How to Clear New Jersey Online Casino Bonuses
New Jersey players now have several options for online casino action. These casinos entice players with promotions that include bonuses. These may seem like a great way to get into the game, but there are also problems that may arise when accepting a New Jersey online casino bonus.
“Sticky” Bonus
A common New Jersey online casino bonus structure is the “sticky” bonus. This means that a player may wager the bonus but never withdraw it. These are usually offered in the form of a match bonus. A player might deposit $100 and receive a $100 sticky bonus. This gives the player $200 to wager with, but the bonus may never be withdrawn.
A typical sticky bonus will have a wager requirement attached to it. It may be just a one time wager, meaning that in the example above a player must only wager $100 before initiating a withdrawal request. The bonus might carry a substantially higher wager requirement. Some sites will require a player to wager 20, 40, or maybe even 100 times the bonus to withdraw, depending on the game.
The goal of a sticky bonus is to accumulate winnings that may be cashed out because the bonus cannot be withdrawn. This requires a different approach than a bonus that may eventually be cashed out.
How to Clear a Sticky Bonus
The best way to clear a sticky bonus is to make high variance wagers. These types of wagers generally have a higher house advantage as well so there is a risk of busting before meeting the terms of the bonus.
If the bonus terms, which are required reading for all players, allow roulette, then we suggest placing bets on a single number or small spread of numbers. This will allow a chance to win up to 35-1 on a single spin. Some bonuses do not allow roulette. This is why it is important to read the terms and conditions.
Other high variance games that are appropriate for sticky bonuses are Three Card Poker, Let it Ride, Caribbean Stud, Four Card Poker and Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
Video poker may also be a great play for a sticky bonus. Do not play Jacks or Better or similar games while attempting to clear a sticky bonus. Play high variance games. Our suggestion is Double Double Bonus if it is available. The next best game is Double Bonus, followed by Deuces Wild.
How to Clear a Cashable Bonus
Cashable bonuses have a different approach than sticky bonuses. A slow grind down is the goal of a bonus that may be withdrawn. The hope is that along the way a substantial win occurs. Players do not have to be concerned with forcing high variance wagers in the hopes of a big win because the bonus may be cashed out once the requirements are met. The goal is to find the best game for the bonus. While slots often offer the best clearance requirements, blackjack and video poker are typically the best bets, assuming these games are allowed under the bonus terms and conditions.
Excluded Games and Wagers
Not every game counts toward clearing an online casino bonus. Craps and roulette are frequently left off the list, since players could cover both sides of the table and hope the house number does not come up. On a roulette wheel that house number is zero; at the craps table, it is 12. Where these games are not excluded, opposite results bets such as red/black or pass/don’t pass are best left alone. Casinos treat this pattern as bonus abuse, and a player who uses it can expect to be labeled a bonus abuser and have the bonus confiscated by the house. These wagers offer little upside, because they cannot win over the long term. Their only purpose is to clear the bonus, and the bonus often falls short of covering the theoretical house advantage built into these bets.
Low Edge Games Often Excluded or Low Weighted
Online casino bonuses frequently leave out games with a low house edge, such as blackjack and video poker. When these games do count, their wager requirement tends to be substantially higher. Take a New Jersey online casino bonus advertising a 25x wager requirement: that figure is most likely built around slot play, where the house advantage can climb as high as 10 percent. Should video poker or blackjack be permitted, expect a weight of 10 percent or 25 percent to apply to those games.
If an advertised bonus carries a wager requirement of 25x on slots then it probably has a different requirement for low-edge games.
If the bonus has a weight of 25 percent for table games and video poker then it would have a 100x requirement for these excluded games. If the weight for low-edge games is 10 percent on a 25x bonus then the player must wager 250x the bonus amount to clear it. A 25 percent weight would require a player to wager four times more than normal to meet the terms and conditions of the bonus.
Examples:
A player accepts a $100 bonus that is advertised as a 25x slots bonus but allows blackjack and video poker to be played with a 25 percent weight. A player would be able to clear the bonus by wagering $2,500 on slots (25 x $100). A blackjack or video poker player would have to wager $10,000 (100 x $100, or four times more the slots wager) to clear the bonus as these games only count 25 percent towards the wager requirement. A 25 percent weight requires a player to wager four times more at low-edge games to clear the same bonus than a slot player where 100 percent of the bets are applied to the wager requirement.
Example 2:
A player accepts a 25x bonus that is advertised as a slots bonus but allows blackjack and video poker to be played with a 10 percent weight. The player would have to wager $25,000 (250 x $100, 10x more than the slots wager) to clear the same bonus. This wager requirement may seem excessive, but the house edge on slots is 10 times or more higher than blackjack or video poker.
Other table games may carry the same wager requirements as blackjack and video poker. These other table games should be avoided when the bonus may be cashed out. On the other hand, a sticky bonus is conducive to higher variance games.
Table Games Most Appropriate for a Bonus
Blackjack is typically the table game with the lowest house advantage. USPoker suggests playing blackjack if its bonus weight is the same as other table games as its house advantage is often less than .5 percent. Odds in craps and raises in house-banked poker games do not generally count towards the wager requirement.
Games to Avoid When Clearing a Bonus
Pai Gow Poker and Baccarat should be avoided when playing an online casino bonus. These games have a higher house advantage than blackjack without the higher variance needed to beat the house.
Converting Wager Requirements into House Advantage
A player that hopes to win must take the potential house advantage into account when claiming a bonus. Most casino games have high variance. A player must hit one of the higher payouts during the short term to win. This is not taken into account when computing the house advantage of a game, which assumes that the jackpot is eventually hit.
Below is a list of the percentage of house advantage that an online casino bonus will overcome based on the wager requirement:
- 10x – 10% house edge
- 20x – 5% house edge
- 25x – 4% house edge
- 30x – 3.33% house edge
- 33x – 3% house edge
- 40x – 2.5% house edge
- 50x – 2% house edge
- 100x – 1% house edge
- 200x – .5% house edge
The above table assumes that the bonus may be withdrawn once the wager requirement is met. This chart does not apply to sticky bonuses, which require the ability to make high variance to overcome. Some casino bonus terms will not allow such wagers to be made. A single wager of 30% or more may be excluded.
Always Read Bonus Terms and Conditions
This may seem redundant, but it is imperative to read bonus terms and conditions. A certain betting system may be restricted by a site’s bonus terms. Read them thoroughly before attempting a personalized betting system.