InterTops Casino Bonus 20% to $250, 20xWR. Is this a goodie?

[TomBrooks]

InterTops is offering a 20% bonus up to $250 called March Madness. One has to wager 20x the amount of the deposit and the bonus in their casino. Deposits have to be made by noon EST tomorrow March 20. There is no set time limit to meet the wagering requirements, but I think once you accept the bonus, you can withdraw neither your deposit nor the bonus until the entire wagering requirement is met.

The only other Blackjack experience I have is with the recent Eurobet $25 bonus which turned into a $50 or $75 bonus. (I still haven't figured that out. I got $50, but I don't think I got the $25.) Anyway...

Is this Intertops bonus a good deal? Any related insights welcome. I hardly know anything about this Blackjack stuff.

Thanks,
TomBk

[theredwave]

Not a good deal. $1000 deposit + $250 bonus X 20= $25000 WR
I'm not sure what the EV is of their lowest HA game but I'm sure it's not low enough to make up for the excessive amount you need to wager to release the bonus.

[LinusKS]

Well, if they offer Vegas Strip, it ought to be somewhere in the neighborhood of $125 EV.

But you'd have to wager a lot per hand, or spend a lot of hours playing blackjack, in order to clear it.

Edit: Actually, it's $1250 deposit + $250 bonus = $1500 @ 20 = $30,000 WR, not $25K. So it's $100 EV.

[contentless]

I'm looking on the site right now...It's got autoplay (well, I'm new to this, but I'm assuming that Viper = autoplay), single deck, blackjack pays 3 to 2, double on 9, 10, 11, double after split, stand on soft 17, no surrender...Can someone verify this? Cause according to blackjackinfo, the house edge is -0.02 percent!

This would be amazing.

Edit: I found the info here: http://www.intertops.com/castour/tou...sino/home.html

[LinusKS]

I'm looking at it too.

FYI (and in reference to some other casino disputes), Intertops has this in it's terms and conditions:

[ QUOTE ]
1.12 Bonus programs are intended for recreational bettors only. Professional players or players considered to be abusing the bonus system may have their bonuses as well as any winnings from wagers based on such bonuses forfeited and be subject to further sanctions, at the sole discretion of the Intertops.com management. In case of abuse, Intertops.com reserves the right to discontinue a customer's membership and to prevent the player from accessing any Intertops.com sites in the future.

[/ QUOTE ]

[Petro]

Every casino has that warning.

[TomBrooks]

[ QUOTE ]
if they offer Vegas Strip, it ought to be ...$100 EV. But you'd have to wager a lot per hand, or spend a lot of hours. Edit: $30,000 WR.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Linus,
$30,000 is correct on your revised calculation. I don't think they offer Vegas Strip, I didn't see it in any of the descriptions of the games anyway. What is Vegas Strip, another form of Blackjack? Making big bets looks like a bad idea. I checked with the WizardofOdds Risk of Ruin (his Blackjack Appendix 12) It's here: http://www.wizardofodds.com/blackjack/bjapx12.html. Larger bets make the risk go way way up, this seems to be the biggest in determining the risk.

In this case if I was willing to play 3000 hands, my bet size would be $30,000/3000 = $10. For betting units I would have $1,500/$10 =150. Risk of ruin is about 3%. 3% is higher than I like. I'd like more like .1 to .25% range. I'd probably have to go to a $5 to $7 bet. The Wizards chart doesn't even go above 3000 hands but I think I've extrapolated it approximately correct from what I see of the pattern.

For that, one would have to play 4,500-6000 hands. They have a table that allows five hands at once, so that would be 900-1,200 iterations of five hands. Sounds like too much work for $100. And that $100 doesn't seem like much cushion to handle a bad run of cards. A .33% swing in the result over $30,000 of betting and the $100 is gone.

[TomBrooks]

[ QUOTE ]
the site ...got autoplay (I'm assuming that Viper = autoplay)...according to blackjackinfo, the house edge is -0.02 percent! This would be amazing.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hi content,
I didn't see anything about Viper, or see autoplay mentioned. Where did you see that? And what is blackjack info?

TomBk

[contentless]

Autoplay/Viper: Look at the very front. At Intertops.com, click Casino, and above download, you'll see Viper. In that same picture, you'll also see that it says 'Microgaming'. The Viper software lets players just set rules for how to play hands, then the players can just the casino play the hands and walk away. I'm not sure if this applies across the board to Microgaming casinos, since I haven't done one. Again, has anyone played at Intertops?
Blackjack Info: http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bjbse.php

Looking further into it, doesn't look double after split is allowed. This page goes into more detail: "Your original single hand will be split into two, each with a stake equal to your original bet. You will be dealt a second card for your first hand. You will then be able to hit, stand and take insurance (where applicable) for your first hand. Once you have chosen to stand (or go bust), a second card will be dealt to your second hand and you will be then be given the relevant choices for that hand." Looks more likely that the HA is .33, which is still better than Vegas Strip. I think.

The DAS rule is misleading since in the tour, they state "The Split button causes this single hand to be split into two separate hands, that are then played out as normal Blackjack hands." I'm fairly certain that 'normal' includes doubling down. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

Apparently, Intertops touts that it has the best odds of any casino in the world. Hm.

[contentless]

I've looked into it more, and the single-deck, no DAS, double on 9/10/11, BJ pays 3 to 2, no surrender, just 1 split, dealer stands on soft 17 blackjack is only available in the Flash casino. HA .1502%. The download software offers the usual Microgaming fare (Vegas Strip).