Strategy for ivegas.com??

[theta]

OK, casinobonuspages.com has just listed a new casino, ivegas.com. The good: it allows blackjack (as long as not single deck), it's a 100% match up to $1000, and the WR is 10x(B+D). The bad: it is sticky, and you are only allowed to wager up to 25% of your original deposit. Finally, any wagers will initially come from your cash balance rather than your bonus balance.

I'm not sure, but it seems like this all combines to make the bonus basically worthless, except as a safety net, and then only if you lose your entire deposit.

However, it seems so darned juicy that I'm hoping maybe I'm missing something. Anybody see a profitable way to play iVegas?

[WiSeIVIaN]

$250 a hand on blackjack? Whats the problem?

[theta]

Like I say, maybe I'm missing something, but yes, you could bet $250 on BJ, but if I'm reading the T&C correctly, you're not really betting your bonus $$$. So, what is the bonus buying you, but a 2nd chance if you go busto...

I mean I could go to any casino and bet $250 and if I lost, I'd be out $250. I'm looking for a way for the bonus to give me some sort of advantage. And an advantage where I have to go bust first is not exactly what I'm looking for...

Or, maybe there's a better way than the way I'm thinking of this one...

[kyleb]

It's a sticky. It has nearly the same EV as a cashable. You are getting to leverage their chips to increase your balance.

Yes, there is considerable risk. So what? Quit being a pussy.

[JPT III]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, casinobonuspages.com has just listed a new casino, ivegas.com. The good: it allows blackjack (as long as not single deck), it's a 100% match up to $1000, and the WR is 10x(B+D). The bad: it is sticky, and you are only allowed to wager up to 25% of your original deposit. Finally, any wagers will initially come from your cash balance rather than your bonus balance.

I'm not sure, but it seems like this all combines to make the bonus basically worthless, except as a safety net, and then only if you lose your entire deposit.

However, it seems so darned juicy that I'm hoping maybe I'm missing something. Anybody see a profitable way to play iVegas?

[/ QUOTE ]

So CBP has it wrong? CBP says 20x(B+D) and $500 max.

[WiSeIVIaN]

Its a reload, any idea if americans are allowed?

[mikezee]

Has anyone played at ivegas & successfully received a cashout?

[theta]

Frankly, I don't think this bonus is +EV at all.
Again, the way I read the T&C, the bonus does not come into play into you go bust. So, your expected win percentage is 49%, i.e. -EV. Then, when you go bust, you get to start betting the bonus. Again, your expected win percentage would be 49%. You do NOT get to leverage their chips to increase your balance.

I understand it's a sticky, but the way I read it, this sticky is worse than all others, and I don't understand how it's +EV. 'Splain it to me...

[theta]

You are correct, either I read it wrong or it's been changed. Either way, it's now 20x(B+D)...

[grando]

[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone played at ivegas & successfully received a cashout?

[/ QUOTE ]

yes

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
Frankly, I don't think this bonus is +EV at all.
Again, the way I read the T&C, the bonus does not come into play into you go bust. So, your expected win percentage is 49%, i.e. -EV. Then, when you go bust, you get to start betting the bonus. Again, your expected win percentage would be 49%. You do NOT get to leverage their chips to increase your balance.

I understand it's a sticky, but the way I read it, this sticky is worse than all others, and I don't understand how it's +EV. 'Splain it to me...

[/ QUOTE ]

you must be new here

[ImsaKidd]

[ QUOTE ]
Has anyone played at ivegas & successfully received a cashout?

[/ QUOTE ]

I did like a $200 or $300 depo here and successfully cashed out $1100. $500 sticky too much risk for me.

[silvermark]

May I ask how you cleared it? Big bets, grind...?

[LongTimeLurker72]

Can you withdraw after wagering the 20x, and still keep the sticky bonus? If so, best play would be to grind through the 20x with as large of bets as you can stomach (or tiny bets if you don't care how long it takes you) then cash out everything above $1,000 and then AFTER the cash-out, you can play with JUST the sticky.

However, I just checked on CBD and I see it's a Sticky Type I, which means it will disappear once you make a withdrawal.

So. . .there is no SAFE way to take full advantage of this bonus. However, it IS still good.

Look at it this way. If your EV at BJ were a constant result, that is you expected to steadily lose 0.5% to 1% of your bets all the time, then the sticky would not matter at all. But, because it's GAMBLING, you DON'T always lose steadily. Sometimes you'll win big, sometimes you'll lose much faster than expected. Because of that variance, the sticky DOES matter, and here's why: You know those ups and downs you have during a session of BJ or poker? You remember when you have a big losing session, but then you suddenly, when things looked darkest, had a miraculous turnaround, and got even or won for the day? Well, when you are given extra money, your chance of getting that comeback rush increases. If you have $1,000 to start a big losing session, you might start a comeback after losing $400, $600, or $800. But if you have $2,000, NOW you could start a comeback from $600, $800, $1,000, $1,200, $1,400, etc., for NO additional funds risked.

Here's another way of looking at it. Have you ever played a "risk-free" or "money back" promotion, where a casino asked for you to deposit $50 or $100 and play, but if you lost money, they would refund you 100% or 50% of what you lost, and you could cash it out (or wager it a little like 1x or 3x then cash out)? Also, Mansion and some other sportsbooks have occasionally offered "risk-free" wagers on certain events, refunding the losing bets. The value of the promotion is roughly equal to half of the refund if you bet in such a way as to either double up or lose your deposit quickly, before the -EV of the game has time to overcome the short-term variance. Now, the $1,000 sticky bonus of iVegas, since you can't gamble with it until you LOSE your own $1,000, is like a refund. The only difference is that you CANNOT cash it out. However, if you play it correctly (as large of bets as allowed to let the variance overcome the -EV) then you would double up and make your $1,000 back almost half the time. So, the value of the sticky bonus would about $250, because the sticky would MATTER in getting your $1,000 back 25% of the time (50% chance of losing $1k and having to use the bonus x 50% chance of doubling up with the bonus).

If you play to double up to $4,000, then you will end up going through the full $40,000 WR almost half the time, so the EV would be: $250 - (0.5%x40,000*0.5) = $250 - (200*0.5) = $150. If you chose to quit (start grinding) at $3,000 (cashing out $2k) the EV would be close to $250 - (0.5%x40,000*0.75) = $250 - (200*0.75) = $100. In short, the safer you play it, the less the bonus is worth.

So, you have to put $1,000 at risk for $100-150 EV. Keep in mind that your chance of losing the $1,000, if playing correctly, would be just over 50% if you play until you either double up to $4,000 ($3,000 + sticky) or bust, or closer to 25% if you play until you either double only your deposit (up to $3,000 w/ sticky) or bust. If you cannot afford to lose $1,000, or could not sleep well if you lost that much, you should not do this promotion. But if you can afford that risk, this is a reasonably good play.


Let me know if I screwed anything up. I usually don't make big, long technical posts, so I wouldn't be surprised if I made an error (grammaticical, mathematical) or overlooked something.

[chopchoi]

This is a Bullsh1t bonus. By capping the bet at 25%, they ensure that you never bet with their money untill after you've lost all of yours. There's no money to be made there.

[grando]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a Bullsh1t bonus. By capping the bet at 25%, they ensure that you never bet with their money untill after you've lost all of yours. There's no money to be made there.

[/ QUOTE ]

lol this is so wrong it's funny

edit: let me rephrase - the first part is right, but the part about not being worth it isn't

[mtx]

I'd stay away from this casino, it feels rigged..i've never busted out so quickly before...deposited $400 for a $400 bonus and bet $25-$50 hands...from the start it was a lost cause..out of 80 hands or so I only got dealt 20 around 8 times..out of those 8 times, i won 2, pushed 2 and lost 4 to dealer BJs..dealer dealt himself an IRREGULAR amount of aces..i swear, it was every 5-6 hands and he'd have an A....to make things worse he had 10 BJs in around 80 hands compared to 3 for me, so how the hell am i suppose to win? Another thing, the software here is WORSE than Chartwell....so do yourself a favour and save the agony.