If you are still thinking about getting involved in bonus hunting, then read my tips and tricks before you start. You’ll for sure need to fully understand:
- Which terms and conditions affect your decision to accept/don’t accept bonus offers
- How to choose the most suitable game and tricks to manipulate game volatility
Bonus terms & conditions to consider (from most important to least important):
Is the bonus connected to a deposit?
This is a condition which is much more important than it looks at first glance. If your bonus isn’t connected with a deposit then you can play with your real money without restrictions. If you are lucky, then you can forfeit the bonus and withdraw your win. If you are not lucky then you have a follow-up 2nd chance with the bonus.
If you have a bonus which is NOT CONNECTED TO A DEPOSIT then neither maximal bet restrictions nor game restrictions will be applied for RM play.
The biggest advantage is that you don’t need to increase your bankroll that aggressively as you don’t need any buffer for fulfilling the WR. I would recommend you to spin with 5% of your real money per round on any medium variance slot with high RTP. Withdraw when you increase your bankroll more than 7 times.
What’s really great about this type of bonus is that you statistically lose only a small part of your deposit (8-16%). Then you have the whole bonus to compensate it and make profit. That is truly a game changer – even a 25% bonus with 50x WR should be profitable in the long run under these circumstances.
After you have either lost the RM or if the bonus is connected with a deposit then follow the following advice:
Bonus size ( in %)
Bonus size determines your buffer for wagering. You lose money by spinning and you gain money when you get the bonus. If bonus is played together with deposit, then bonuses below 25% are usually not profitable. Profitability of bonuses in range 25%-90% depends on bonus size and your options for how to play them. Bonuses over 90% are usually profitable.
Bonuses over 90 % are usually (not always) profitable. The profitability of lower bonuses generally depends on the WR and other factors.
Maximal converted value
This restriction is usually applied on bonuses not connected to deposit. If you come across this rule for bonus connected to the deposit the best advice is to keep hands off. An optimal way to play this bonus can be found in my how to play no deposit bonuses section.
Maximal bet, maximal bet per line, max. double-up bet and game restrictions
The majority of casinos already know about high volatility bonus abusing. Some of them have added restrictions which prevent or limit the use of betting strategies which are too volatile:
- Maximal bet restriction prevents you to play betting strategy with extremely high volatility.
- Maximal bet per line prevents you from increasing game volatility by switching to 1 line.
- Maximal double-up bet prevents you from regulating game volatility by doubling up your win until you lose or win a really high amount.
- Game restrictions prevent you from using either the most volatile slots or table games with very high RTP (like Blackjack).
Bet and game restrictions are the most difficult part to incorporate into your strategy. You are basically looking for answers to such questions as:
“If I start with $100 and spin $5 on Starburst, what is my chance to convert the bonus? What will be the average amount which I reach when I meet WR?”
It’s a very difficult question to answer. In fact not one to ultimately answer here and now… but when CasinoGuru grows its audience we’ll look at creating an online simulator ;-).
Until then you can try to use my tables at the end of this article.
Wagering requirements
WR are still quite overrated… Maybe a relic from 15 years ago when they were a very important part of the bonus hunting landscape.With high-volatility bonus hunting WR just determine a relatively small part of your win which you’ll need to spend after you managed to hit a high win.
EXAMPLE
Imagine that your goal is to get to $3000 or more from a $100 bonus. In this case the difference in expected converted amount between 25X WR and 100X WR with 4% house edge is just $100 vs. $400 out of more than $3000. It’s considerable but not extremely important.
