My personal logs of playing online Blackjack

[Gregory]

I have no idea if compiling my online gaming experiences in a single thread will help any other players, since your experience may be very different from mine at the very same casino. All the same, I will log my experiences here and amend this thread as I work my way through any online casinos. It would be terrific if some other players would start threads as well with your own experiences.

#1
Bet365.com
Bonus match of 100% up to $200.00
WR of 10 times bonus + deposit = $4000.00 total wagers required.
Bonus is cashable once WR is met.
Playing certain games at any point before meeting the WR will forfeit your bonus and any associated winnings. Read the Terms and Conditions carefully.
Minimum wager at Blackjack is one dollar.
I had a really good experience with Bet365 and I'm fortunate that I selected such a quality casino for my first taste of online gaming. It took me quite a while to work through the four thousand wager requirement, but at no point were my own funds at stake and my wagers were very conservative. My low point was $298.00 and my high point was $503.00. I cashed out with $460.00 making for a $260.00 profit. Total time spent was around 9 hours to meet the WR. I spent at least a few hours of that time not playing blackjack but noting bets, results, and adding running totals of wagers to date. By the way, if you have no interest in logging every wager you make, the Cashier button does reflect when you have satisfied the WR by automatically moving your funds from a Bonus category to a Withdrawable category.
My most sucky experience here was an eleven hand losing streak. Fortunately by the third hand I had already dropped to the one dollar minimum bet so it didn't hurt me very much. My best streak was eight hands that included two blackjacks. I had one long winning period that took me from $300.00 to $450.00 in about an hour. Not big wagers, just lots of DD and splitting opportunities and I was comfortable with bumping my bets to five dollars a hand.
Customer support at Bet365 is top of the line. When I did email them I received a response in less than 15 minutes. Once I requested the transfer of funds from Bet365 to me, my Neteller account was credited within the hour.

#2
InterCasino
Bonus match of 100% up to $100.00
WR of 25 times bonus = $2500.00 total wagers required.
Bonus is cashable once WR is met.
Minimum wager at Blackjack is two dollars.
Another solid choice for my next online casino. I chewed through the WR pretty quickly here since dropping to a one dollar bet when the inevitable losing streak hits wasn't an option. Graphics aren't as nifty as Bet365, but really who cares. I did have a few connection problems where I got dropped for no reason, but money wasn't in play at the time so no harm. Once again my own funds were never at risk here. My low point was $138.00 and my high point was $240.00. I am still waiting for my PIN to cash out at $210.50.
My most sucky experience here was a monster losing streak that ran me from roughly $196.00 down to $138.00. I had been at a land casino earlier and I just jumped online and started betting five bucks a hand like the minimum at the land casino. Oops. I chased the loss a bit, then got seriously bent and just wrote off the bonus and dropped a twenty five dollar chip and hit the bet button. LOL ... I got the most unexpected blackjack on it that I have ever been handed. That put me back in the game. My share of good hands finally started coming and I worked it up to $240.00 before it tanked again. At this point I'm taking the $210.50 and running.
InterCasino does have a cool gauge that lets you know exactly how near you are to making that bonus money yours.

#3
Casino Tropez
Bonus match of 100% up to $100.00 STICKY
WR of 8 times bonus + deposit = $1600.00
Minimum wager at Blackjack is one dollar.
This casino is associated with the following casinos: Vegas Red, Europa Casino, and Casino Del Rio.
Ahhh. Erm. Hmmmmm ... they do everything they can not to let you know the bonus is STICKY. Their Terms and Conditions state all sorts of requirements relating to the bonus (no Blackjack Switch, no Blackjack Surrender, etc) to make it sound as though the bonus is cashable, but at the end of the day the bonus isn't cashable. For a sticky bonus there are many other better options out there, but what can I say ... I gave it a shot since it looked like the bonus wasn't sticky. So ... I guess I needed to wager the bonus plus my deposit 8 times just to withdraw my own money? Lol, whatever. Anyway, my low point was around $140.00 and my high point was around $240.00. My high point came within the first 40 hands I played and everything was down hill after that. I did catch a nice streak after already satisfying the (pointless) WR that took me from $140.00 to $195.00. I wanted to get back to $200.00 so I at least got my money back, but a last 5 dollar bet caught a 14 against a dealer's 10. I busted and figured I did good just to drop 10 dollars. Now they say it will be 4 days before my Neteller account sees my $90.00 back. Hmmmm.

#4
Starluck Casino
Bonus match of 100% up to $100.00
WR of 8 times bonus plus 8 times deposit = $1600.00 total wagers required.
Bonus is cashable once WR is met.
Minimum wager at Blackjack is one dollar. They offer three different Blackjacks: Multi-hand / Player, High Roller and Las Vegas Downtown. Surrender is an option.
I really like this casino. After creating my account I received an email that specified the requirements for withdrawing the bonus, which made sure to let me know that Blackjack is permitted:

Thank you for participating in the Starluck Casino bonus program.
As requested $100 has been added to your Account. Please note however, that this bonus amount is subject to our Standard Promotional Offer Terms & Conditions as well as the following wagering requirement:
This bonus amount cannot be redeemed until you have wagered 8 times the deposit amount and the bonus amount placed in your account. Players from Denmark are required to meet 3 times the normal wagering restriction. Wagering on BlackJack, Keno, Poker, Slots, VideoPoker is eligible for this bonus offer.

I worked through the WR in a single evening after work. I did experience a few random disconnects, but the software simply picked up where I had left off with no unpleasant surprises. My own deposit of $100.00 was never at risk. My low point was $178.00 and my high point was $272.00. I'll be cashing out at $260.00.
Nice graphics, but I believe they are locked to a 640 x 480 resolution. Gave the software sort of a windowed effect since I run at 1024 x 768 resolution. Pretty cool really, I could see my desktop and it didn't disable Winamp so I was able to listen to some streaming music while playing. The multi-player tables never had any other players (even on a Friday night), so I played single player almost exclusively. For some unknown reason the software here seemed "fairer" to me than others. Not that I'm actually implying anything, but I have become so used to seeing the dealer save both 5's and 6's at other online casinos that it was refreshing to actually see them break on some of these hands.
My most sucky experience here was a streak of 13 hands that didn't include a single win. It had 1 surrender, 8 losses, and 4 pushes. My best streak was 8 hands that included a blackjack. Lots of smaller streaks though ... 5 and 6 hand winning streaks were fairly common. Once I broke over $210.00 I never looked back. Two huge pluses here are being able to drop to one dollar a hand when the inevitable losing streak comes, and being able to surrender those 15's and 16's against the 10 or ace. I don't know how much being able to surrender actually saved me, but there were plenty of times that the dealer flipped a 10 in the hole.
I'm definately looking forward to trying my hand at the sister site to Starluck: Planetluck.

I'll update this as I continue checking out the online casino action. While casino-on-net is tempting, I will not try to satisfy a 50 X Bonus requirement for using Neteller.

 

[bosco4300]

I put 200 on casino on net and got a 200 bonus plus another 10 bonus was doing well up around 440-470 and now I am finding it hard to believe this site isnt fixed. I am now down to 350. I am playing 2 per bet only never changing. Went from 450 to 350 the absolute worst cards i am at about 2700 of my 4000 WR I can be done soon enough hope I clear at least some money. Everyone else has done so well on there I hope my luck changes soon. Bosco4300

 

[E-town-guy]

It is simply a run of bad cards, has nothing to do with the casino being FIXED. Continue on with your bonus hunting.

 

[bosco4300]

The bad run of cards has lasted for 450 hands now. I am no down to 330 and it doesnt seem to be inproving still have about 400 hands to go to complete the WR

 

[bosco4300]

Well I guess I was over reacting, I was getting worried I wouldnt cash out any profit but finally teh cards swung back my way and I ended with a total of $446 so a profit of $246. Maybe Ill try bet 365 next, and will be prepared for the swings that come with it.
Bosco4300

 

[E-town-guy]

The bad run of cards has lasted for 450 hands now. I am no down to 330 and it doesnt seem to be inproving still have about 400 hands to go to complete the WR

I didn't see you complaining about the run of cards when you were first up $50

. Maybe Ill try bet 365 next, and will be prepared for the swings that come with it.
Bosco4300

Are you referring to the up and down swings or how the game is fixed

 

[bosco4300]

Haha the swings, but sometimes you have to wonder when you are playing. Im a new comer cut me some slack for now.Haha

 

[Gregory]

Haha the swings, but sometimes you have to wonder when you are playing. Im a new comer cut me some slack for now.Haha

Make no mistake, the swings do suck mightily. But to be candid, I didn't really understand why you were upset. You were only down fifty or so, and that wasn't even your own money. Heck, you still had a hundred and fifty that was theirs. I was actually down over a hundred before the cards turned for me at Bet365 ... but I didn't much care. It was their money I was playing with, and I was enjoying myself. If I broke even I would still be smiling. That I actually turned it into a profit of $260.00 is beyond cool.
Bosco ... truly ... relax and enjoy yourself when you play this game. Bad runs are going to happen, but you'll have your turn as well. Always play using the correct basic strategy for the rules of the casino to give yourself the best possible edge. Use the following link and click on the Strategy Card link for the casino your are playing at and print the chart so you maximize every split and double down opportunity:
http://www.onlineblackjackguide.com/casinorankings.html
Some casinos allow surrender, some don't, so be sure to use the proper chart.

Glad to hear everything worked out well for ya though.

 

[aussiecounter]

Casino-on-net/888: Deposit US$200, finish WR at balance $685, including $25blackjack league bonus win. Very nice for a first experience, and I'm hooked.

Bet 365: Deposit Aus$200, finish WR at $460. Another win on top of bonus.

Planetluck-luck-lucky: Deposit US$100, finish WR at $446. Playing a mix of $2-$4 flat bets with positive progressions. Had a horror run, went from $250 down to $130 or so when the dealer kept pulling 21 on my 19s and 20s, and my double and splits almost all got beaten. Then the progressions turned my way and I kicked their a-hole.

Starluck-luck-stupid me: Deposited US$100, and lost it all being stupid and betting big. Don't bet more than a few dollars a hand! Unless you are playing a positive progression, and then you are only risking the initial bet (Before some biatch harps up, I know you are risking as much as you bet, but this is a system looked at from the first bet, so shut it.). I got caught up in the betting, and after my progression went $2,$4,$8$16,$32, then a loss, I got tempted into betting $32 again. And then trying to chase the $32 I lost on that bet.

So, all told, I'm up US$930 or so as far as I can see, which I think equates to about what I gross in a week. Not bad at all for a few hours a day playing blackjack on my computer while getting paid for my regular job.

Keep the reports coming in, and let us know the good casinos to play for blackjack.

 

[bosco4300]

How does a positive progression work?

 

[LeonShuffle]

It doesn't.

 

[aussiecounter]

How does a positive progression work?

It doesn't.

As my friend has kindly stated, positive progressions dont really work to your favour. All they really do is expose more of your money to the house edge, or expose it more quickly rather, and in the context of bonus chasing, slightly increase your chance of bombing out. I don't think they are that bad odds wise, as long as you have a stop set. I had a stop of $32, or 5 wins. It dramatically speeds up the time taken to meet a WR however. i.e. $2,$2,$2,$2,$2 flat betting, or $2,$4,$8,$16,$32. The first gives $10 in wagering, the second $62 in wagering. You wont get this each series, but you get the idea.

A positive progression "works" like this (most basic form):
1. Bet 1 unit.
2. If you lose, bet one unit, if you win, double your last bet. If a push, bet same.
3. Repeat step 2 until you lose or reach your stop.

You have to set a limit at which to stop, and this will have to be under the max bet of the table of course. There are complicating factors such as doubles and splits and BJs.
Some people like the "security" of flat betting (I do too), but I've had good experiences using this "system"($300+ win at Planetluck), as it also increases your chance (compared to flat betting) of making a decent win above the bonus, as well as the increased chance of loss. So I'll keep using it ocasionally until convinced otherwise.

 

[Gregory]

I have my own personal policy of flat betting UNTIL I hit the withdrawal requirement. After that is done, I am open to increasing my wagers or using a positive progression betting scheme. I will only place higher wagers after I have protected my initial deposit by having reached the WR requirement. That is purely personal and may not be considered the best method of gambling. By nature I am conservative, and my online play reflects that. Aussie uses about the same positive scheme as I do ... but I believe he presses it one additional wager than I normally will.

That being said, I am in an interesting position with Planetluck tonight. I played tham last night and when I hit the WR I was at $178.50. Not bad some may say ... I turned my $100.00 in to $178.50. BUT ... I counted our blackjacks and I have 32 and the house has 36 or 37. Also, it has been about 120 hands since either of us has had a blackjack. Since I am now playing with their money I am inclined to run some positive progessions to see how it works out. I'll set a stop of $150.00 before I cash out ... but I suspect that I have some wins coming my way. We will see.

 

[E-town-guy]

Oh Lord. The whole idea behind flipping a coin and blackjack, especially online blackjack where its shuffled every hand, is if you lose 10hands in a row for example, the odds of losing the next hand is still the same as it was 10 hands before.

I should add that even though I don't agree with your idea I still wish you the best of luck

 

[Gregory]

#5
Planetluck Casino
Bonus match of 100% up to $100.00
WR of 8 times bonus plus 8 times deposit = $1600.00 total wagers required.
Bonus is cashable once WR is met.
Minimum wager at Blackjack is one dollar. They offer three different Blackjacks: Multi-hand / Player, High Roller and Las Vegas Downtown. Surrender is an option.
OK, I totally screwed this one up. Perfectly good casino with a perfectly good bonus and I went and lamed out on it like some freaking newbie. Note that everything for the bonus is identical to their sister site Starluck which I won at a few days ago. Where to start ... urghhh. This casino really played rough for me. Not that I mean anything against the casino in any way, just that the cards weren't very kind. I believe the only time I was up was in my first few hands, then it was a constant floating around $170.00 or so. Every time I neared $190.00 or so I caught losers and found myself at $170.00 or worse. That wouldn't be so bad ... except ... I caught the worst run of cards that I have had online yet. 20's that I had doubled down on were getting squashed by 21's. Those are 21's as in three card 5-10-6 combination type of 21's. I quickly found myself at $130.00 after that drubbing. So I took a hot bath and thought about it. Then I says to myself "Hmmm, can't get much uglier ya know. Play three bucks a hand and see if it turns before you hit $100.00." Well ... lol ... just to show me what's what, I got spanked again by the casino gods. The dealer was already ahead of me by 6 blackjacks, but in the last series he extended that an additional 5 blackjacks. Ouch. If that doesn't put a dent in any gains, nothing will. I managed to work myself down to my $100.00 starting point in an amazingly short time. To be fair with myself I did catch some terrible cards and double downs and splits that normally should have been safe were stomped on. So I'm done at Planetluck with nothing to show ... but fortunately nothing lost either. After thousands of hands the house was up an amazing 11 blackjacks. Obviously at this point I have no choice but to write off a perfectly good casino with a terrific bonus since I won't place my initial deposit at risk.

Alrighty then ... NEXT!

 

[Gregory]

Oh Lord. The whole idea behind flipping a coin and blackjack, especially online blackjack where its shuffled every hand, is if you lose 10hands in a row for example, the odds of losing the next hand is still the same as it was 10 hands before.

I should add that even though I don't agree with your idea I still wish you the best of luck

:cry:

As painfully illustrated in my post above. Lol. I'm over it, and I really didn't lose anything. But I do have a healthier respect for how many blackjacks the house can yank out on me. Just last night at the land casino I had a serious shortage of blackjacks as well. Sheesh ... I need to scrub off my blackjack repellent.

 

[aussiecounter]

Just played at Golden Palace with a sticky 300% bonus. I placed about 6 bets all up I think. My balance is at $1050. Yehaw!
Double down a $200 bet on nine, for eleven. Dealer 22. Player wins. Lucky as...
Still got a bit over 1/2 WR to go though, but don't expect to lose much with my little $5 max bets from now.

 

[Gregory]

Just played at Golden Palace with a sticky 300% bonus. I placed about 6 bets all up I think. My balance is at $1050. Yehaw!
Double down a $200 bet on nine, for eleven. Dealer 22. Player wins. Lucky as...
Still got a bit over 1/2 WR to go though, but don't expect to lose much with my little $5 max bets from now.

LOL ... DD caught you an 11 and the freaking dealer busted? Man oh man, you had best walk with some $$$ after that. 1/2 to the WR ... so that's like what, another 6 hands or so until you're done?
Hmmm ... $300 sticky and $100 was yours to start. Call it a grand minus four hundred is $600.00. Nice one! Just don't, ya know, give it back.
But don't take all their money, man. They're on my short list of ones to be done yet. :laugh:

 

[LeonShuffle]

Just played at Golden Palace with a sticky 300% bonus. I placed about 6 bets all up I think. My balance is at $1050. Yehaw!
Double down a $200 bet on nine, for eleven. Dealer 22. Player wins. Lucky as...
Still got a bit over 1/2 WR to go though, but don't expect to lose much with my little $5 max bets from now.

Holy crap!! My protoge is kicking my ass! Nice going.

 

[bosco4300]

So planetluck you can lose the bonus and then cash out your initial deposit? Has anyone ever had their bonus denied after completing the WR? I was curious if teh casino ever noticed people meeting the WR and then cashing out very shortly after.
Bosco4300