Sticky Bonus Question (BJ)

[DavidC]

Hey guys.

I haven't done a sticky bonus (intentionally) yet. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I just got an offer for a 25% to $200, with WR of 10x (D+B).

so 800/200/10000.

I figure I can stand the thought of losing maybe $5-$10k about 0.1% of the time.

I have no value on my time. [img]/images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]

Therefore what should I set my target to for this sticky and what bet sizes should I use?

Edit: assume HA of about 0.5% = $50.

Re-Edit: There's some chance that this sticky bonus is way too risky for my tolerance... I'm a newb at this still.

[somapopper]

that's not a good sticky to start off with, and just not that great of a sticky in general. Do the 200% ones first, so much juicier, and not as large of a deposit.

On a 100/200/8x (I think most of them are 8x, but it's been awhile). Your target should be about 800-900 for starting out with a decent BR. I'd bet 25 a hand, of course lowering the bet if I was running good and wasn't close to the WR, and upping the bet if I was almost done with the WR, but short of my target.

Don't get too locked into your target. If you set a target of 900, don't cash out 600, but if you get to 800 and you feel like you really couldn't stomach losing it all to try to get that last 100, cashing out really doesn't give up that much ev. GL!

[Homer]

Don't start with an 800/200. I've done 50+ sticky bonuses and have never done one like this. You can find plenty of 100/100's out there as well as a few 100/200's and even a 100/300 (Golden Palace).

[DWarrior]

I'm doing the golden palace now, but it's looking really, really shady.

I had a bad vibe about Golden Palace from the way they do their advertising, and I got a strange response from their support team:

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, the bonus credits are for wagering purposes only, and therefore cannot be cashed out. Upon your withdrawal, the bonus credits will be deducted from your play balance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like they give you $300 for a $100 deposit, make you wager $1,600 and wait 2 weeks, then take back their $300 when you go to cash out. I got lucky and ended up winning $50, but if they screw me out of the $300 it'll be the first and last time I have anything to do with Golden Palace.


EDIT: what the hell is a sticky bonus?

[GMan42]

[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, the bonus credits are for wagering purposes only, and therefore cannot be cashed out. Upon your withdrawal, the bonus credits will be deducted from your play balance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds like they give you $300 for a $100 deposit, make you wager $1,600 and wait 2 weeks, then take back their $300 when you go to cash out. I got lucky and ended up winning $50, but if they screw me out of the $300 it'll be the first and last time I have anything to do with Golden Palace.


EDIT: what the hell is a sticky bonus?

[/ QUOTE ]

Um...It's what you just described and quoted from their T&C. It's pretty standard...the "cashable" bonuses are actually in the minority of all the casinos out there.

[DWarrior]

So why even bother with them then? They trap you into playing their stuff and the $300 is completely meaningless, since they take it back anyway.

[mattw]

[ QUOTE ]
So why even bother with them then? They trap you into playing their stuff and the $300 is completely meaningless, since they take it back anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

you are not understanding what a sticky bonus is. they will definately keep the $300. but they allow you to gamble with it. see bonuswhores.com and do a search for sticky bonus strategy. in fact, i think its a sticky in one of the forums.

[jman220]

[ QUOTE ]
So why even bother with them then? They trap you into playing their stuff and the $300 is completely meaningless, since they take it back anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

Caveat: What I am about to describe is not the best EV way to play a sticky bonus, check Bwhores for a better explanation.

The reason why a non-cashable bonus is still +EV is because, for example, you deposit $100, you get a $300 Bonus. You wager it all on one hand of, lets say blackjack. (don't actually do it this way). If you win that hand of blackjack, You win $400. If you lose that hand of blackjack, you lose $100. Just to keep the numbers simple, lets assume without being able to double down or split, the HA in blackjack is 2 percent. So after you complete a 4x WR, you would have $368. So You're getting paid almost 4:1 on an almost 50:50 shot. +EV.
The actual way you should play a sticky is more complicated, becausee by betting it all on the first hand, you eliminate the ability to double down or split, which increases the HA, so you do a go bust or hit a target approach, the proper way which is outlined on bwhores.