Monday, November 06, 2006

Monthly Report: October

(This is acutally a report for the last part of September also, specifically Sep 26- 31 Oct)

Stats:

Poker:

$1/$2: Full Ring Games: +$210.75
50c/$1: 6 Max Ring Games: +$145.95

Casino Bonuses:



Total: +$356.70

It was very difficult to determine the above figures for my poker stats for the month due to my change over from playing on the home PC to playing on my laptop. Some hand histories were not recorded, but I think that I've got it pretty much correct now. The obvious thing to notice about the stats is that my earnings from short handed play is massive at 2/3's of my full ring game play already, and the short handed play is from half the stakes and many less hands. As I mentioned in a previous post, I think I was running EXTREMELY well to make that much in such a short time, and theres no way that level of success will continue, but it does appear that I'm a profitable player at short handed.

If you take a look around the blog you will notice that I have added Bonus Swindling guides and lists for my casino affiliate program, I still have some stuff to do like adding all the hyperlinks and signing up for more affiliate account, but I'm well on my way.

Both that and poker are going to have to wait for a coupe of weeks because I've got exams coming up and I'm starting studying tomorrow, then right after I finish we are moving house, so its a jam pack few weeks ahead. Once we are settled in at the new house I'll have about 40 days till the end of the year to reach my target of $5000 which I'm still a long way off. There are also a number of mini goals to achieve before then which include finishing all the sticky bonuses, moving up to 2/4 stakes (i need to win another 100 or so to do this) and then moving from 2/4 to 3/6 (i'll need to win 1000 at 2/4 to do this) but I think if I can buckle down after exams and all, I think I can do it.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Casino Bonuses List

Below is a list of Casino Bonuses which you can do to make money. If you haven't already, you might want to read the Bonus Swindling Guide to learn how to take advantage of these bonuses to make a profit, turning "Gambling" into investing and a safe bet.

Here is the key for the list:
"Online Casino" : Bonus: (WR): (# to refer to in Casino Bonuses Played to see how I went with that bonus): Notes

Solid Bonuses

"Starluck" : $100: ($1600): (#4)

"Planetluck" : $100: ($1600): (#5)

"Private Casino " : 75Euro: (1500Euro): (#18)

"Will Hill " : $80: ($2000): (#6) + Monthly $40 Bonus

"Intercasino" : $100: ($2500): (#7) + Monthly $100 Bonus

"VIP casino " : $100: ($2500): (#17)

"Littlewoods" : 50GBP: (1250GBP): (#8) + Monthly 25GBP Bonus

"UK Betting " : 25GBP: (500GBP): (#13) + Monthly 25GBP Bonus

"Bet365" : $200: ($4000): (#1)

"Golden Palace " : $300: ($8000): (#3)

"Ladbrokes" : 50GBP: (200GBP): (#): Minimum bets of 5GBP


The next group are still very profitable bonuses, they simply carry slightly more risk, however you should have a much healthier bankroll now after completing the 'solid bonuses' above, and be ready to tackle this next group.

Good Bonuses

"Players Only Sportsbook and Casino" : $50 + $5: ($600): (#19)

"Sportingbet USA " : $50+ $5: ($600): (#15)

"Sports book" : $50+ $5: ($600)

"Casino Euro " : 111Euro: (3330Euro): (#16)

"Cherry Casino " : $111: ($6660): (#14): Large WR, still +EV

"Omni Casino" : $100: ($5000): (#): Large WR, still +EV

"Aceclub" : $100: ($6000): (#9): Large WR, still +EV

The next group are Fortune Lounge Video Poker Bonuses, that is they don't allow you to play blackjack to complete all of the WR and you must do Video Poker for the rest. Most of them allow you to play blackjack to complete 20% of the WR, and the best video poker game to clear the rest is Aces and Faces. The good thing with these bonuses is that they use microgaming software which has an auto play function. All you need to do is calculate the number of bets you need to make and enter that into the auto play tab and it will play perfect strategy for you to complete the WR.

Beware the Video Poker is VERY high variance by nature because a lot of the payouts are tied up in big hands like the royal flush that don't come round very often. You should bet the minimum amount possible for the amount of the bet, however the number of coins you wish to play is up to you. If you want the greatest opportunity of making a profit you should choose to play only one coin, but if you want to gamble a bit then you should play 5 coins because if you get a royal flush at 5 coins you will get an extra large payout. You'll need to check the Terms and Conditions of the particular casino's to determine the WR's.

"Fortune Room Online Casino" : $50: (check T&C): (#25)

"Vegas Palms" : $200: (check T&C): (#31)

"Platinum Play Casino" : 100GBP: (check T&C): (#30)

"Vegas Towers Casino" : $50: (check T&C): (#29)

"Desert Dollar Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#28)

"7 Sultans Online Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#27)

"Royal Vegas" : $100: (check T&C): (#26)

"Vegas Villa" : $300: (check T&C): (#)

This next group is what I like to call 'Semi Stickies,' which you won't understand until you know what a Sticky Bonus is, and that comes later, so just bear with me. By now you would have realised that you can make quite an impressive hourly rate by doing these bonuses. The next group of bonuses however, have rather high WR's which will result in a much lowever hourly rate, although they are still EV. To combat this, I like to play them as Semi Stickies where you make a gamble and bet big, around 1/4 of the combined total of the bonus and deposit, and try and hit an aggressive target, then drop back to smaller bets to clear the WR. That way, you will either bust out of the bonus entirely or hit your target and hence make a higher than expected profit. In the long run, it will lead to you making the EV and having a better Hourly rate as well.

The target that you set for yourself is up to you. It should be large enough that when you make smaller bets to clear it, you will still maintain a solid hourly rate. To determine this you need to know how many bets you can make per hour (info that you should easily be able to calculate if you've been keeping good records in excel). The target shouldn't be so large it will be unlikely that you will hit it even with your large bets. By now you should know enough about Bonus Swindling to gauge what a good target might be, if you are still a bit unsure, aim lower rather than higher. Your bet size to reach your target is again up to you, it shouldn't be higher than 1/2 of the combined total of your bonus + deposit, and more ideally no bigger than 1/4.

The other way you can play these bonuses to to simply make larger than normal bets, but still not huge. You still set a large target to stop at if you reach it, but you don't aim to hit it. If your normal bet size is 2- 5 dollars, you might make 10-20 dollar bets to clear a high WR, where as if you were using the method above you might make 25-50 dollar bets.

You may also want to use some variant of the two above methods, or another strategy of your own, or simply play them like normal cashable bonuses which will simply mean a lower hourly rate, its all up to you. At this point in your Bonus Swindling career you should have enough knowledge and experience to make these decisions for yourself.

"Casino on Net" : $200: ($10 000): (#)

"Sports Interaction" : $125: ($4500): (#)

"Sands of the Caribbean" : $50: ($1250): (#)

"Pharohs Casino" : $30: ($1500): (#)

"Window's Casino " : $150: ($10500): (#10)

"Gold Key" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Betsson" : $30: ($750): (#)

"Bet Royal" : $200: ($14000): (#): Doesn't allow Australian Players

"32 Red" : $50: ($1500): (#): Monthly bonus, must get an email from support offering the bonus

The next group, below, are known as Sticky bonuses. This means that the casino will give you a bonus but they won't let you withdraw it, they will simply subtract the amount of the bonus from your balance when you withdraw. However you can still win money using the bonus, and you can withdraw those winnings, which means Sticky bonuses can still be profitable. The way we play sticky bonuses is similar to how we play the Semi Stickies from above. First you set yourself a target, then make large bets around 1/4 of your table bankroll (bonus + deposit) to try and reach a bonus a target of approximately 2 * (bonus + Deposit)- this can also vary with the size of the WR and the desired profit you wish to make.

Sticky Bonuses, like semi stickes but even more so, will attract greater variance that the cashable bonuses we first tried, due to the large bets we must make to reach the targets, however your bankroll's should be much healthier now and able to absorb that variance. Remember to always check the terms and conditions before attempting bonuses.


"USA Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Joyland Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Carnival Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#): Video Poker only to clear WR

"Swiss Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Casino King" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Casino Las Vegas" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

"Magic Box Casino" : $115: (check T&C): (#)

"Palace of Chance" : Unlimited: (check T&C): (#)

"Playgate" : $200: (check T&C): (#): Video Poker only to clear WR

"Acropolis" : $100: (check T&C): (#): +$50 Monthly Sticky Bonus

"Europa" : $100: (check T&C): (#): +$100 Montly Sticky Bonus

"Casino del Rio" : $50: (check T&C): (#): +$50 Monthly Sticky Bonus

The following are also sticky bonuses but they are of a special kind, where after you withdraw your winnings the bonus remains in your account for you to continue playing (and possibly winning) with. Therefore with a bit of luck, you can make a lot of money with these stickies.

"Casino Fortune" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"GoldGate Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Mapau Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Miami Beach Casino" : $100: (check T&C): (#)

These next few bonuses could also come under the 'Good Bonus,' or 'Semi Stickies' categories, but they require a bigger bankroll so I've decided to put them down here for when you have a bigger bankroll.

"Nine Casino" : $300: ($12000): (#): Bonus added AFTER WR completed

"Bet Direct" : 100GBP: (5000GBP): (#): Bonus added AFTER WR completed

"Club On the Park" : 100GBP: (4000GBP): (#): Bonus added AFTER WR completed

The following is another group of Video Poker Bonuses, however the software of these has no autoplay function, therefore they must be cleared manually. Remember again from the last lot of Vid Poker Bonuses, that they are very high variance, and it will also take longer to clear the WR than blackjack because the playing of the hands will take longer. You may want to play them like Semi stickies to increase your hourly rate. You can find the strategy charts for Video Poker at the Wizard of Odds website. As always, remember to check the bonus Terms and Conditions before doing the bonus.

"Sterling House Online Casino" : $100: (Check T&C): (#24)

"Grand Banks Casino" : $275: (Check T&C): (#)

"Black Widow Casino" : $200: (Check T&C): (#)

"Casino Onliner" : Unlimited: (Check T&C): (#)

"Monacco Gold" : $200: ($12000): (#)

The next few bonuses are those that are still +EV but the WR are so atronomically high that they are almost not worth it, however they would be great for an all out gamble.

"Cowboy Casino" : $200: ($30000): (#): Requires large deposit of $1000

"Casino Room" : $100: ($14000): (#)

Other Bonuses

The following group are from the same Casino Group as Golden Palace Casino which was in the 'Solid Bonus' category. This Casino group claims that you can only get one the bonus at one of their casino and that was true for me, but some people mentioned on the Blackjack Info forums that they were able to get the bonus for multiple casino's in the group. So hey, theres no harm in trying, If they won't give you the bonus just withdraw your deposit again.

"Online casino" : $300: (check T&C): (#)

"Grand Online Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Flamingo Club" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"24Kt Gold Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Aspinalls" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Triple Win" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Topcard Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"SixShooter Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"StarOnline Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Grand Riviera Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Online Vegas Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Merlin's Magic Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

"Go Casino" : $200: (check T&C): (#)

Bonus Swindling Guide: Summary

This is just a short summary of The Bonus Swindling Guide, which can be found here. I suggest that you read the full guide before attempting any bonus swindling, but use this summary as a refresher. Also look to the bottom where I have listed many profitable bonuses for you to do.

In order to attract new customers to their sites, many online casino's offer cash bonuses often in the form of sign up and monthly bonuses. The casino's specify a WR (wagering requirement) which must be met before the bonuses and winnings can be withdrawn. The casino's beleive that these WR will result in them still making a profit from people playing with the bonus. However we can get around this by playing low risk games such as roulette, baccarat and blackjack and only giving up a small part of the bonuses to the House Edge. The casino's realise this and most don't allow you to play roulette and baccarat, but many still allow blackjack because its one of the most popular casino games, and only has a small house edge if you play the correct strategy. By playing blackjack to complete the WR we only give up a small amount (equal to the house edge * WR), and the rest is profit.

Hopefully that refreshes your memory, however if you are still hazy, go back to the guide and re-read through.

The following bonuses are my personal pick of the most profitable, and lowest risk bonuses, which I call 'Solid Bonuses.' The EV for these bonus is around the $1100 mark, and if you feel that you only want to dip your toes into the world of Bonus Swindling, these are the group of bonuses to do. I also recommend you do them in the following order, as they are listed from least risky to most. As mentioned in the guide, you can start with as little as $100, but I recommend starting with between 300 and 500 (or more of course if you have it).

Here is the key for the list: "Online Casino" : Bonus: (WR): (# to refer to in Casino Bonuses Played to see how I went with that bonus): Notes

"Starluck" : $100: ($1600): (#4)

"Planetluck" : $100: ($1600): (#5)

"Private Casino" : 75Euro: (1500Euro): (#18)

"Will Hill" : $80: ($2000): (#6) + Monthly $40 Bonus

"Intercasino" : $100: ($2500): (#7) + Monthly $100 Bonus

"VIP Casino" : $100: ($2500): (#17)

"Littlewoods" : 50GBP: (1250GBP): (#8) + Monthly 25GBP Bonus

"UK Betting" : 25GBP: (500GBP): (#13) + Monthly 25GBP Bonus

"Bet 365" : $200: ($4000): (#1)

"Golden Palace" : $300: ($8000): (#3)

"Ladbrokes" : 50GBP: (200GBP): (#): Minimum bets of 5GBP

I strongly recommend you look at the # next to each bonus and refer to that number in my Casino Bonuses Played thread to see how I went with that particular bonus. What I think I did right, did wrong, what do avoid, what to look out for etc. it should be a valuable resource.

Things to remember:

1) Always bet the mimimum (while starting out anyway)
2) ALWAYS check the terms and conditions before downloading the software, and depositing. Even the ones above may have changed since I last looked.
3) NEVER NEVER increase your bets to chase losses, keep to the same bet, if you go on a losing streak, thats just bad luck, you'll win it back next time
4) Always deposit for the maximum bonus, this shouldn't be a problem if you stick to the bonuses above in that order and start out with the appropriate bankroll, but will become more relevant as you move on to bigger and better bonuses
5) Always stick to Basic Strategy, remember the relevant guides can be found at blackjack info here.
6) Keep accurate records, both of how much of the WR you have completed of a particular bonus (i prefer pen and paper for this), but also of your entire Bonus Swindling career, I use excel, which allows me to do graphs and calculations to show my progress
7) It will be a grind for the most part, but it's great money. Do things to entertain yourself, I like listening to music while I do bonuses
8) Enjoy your money!