A month or so ago, Ruth, aka. LeanAndMean, sent me an overall review of her April 2014 results. My posting it is a bit delayed, but the lessons learned and candid thoughts about the casinos she tried are 100% relevant.
All members of our community will be richer for reading the experiences below, but for those of you planning a deposit, you will be richer both figuratively and literally!
April Foolery – Lessons Learned
Early in April I decided that I would try to make money redeeming the great bonuses offered by the slot casinos. I don’t think I am a compulsive gambler, but boy-howdy, I sure acted like one in April of 2014. I spent many hours daily playing at several casinos. I spent many, many hours on live chat. What I learned in general is that these casinos do not want to allow you to cash out any of those bonus earnings, but it CAN be done. I sank $575 into about 6 casinos. I might have lost a lot less had I known more about the system. I offer you the lessons I learned:
1. You can not redeem a coupon unless your balance is less than $5. “What?” I said to the live chat guy. “I can’t redeem another bonus unless I am a loser?” “We don’t want you to lose, but your balance must be less than $5” Maybe I am a slow learner, but it took me several more questions to learn that I could reduce my balance to the proper amount by withdrawing. That is fine if you have several hundred in your account. But if you have 50 or less, withdrawing costs too much in the bank fees you pay for the transfer. So you just play till you lose it all if you want to try another bonus.
2. This is very important, once you have gotten to zero by withdrawing, DO NOT play any more at that casino until your withdrawal has been approved. I lost $130 at Slots of Vegas by not knowing about this.
3. Copy your live chat sessions, or email them to yourself if offered that option.
4. Before using any bonus, go to live chat and ask for the requirements for that particular bonus. The casinos do not offer any information on just what rules they have for each offer. For instance, I got an email from SlotoCash saying that, since I was such a valuable customer, They were giving me “$10 On the House, just go to the cashier and enter the code to claim your free $10”. I went first to live chat and gave them the code and asked what the requirements were for this offer. It required a 60x playthrough!! Wowzer!! 60x!! Does that sound like free money on the house? Since I have a good balance there already, I did not claim this free $10. It could have cost me my balance trying to clear the bonus.
5. While in live chat, a very important question to ask is, “Am I eligible for this bonus?” Just because a casino sends you an offer, that does not mean that you can use it. Even asking is no guarantee. I had an offer from SlotoCash for 100 free spins on Aladdin with a deposit.. Great, I went to live chat, asked all the questions, including was I eligible, got an affirmative answer, deposited $100. Entered the code, And was told I could not use it. More on this episode later.
6. There is a maximum cash out allowed with the bonus offers. for instance, I wanted to use the code “BEST500”. I went to live chat and asked the rules. I planned to deposit $100. In the list of rules was “max cashout is 10x” What does that mean?” I asked. Sylvia, in live chat, said, “It means that if you deposit $100, the most you can cash out is $1000” Whoa! All of the jackpots are more than that. If I should happen to hit a jackpot (which I never did), I can only collect $1000 of it. I wouldn’t be too happy hitting the $18,000 jackpot on Enchanted Garden and only be allowed to have $1000 of it.
7. “Sticky” money. This is a concept I am a bit unclear on. But it sounds like they will subtract from your cashout balance all the money that was given as a bonus. For instance, you get a 200% deposit bonus and clear the playthrough, they will deduct the amount of the bonus from your withdrawal. Ask a lot of questions in live chat so you know exactly what you will be able to withdraw when the time comes.
8. I must say that the live help operators are very courteous. They never make me feel like a nuisance, they are pleasant, they do seem to have the information I need, or take the time to find out for me.
9. My favorite slot is Basketbull. The music is bearable, the wild bull guy shows up a lot, and the bonus round hits often. Second favorite is Aztec Warrior. The wild Indian shows up a lot, and I like the graphics. Then take a look at Hairway to Heaven. It is really funny.
April Foolery – Individual Casino Experiences
I downloaded nine different casinos in my month of being a bonus whore. Unfortunately, I had not anticipated writing about my experiences so I did not keep notes. And I find that at this stage in my life I am “memory challenged”. But a few instances stand out, and I will detail them for you.
Slots of Vegas Experience
I started with Slots of Vegas. I deposited $30, I did well enough that I requested a withdrawal of $433. This got my balance to zero so I could use another bonus. A 500% deposit bonus seemed a sure bet to me. I deposited another $100. I noticed that their video poker has a really good payout schedule. Playing Jacks or Better and Deuces Wild, both with payout percentages close to 100%, I should have a good shot at a profit. I needed to play $60,000 to clear the bonus. After a week I still had my original $600 (deposit plus bonus). Then I got a notice from the site that my $433 withdrawal was denied. I figured I was totally screwed, because now I was in the position of claiming a 2nd bonus (the 500%), when my balance was no longer zero. I got mad and upped my bet and lost the rest of my money.
After two weeks, I decided to return to the site, I went to live help and talked to Todd. He was very nice. He erased the balance playthrough of over $10,000 that still showed. Then, using my original $30 deposit that showed as withdrawable, he gave me a 180% bonus with no playthrough. Of course I am still out all the money I made on the first deposit, the $403 that I had tried to withdraw. He claimed that the reason it was denied is that I had played some video poker. I am sure I had not. The video poker did not come until AFTER I cleared that first bonus. As soon as I made the w/d request, I deposited $100 and started my new bonus playing video poker. Had I waited a few days, no poker would have shown. But arguing about that did no good. I accept this compromise. And learned never to play on a site until a withdrawal request is confirmed.
SlotoCash Experience
My SlotoCash bonus experience was truly funny. I got an email offering me 100 free spins with deposit and only once playthru:
I was offered 100 free spins added by redeeming code 100ADDEDSPINS with my deposit. You will first play 100 spins which will be added to your balance and then you will start playing with your winnings and your deposit. 1x deposit plus freespins playthru ONLY!
Too good to be true? I went to live chat, verified that I had no pre existing playthrough and that I was eligible for this promo. I deposited $100, used the code. was told “not eligible”. Live chat said I am not in the “right class of player” to use this. Went around with her for awhile, she offered me, instead, a bonus that requires a 60x playthrough. I have learned that that is a road to zero balance. Asked to speak to a supervisor. One would not be available for 2 hours.
After 4 hours I got a supervisor. She said sorry, can’t use the 100 spins, it is for new depositors. I cut and pasted the email to show it did not say that. She spent a lot of time checking my account. Finally she said she could offer me 15 free spins. No playthrough, I said I’d take it. I asked how to use it. “It is in your account now, just go to a slot” I did, and saw nothing, she was still with me, I said “nothing shows.” She says “It should be there” So I hit “spin” once. “Nope, that deleted the dollar from my balance”. She said. “Let me check your account” A long time later she comes back and says the offer is no longer valid because I began to play, “What?”,, I say now in caps, “I played one spin because you told me it was active”. “I am very sorry”, she said, “There is nothing I can do now, but you can use the code 15freespins on your next deposit. “Next deposit!! not gonna happen” I scream in caps. “I quit”.. Logged out and have heard nothing since.
I was angry at the time, but now, when I think of it, I just laugh. The supervisor was super nice. Acted like she was really very sorry she could not help me.
And SlotoCash is still one of my favorite sites, because I like their tournaments.
Real Vegas Online Experience
On Real Vegas Online, I may actually have made a profit!! Using a promo from Keith, I signed up for 250 free spins. I goofed and made the required $25 deposit at the wrong time, so I had to deposit an extra $25, (the sites are absolutely rigid on following rules). I did the spins, came out the other end with $213.40. It required a 30x playthrough. I finished that yesterday with a balance of $269.25. This morning I requested a bank wire for $250 (the max cashout allowed with this promo code). If I actually get it, that will be the first profit I made in my April experiment.
I invested $575 total for the month, leaving me a loss of only $305.75. But just look at what I have learned!! I do think there is profit to be gained from being a bonus whore. I plan to try again with the 500% bonus if I can find one. I want to do both the video poker and the slots. But I need to look into that “sticky money” problem carefully. If they take all the bonus from my winnings, it would not be worthwhile. I would definitely try the free spins again. Good luck!
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