Unplayable Bonuses - Read the Terms to Avoid Them

When it comes to hunting for a beatable Online Casino Bonus, as we all know, there are a seemingly infinite number of different casinos and Bonuses out there to sort through and the process is not always easy. In order to streamline that process, however, one of the most efficient things that a player can do before even bothering to break out the calculator is to visit the Bonus section of the Terms & Conditions for a particular casino. While this list might contain some entries for which a Bonus could still theoretically be beatable, I would certainly be hesitant to try and would only do so after running out of Casinos that offer more favorable Bonus Terms.

In order to help LCBers make this process more efficient, I would now like to provide a list of some of the Terms and Conditions that, if applicable, should push a given casino to the bottom of your list or remove it from your list entirely.

Blanket Prohibitions Against, 'Advantage,' or, 'Skilled,' Play:

I cannot emphasize this one enough: There are some casinos out there that simply state that they disallow Advantage Play, or use some other verbiage to the same effect, and state that the employ of Advantage Play will result in forfeiture of your Bonus and of any winnings coming as a result of the Bonus.

The biggest problem for a player who is subject to this particular Term is that, 'Playing with an Advantage,' can literally mean anything and since, 'All management decisions are final,' (they already have your money, right?) you are subject to whatever their interpretation of, 'Playing with an Advantage,' happens to be that day. The other problem with this general prohibition is thaat it gives the casino the ability to offer what would otherwise seem to be lucrative Promotions for which many ways to beat such Promotion can seem pretty obvious. These Promotions might even include comparatively low Wagering Requirements compared to what you might be used to from other casinos, so the offer itself initially seems attractive.

Such a Term basically equates to laziness on the part of the casino, in my opinion. Rather than using their brains to come up with a Bonus that looks very liberal, draws people in, but is essentially not beatable, (or not beatable for very large amounts) the Casino would prefer just to toss out a half thought out Bonus but put the onus upon you, the player, not to risk playing the Bonus well.

Even if the casino would be willing to give the player's side of the story even a modicum of a chance to be heard, short of flat-betting at Slots, Keno or Pull Tabs, how is the player explicitly going to prove he or she was not playing in a skillful manner? In any case, the whole blanket provision is nonsense and I would recommend that players except for Slot and Keno players avoid such casinos, and quite frankly, would prefer if they avoided such casinos too because then they would be losing their money to casinos that actually do offer beatable opportunities and those casinos would have plenty of money to pay the Advantage Players!

Non-Specific Provisions Against Bet Structuring

There are also some Online Casinos that will make provisions against, 'Bet Structuring,' without first defining Bet Structuring and/or without establishing confines within which the player can bet. Naturally, I think such a provision is a load of crap because if I do anything except for flat-bet the game, or games, that I would be playing, then I could be accused of structuring my bets. Granted, there are Promotions that can be beaten with flat-betting, and believe it or not, there are also Promotions in which flat-betting is the best way to beat it, but most Promotions require some sort of bet structuring at some stage of the game. For example, taking an early long-shot bet and putting a substantial amount of the total bankroll on it and then, "Grinding out," the playthrough.

In fairness, when it comes to completing the playthrough, the decision of whether or not to grind it out is not going to adversely impact the Expected Value of the Promotion once you have reached that point. Video Poker with an RTP of 99.54% has that RTP whether you are betting $500 a hand or $5 a hand, just as an example, but I have a tendency to enjoy grinding out my wins and holding on to profits after I have successfully made my long-shot bet.

I certainly do not want to be misunderstood, here, I have no problem with a casino having a provision against Bet Structuring and then stating a certain bet range (no bet can be more than 10x your lowest bet) or having an explicit dollar range; (the most you can bet on any one play is $10) I think that Online Casinos are fully within their rights to have provisions such as that and I am fully within my rights to generally ignore those Bonuses and not play at those locations.

My problem is for Online Casinos to be able to state that a certain action is prohibited without first defining the action and then setting tangible parameters on what does or does not constitute the action. An Online Casino can theoretically accuse anything except simple flat betting constantly as bet structuring if they do not first bother to define the term.

Information Sharing

I don't like it, and I don't think that I need to explain why. It's not to say that any casinos have used this to a player's detriment necessarily, but I bet that there are at least a few LCBers out there who have accepted the Term that a casino can share your personal information if they found you have violated any of their Terms without even realizing it. This is obviously also not found in the Bonus Terms sections, generally, so make sure you read every single word of the Terms & Conditions before playing at an Online Casino. Scanning the Terms and Conditions is sufficient if all you are looking to do is determine whether or not a play could theoretically be good, but after making such a determination, you want to read every word of the Terms and Conditions before you agree to them.

Subject to Change, Implied Agreement

This is a Term that I do not particularly like, but with that said, I can understand (to an extent) why it is necessary. This term, which is almost a Universal, states that if the Terms & Conditions of a particular casino change, then a player is subject to the new Terms & Conditions either with or without notice. For this reason, if you play at a particular Online Casino regularly, you do not want to simply assume that everything is going to be exactly the same. The best advice I can give with respect to this is to read the Terms & Conditions again, in full, prior to each deposit that you make into the casino.

Violation and Conclusion

The thing about Terms & Conditions that needs to be understood, and that bears repeating as often as possible, is that a player AGREES to be subject to the T&C's for any Online Casino upon which the player plays. In some cases, the Terms themselves may not be particularly fair, (in my opinion) but the agreement itself is. Violating Terms can result in forfeitures of Bonuses, winnings from Bonuses, and even forfeiture of the Deposit, in some cases.

Even if you did not forfeit the Deposit, you still risk essentially forfeiting it in violating the Terms by giving the Casino a free roll on your Deposit. What I mean is that, if you lose but discover that you violated one of the Terms, the casino is not going to give you a refund of the deposit you lost because you violated the Terms. As such, violating the Terms can only be a negative for you as a player.

Hopefully, this Article will help you to more quickly identify some of the Terms you should avoid in the event that you want to WIN, but if you are just a slots player looking to get lucky, then it probably doesn't matter much as long as you make sure not to bet more on a spin than is allowed.