I feel like I’m being stoned to death here…. HALP!
I don’t think comparing the $15 to a buffet is the right analogy but you are right on some points for sure. No restaurant is going to give you free food and if they do it’s usually with a purchase (like a match bonus at a casino). They will give you free samples and it’s to taste the food/restaurant or in this case the casino. It’s $15 which you can turn into $150 which I think is more than a fair deal considering if you do win you can cashout and never had to deposit but still walk away with $150 from nothing. The only complaints from players I have had about these bonuses are when they play blackjack and double it up to $150 and just meet the wagering, cashout and are upset that BJ was a restricted game. Most abusers will read the terms and will see if they can double it on slots since it’s better than nothing.
I think trying to compare online to land based casinos is also a tough one. I have yet to see a landbased casino offer you any free credits when you walk in the door or any depositing / match bonuses. They first want you to lose money while they track your play then they can put you into a reward category such as a comped room or meal. Now that they have your contact info they can now target you properly with the right offers. Also their slots are 80% return and their operating expenses are huge. If I were a land based casino would I offer a no deposit bonus and match bonus I don’t know. I’d have to first look how the market is and maybe it would be a good experiment.
Now Dom brought up another debatable point and I’ll try to answer that as best as I can (this thread is growing legs).
First casinocoins (vegas tech) have been around for 10 years and that’s a lot of experience to try to compete against. They are one of the best performing groups and it’s tough to compare all/any Rivals with them. Up until about a week or 2 ago we have our processing upgraded and it wasn’t until months ago that we had progressives. I would say in Nov we hit our groove and that took a little over 2 years to achieve. We are also in the process of launching tournaments and our player values are going to climb when that does happen. I don’t now if the $15 is going to turn away these great players or drop our playing values. Also not all Rivals have used the ND bonus but the results with them have been favorable and I have seen ones without it eventually switch and come over to the dark side MUAHAHAHAHA. The NDs do attract more freebie hunters but I believe the expense has been worth it for the extra traffic I do get. I believe I got some players through the door that otherwise would have never made it.
I can of course create a landing page that only shows the signup bonus with no ND listed and also not credit the player for that. So maybe I can make that part of my experiment in the near future.
Overall maybe time will tell what the best system is but I am still learning and sometimes* listening 
I can’t compare thisisvegas to casinocoins (yet) but I can compare it with other Rivals and with my own experiment of having the ND and not having it. Most of my VIPs have started off with the ND then made it to the signup bonus. On my end I find the pros far outweighed the cons. The ND signup for some players gives me a chance to send them a deposit offer in the future from players that otherwise would have never signed up. Some will be happy with the $15 free and whether they win or lose might feel obligated to make a deposit. Of course this doesn’t happen 100% of the time but it’s the reason why the Free Sample will always be around and never disappear. It’s already been proven the buying rates of a product in a grocery store with a free sample. I agree not all sites will use them and not all of them need them. For English Harbour they do offer a free slot tournament entry so there is a freebie there. Most MGs offer Freeplay or ND signup bonuses and I hear the freeplay perform very well even though I think the terms associated with them are messy.
ok where’s my HALP!