after another we don't clear requirements whenever one bonus runs out; we clear them wholesale when the player withdraws winnings or hits null. "Entire deposit" in the case of the TOS means entire deposit. Not just the deposit associated with the bonus.

[dooglus]

This goes to your question about referrals adding up. Yes, wagering requirements are cumulative.

Right, that's as expected.  Thanks for answering.

My question was about what options I have regarding the timing of referral bonuses.  Suppose I'm just about to clear an existing bonus when someone I referred deposits.  Can I say to you "I don't want that referral bonus yet, can you hold off a week so I can clear this one?"  That would be best for me, obviously.  Alternatively (less good) can I say "I don't want that bonus at all, I'm still working on one"?

The question arises because unlike regular deposit bonuses, I have no control over when the people I refer will deposit, and so I am asking what level of other control I can have over the amount of WR I will need to clear.

Also, I see the topic has been changed to mention "2 BTC every night", but don't see any other reference to "2 BTC" or "night" anywhere in the thread.  Will there be nightly leaderboards too now?  Please say there won't, or I'll never get any sleep!

Edit: I asked in a poker table chat and was told that the 2 BTC every night refers to the $10 in freerolls that happens every night...

[ssaCEO]

We can definitely cancel out your referral bonus if you want so it isn't held against your account. If you did so straight off without gambling it, I'm inclined to say we'd give you 20% of it w/o hold, since we expect you to probably keep at least that much. As far as deferring it, we've actually never been asked. It's not policy. We might do that on a case-by-case basis, but obviously this was set up in this way for a reason which is, to put it very bluntly, we don't expect you to keep all of it every time. It's a gamble. We also want that referral to come back and play more; the number of referrals isn't really relevant... the aggregate play volume of who each affiliate refers is more important. So we're more flexible if you refer a lot of good players than if we get a lot of one-off hits who never come back. And again, if it's a case where you want to set up a serious referral program and send a lot of high-quality traffic, this all becomes irrelevant because we'll do a revenue share with you. But - short answer - no, we won't defer them unless we have an agreement to do so. And, you can always withdraw and cancel them that way, with whatever profit you've made off the capital. They don't eat into your winnings unless you lose; it's just an extra margin you get to play with until you don't want to play with it anymore.

[ssaCEO]

Our first 10 Bitcoin weekend tournament is up and running!!! Just win the most over the weekend to claim 10 BTC! Someone better give dooglus a run for his money...

Follow the leaderboard here...

[ssaCEO]

Tonight - 9:30pm GMT - $20 Guarantee, $5 buyin, and this one will probably crown the 10 BTC leaderboard winner!

[ssaCEO]

Another 10 BTC weekend prize is underway on our leaderboard... get in, get a win and take home the top spot!