The Worst Bonus Promotion in Bodog History

Bodog gave me a $21 casino bonus today for playing in their poker room. That was great of them.

However, the bonus had a 40X rollover requirement. AND, I couldn't withdraw any of it until I had played the entire $840.00 worth of hands.

Roulette, Craps, Bac don't count toward it, so don't give me any both ways advice. I already lost all of it and got through about 10% of the bonus requirement.

I tried BJ and Pai Gow, because I thought the pushes in Pai Gow would help.

Do you think 40x rollover requirement is fair?

Yea I got a casino bonus once there and the rollover was ridiculous I thought. I lost it all before getting more than a few percent in. I do not touch their casino bonuses now. They are still my site of choice, but I stick to SnG poker and their sportsbook.

Fair? Sure, it's free money. They didn't have to give you anything. If you were going to gamble anyway, it doesn't matter what the rollover is.

Worth it? Barely. At 2.5% house edge, you'd actually expect to lose the same as the bonus is worth. Even playing one of their good games like pick'em poker, I would say it's not worth your time to try and clear it.

Conclusion: *shrug*

My point is: If you're going to make it 40x, why bother even giving it. At least make it 10x, and give the player a chance.

40x Bonus playthrough is pretty normal for the market at this point in time.
But if it is free then thats cool imo. :)

Varies from casino to casino.
Some are 30xB others are 20xB.
Some have better games to clear the bonus others don't.

Quote: dwheatley

Fair? Sure, it's free money. They didn't have to give you anything. If you were going to gamble anyway, it doesn't matter what the rollover is.

Worth it? Barely. At 2.5% house edge, you'd actually expect to lose the same as the bonus is worth. Even playing one of their good games like pick'em poker, I would say it's not worth your time to try and clear it.

So long as they give you the bonus up front, 40x2.5% has expected value, given that the non-zero risk of ruin means that in practice your WR is going to be significantly less than 40x.

Of course for $20, meh.

Quote: FinsRule

Bodog gave me a $21 casino bonus today for playing in their poker room. That was great of them.

However, the bonus had a 40X rollover requirement. AND, I couldn't withdraw any of it until I had played the entire $840.00 worth of hands.

Roulette, Craps, Bac don't count toward it, so don't give me any both ways advice. I already lost all of it and got through about 10% of the bonus requirement.

I tried BJ and Pai Gow, because I thought the pushes in Pai Gow would help.

Do you think 40x rollover requirement is fair?

$21 is quite low to play with. The only idea I would have would be to find the table with the lowest limit, lowest house edge, and closest to 50/50 chance per hand and martingale it to death. but it only gives you 3-4 levels of martingale.

If a bonus is credited up front, personally, I just punt it. If I turn it into 200, then I consider wagering it (which in this case would now be at ~ 4x the total balance).

You could aim for $84 (for a 10x WR to cashout), or $420 (for a 2x WR) and so on. The higher the 'start wagering target' is set at, the better the overall value. This is because in the long run you will actually wager the required $840 less often and therefore expose less money to the house edge. The higher the target, the closer the bonus is to being worth 100%, with no limit except for any 'maximum win from a no-deposit bonus' cap that the casino may have in place. ...And they often do, so check the terms and conditions before lumping $21 on one slots spin.