Is 888.com trying to screw me?

[Predator314]

I tried dipping my toes into whoring some Casino bonuses. The first casino I tried was 888.com.

They offered a 100% deposit bonus up to $200. I deposited $200 and received the $200 bonus.

I played blackjack and met what I thought was the requirement for clearing the bonus.

Here's the policy according to their site:

[ QUOTE ]
All new Members will receive an Initial Deposit Welcome Bonus, upon their first Deposit to their Casino-on-Net Account. The Initial Deposit Welcome Bonus is limited to one Bonus per household and cannot be used in conjunction with any other Bonus, promotion or offer. This Initial Deposit Welcome Bonus may be Cashed Out only after an amount totaling no less than 20 times* the Bonus amount has been wagered - for example, a Member must wager $1000, before Cashing Out an Initial Deposit Welcome Bonus totaling $50.

*For our Members in Finland, Hong Kong, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Estonia, Hungary and Thailand Initial Deposit Welcome Bonuses may be Cashed Out only after an amount totaling no less than 50 times the Bonus amount has been wagered.

[/ QUOTE ]

Here's part of the email I received from their operations department:

[ QUOTE ]
Your recent cashout request includes an amount of our bonus, and so we have reviewed this cashout in accordance with our wagering criteria. Since the bonus/es in question was/were issued, you have wagered correctly $4.030.00.
Therefore in order to cashout the bonus you still need to wager (bet) a further $5,970.00.

[/ QUOTE ]

According to her email, I had to play 50 times the bonus. According to the site, it's only 20 times.

Am I looking at something wrong here? I'm new to this, but it sounds like I'm getting screwed here.

[AvivaSimplex]

If you look at the fine print, it says that if you deposit through Neteller, you have to play 50x. Sorry, you just have to play it through.

[Predator314]

Yeah, I see that now.... so, i really just screwed myself this time.

[MakesCents]

pretty much

[kfellmy]

yep, you did screw yourself. Luckily I did this bonus when it was only 2x. They were the best bonus on the net, but now are the worst.

Did you see where, if you were in China, the WR is 200x?

[AvivaSimplex]

No, they're not even close to the worst bonus. I saw one that was a 60x(B+D) slots-only sticky.

[BigDave]

[ QUOTE ]
They were the best bonus on the net, but now are the worst.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it is more like "They were the best, but now only the third best if you don't use Neteller". Hardly the worst though, even if you do use Neteller.

And to OP, just make sure you learn from your mistake and check those terms with a fine tooth comb if you continue playing the casinos.

[lala]

[ QUOTE ]
yep, you did screw yourself. Luckily I did this bonus when it was only 2x. They were the best bonus on the net, but now are the worst.

Did you see where, if you were in China, the WR is 200x?

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually they are still one of the best bonuses out there even with the 50x. Most others have higher requirements or exclude BJ and/or VP.

[kfellmy]

oh, they still allow BJ?

[kfellmy]

I haven't played in an online casino in over a year.

[Predator314]

Well, some good news became of this. In my quest to clear the bonus, blackjack was mean to me. So I was cashing out $220 of my initial $400 balance ($20 profit).

After I realized my mistake, I decided that all I could do was just go try to clear it. Long story short, I went on a nice rush last night and cleared the bonus plus another $300 or so from blackjack winnnings. Lesson learned /images/graemlins/wink.gif

[AvivaSimplex]

Nice one. Variance can smack you around either way. Just keep this experience in mind when you bust your next bonus /images/graemlins/smile.gif