Dear Nicolas,
There seems to be alot made of the fact that I used a bonus with my deposit and that a casino could deem at first that I may be a bonus abuser. I would just like to respectfully explain (as best as I can mathematically!) that this is probably irrelevant.
I deposited $100 with $100 bonus = $200
The wagering was 50x on Table Games
Thus the wagering requirements were $10,000 ($200 X 50)
If, as the Cirrus website states, the average payout on Blackjack is 98.1% – after wagering $10,000 I should lose on average $190
I.e. $10,000 X 0.981 = $9810
$10,000 – $9810 = $190
Therefore, with my $100 + $100 (deposit + bonus), after making the wagering requirements, on average I should be left with $10 – an overall loss of $90 after my deposit.
Obviously, there can be variance, especially as I was making huge bets, but I am just demonstrating that by taking the bonus I have by no means significantly increased my chances of winning.
Additionally, I did not just stop when I had reached the wagering requirements as I assume a bonus whore would do, I actually wagered at least $23,000 in the process of making my eventual $10,000 winnings.
Thus, on average I should have wiped out my entire deposit and bonus!
All this goes to show that I did not act to somehow manipulate my odds of winning – the most likely outcome was that I would lose everything. Luckily however, I had a good run of cards which if was not possible then nobody would bother to gamble in the first place
As I have stated I am not a mathematician so if I have got my calculations wrong and anyone can correct me I would much appreciate this!
Best regards and thanks again for getting involved in the issue Nicolas.
Nicholas Halksworth
nhalks