There are several reasons why many people flock to online casinos in their free time. Apart from the sheer fun factor, they offer bonuses as a way to attract new players and reward returning players to their sites. These offers can range from a few free spins to extremely generous sign-up bonuses. With great bonuses everywhere, it’s hard not to want to capitalize on these offers.
And who doesn’t like a good casino bonus? The mere prospect of winning money by playing your favorite game is an attractive and alluring concept within itself. However, some players tend to take advantage of the many bonuses offered by casinos, and they do this by trying to cheat the system.
NoDepositDaily frequently advertises some of the freshest promotions available, and these are targeted by abusers. Of course, having a vast selection of offers at your disposal doesn’t mean there aren’t T&Cs to be followed.
What is Bonus Abuse Anyway?
Bonus abuse is the practice of trying to win a competitive edge over the house when playing at online casinos by creating fake accounts or using other tactics repeatedly to profit without following the rules.
There are plenty of freebies out there, and there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of them, but when you start to cross lines and break the rules, that’s when it becomes wrong.
3 Signs You’re a Bonus Abuser
Some of the ways in which players take advantage of online casino bonuses are not technically illegal but could be considered fraudulent or contrary to casino etiquette and standard ethics. If any of the following sound familiar, you may be on the path towards becoming a bonus abuser.
1. You Create Multiple Registration Accounts with Fake Identities
If you’ve ever registered as a new user at an online casino using a fake name, disposable email address, or fraudulent credit card details (whether fake or stolen) in order to take advantage of an online casino bonus, you are likely a bonus abuser.
Because these sites deal with banking information and monetary transactions, usually overseas, adding fake details of any kind is not only a sign you’re an abuser but, in most cases, against the law, possibly in more than one country.
2. You Fail to Meet Betting Requirements
Wagering requirements are there for a reason generally to protect the casino from fraud with bonus money given in good faith.
If you’re calculating the odds to find the best way to satisfy the wagering requirements, then congratulations! You’re just a competitive player. There’s nothing against the rules saying you can’t do your own math to find the best odds to play.
If, however, you look to exploit software loops or glitches to satisfy wagering requirements, then you’re again crossing over into bad territory. If caught, the chances are that written in the terms and conditions of the casino is a forfeiture clause that will negate any bonus or winnings. Depending upon if a hack or exploit was abused maliciously, you also may be banned from the casino or simply blacklisted from their network as well.
3. You Engage in Dishonest Betting
In order to quickly hit wagering requirements, some players will simply make the largest bets possible. Also known as big bet bonus abuse, this completely misses the point of the bonus and can also surpass the limits set on betting, resulting in players being banned from a casino.
There’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of online casino bonuses — that’s what they are there for and exist to encourage players to try out new sites and new games. As long as you are using your own legal name and information and not
How Online Casinos Combat Bonus Abuse
In the early days of online gambling, casino operators offered much more lucrative bonuses with much lower betting requirements. Unfortunately, this practice led to rampant bonus fraud and significant losses for online casinos.
Casino operators have gotten wise to these techniques and have increased the complexity of the bonus rules and T&Cs. They’ve also lowered the payout amount on many bonuses to protect themselves from losing money so quickly.
As both players and operators continue to improve their methods for fraud and fraud prevention, online casinos have instituted more high-tech safeguards to prevent the malicious manipulation of their casino games.
- Track users’ IP addresses – Players connecting from suspicious IP addresses, proxies, blacklisted IPs, or even VPN usage could raise a red flag.
- Ban bonuses in certain countries – Risky locations that are known for bonus hunting will sometimes be blocked from obtaining any kind of casino bonus.
- Banking deposit limitations
With so many legitimate ways to win and hundreds of online casinos competing for your business, it’s more trouble than it’s worth to try and abuse the bonus system.
Avoid Becoming a Bonus Abuser
If you think you may have started down the road of bonus abuse, it’s time to take a step back and think about what you’re doing. Many times, abusing casino bonuses is simply addictive behavior rather than greed or criminal intent, signaling you may have a gambling problem.
Playing with casino bonuses can be fun and lucrative as long as you’re smart about it and not abusing the medium. Make sure you’re taking advantage of bonuses at multiple casinos, thoroughly reading the terms and conditions, and that you’re actually playing to have fun.
