My miserable experience with deposit bonuses

I have avoided deposit bonuses like a dreaded disease.  Well, I received a reminder this weekend of WHY I have!

I am a VIP member at a couple of casinos, each offering 200% bonuses this weekend.  So, I thought I would give it a try.  Deposit $100, get $300 in my account......with...........a $6000 play through requirement.  I played, and played, and played, working my bankroll up to $600 bucks.  Guess what, $5400 still to go on play through!  Grrrrrr!  This lead to laptop and button-hitting "fatique" which in turn led me to doing dumb bets, hence, loosing the whole bankroll.  I am just kicking myself now!

Any advice on playing bonuses?  Or should I go back to my old ways and avoid them like a scab encrusted woman?

I used to play deposit bonuses, but I could never make the playthru. I would get some really good spins,  but my luck would always run out long before the playthru was gone.  So now a days I just take my luck with my straight deposit.

Sometimes it works out for me, sometimes it does not.  Yet, I'll tell you this, if I do hit a good bonus round, and my bankroll is in a good "time to withdrawl" spot, I love not having to check the playthru to see if I can withdrawl or not. PLaytime is important to me yes, but not as important as when I want to withdrawl, being able too.

Straight deposits is all I do anymore.  Playthru's are both a pain, and almost impossible anymore.  (100x, 120x etc etc at some casinos)

                                                          PMM

Any advice on playing bonuses?  Or should I go back to my old ways and avoid them like a scab encrusted woman?
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AVOID THEM LIKE A SCAB ENCRUSTED WOMAN?? 

doc, doc, doc...

Guys Guys Guys i beg to disagree! i always get a bonus and let me tell you why when you start with a small amount you play small amounts $20 does not last long so you play 40cents a spen and lucky to win 20 on a bonus roung when you start with a larger amount i start playing at a dollar after i hit i raise it to two dollars and then five and at five dollars you go thru the play thru very quickly and can end up with a large amount! i don't play to win 100 dollars i bet that in two days when i play i play for 500 or more and sometimes i win and sometimes i lose but when i do win i win big but that's my style and you have yours.

my advice is the same as always...

always take the bonus, then...

slow and low.  start out with a small to moderate bankroll.  play low coins, it usually hits better.  build you bankroll up, don't concentrate on playthrough, concentrate on bankroll.

get your bankroll to 500.-1000. then find a slot you are comfortable with, and start increasing your bet untill you find a spot that is hitting, and stick with it. i try to stick somewhere between 2.-4. at this point a hit, then when your bankroll is increasing higher, increase your bets, but not until you have at least doubled your bankroll.

at this point, your playthrough should be dwindling down to almost nothing.

It depends a bit on what software and what you want..
If I have little to spend and I'm looking for some entertainment on a boring Sunday I usually deposit some at Vegas Regal for example, using one of their huge percentage bonuses.
I just know I'll never make the PT (but last weekend I did, miraculously!), but at least I'm not out of my cash in 10 minutes.

Microgaming bonuses I take mostly when they are offered, low playthrough and cashable, those are pretty easy to clear and if I play a session at MG I usually want to play for a while anyway.
Sometimes I lose a nice win trying to complete PT, and sometimes it works out the other way..where I would have cashed out normally, I now win even more.

But for Rival and RTG, these bonuses are often non-cashable and have high WR, or even worse, a max. cashout, so its best to avoid those if you have some cash to spend, they are only good for extending playtime...

deposit bonuses are the biggest scam ever known to mankind... its complete rubbish when they say "you have more to play with... more chance of winning big"

in all my years of gambling I have never met WR for a deposit bonus. Its the most frustrating thing... playing for hours and hours... making a few $100 profit... the asking support to find out how much you have wagered only to see them reply "you have wagered $218, you still have $4782 left to wager"... then you play for many many more hours and as soon as theres about $1000 left to wager the decline happens and leaves you empty which makes it not just annoying that you just lost X amount of cash but also that you wasted X amount of hours playing.

my best advice is to never take a deposit bonus... of course only take "no deposit" bonus's

I can't win playthroughs for my life.. have tried, i stopped a while back. So now i just think.. do i want to lose..(no bonus) or just lose a little longer..(with bonus). It's easy for me to say and do because living in Vegas the slots machines are a block away, there its money in and cashout whenever i want.
I started online gambling when i moved to Minnesota because i missed Vegas and gambling so much, but even then, i remember winning alot without bonuses and fast cash-outs compared to using bonuses thinking i had more of a chance..

...and btw drpsyce, forgive me for saying, you look very handsome in that photo, simply beautiful background as well..

I have to agree with mamrone. I start small and up my bet when I hit. I have made it through several playthroughs. My only issue has been being able to cashout my winnings. With the Casinos that have the games I enjoy playing it's like pulling teeth

it is evident that it is going to come down to software choices and skill level.  just choose one that your comfortable with so that you increase your chances to win. 

if your just looking for some extra playing time, then of course a bonus is the way to go.


the question put here was any advice on playing bonuses.  not whether or not you liked to use a bonus.  if anyone has any advice on playing a bonus, then doc would like to hear it...

Nal you always have the most excellent advice, and i have tried your way and it really works, i think others agree.

My advice is relax and think about it before you do it, whether it is neg or poss thinking, and as you say.. whatever works, otherwise it ends as frustrating as he is describing it. If you have not used a bonus and you win.. wellah cash-out, if you have used a bonus and you win.. now it's going through all that playthrough fatiguing BS to get the money, by that time you lost it!

Umm ok well my advice was evident that beginning with smaller bets then increasing them if you hit seems to be the way to get those playthroughs and use the bonuses. I'm a little offended nal but as imag has said you always have good advice

i was reading somewhere, some player would always take the bonus, deposit maybe 100 get a % from 200 to whatever not lower then 200% and would limit his time or amount he would play, logging out and coming back to it when he was on the blah no hits, certain times sometimes lasting days, but his method worked for him he was making playthroughs and cashing out, i guess that really takes disipline and also depends on needing the win quickly, he had some patience that paid off.

i have to add, he always had pending payouts at other casinos he played, so for him it kept his ball rolling...

ok heres a little something I do   

there are quite a few places that you dont have to claim a bonus right time of deposit soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I deposit play WIN BIG cash out..............or lose my depsoit then i request deposit bonus (thru code @websites w/claim bonus here pages lots of microgamings are this way) or thru live chat      and it works like a charm    ive even made playthrus this way               

sorry...i didn't say anyone specific. and it wasn't meant to offend.
some people were getting off track, and losing the point.
i don't care if my advice is good or bad or indifferent (well i do care)
but i don't care about me...know what i mean?
i just wanted to make sure doc got what he was looking for...
sometimes it gets very frustrating.  i was just trying to help.

ahhhhhhhhhh yes,  i do this quite often.  i didn't understand what you meant at first.  save the bonus for after the play, so then if you lose...its like a second chance.  i started doing this off and on a few months ago.

but if i win then i can cash out with no worries and no restrictions  if i hit the jackpot its mine!!!!!!! 

The problem with bonus playthrough is the math is REALLY against you.  Remember, successful gambling is about surving mathematical odds....all games are NUMBER games.  I am DONE with bonuses!