Online casino bonuses are the cause of many player disputes. While performance based rewards have been suggested as an alternative, they all continue to give deposit incentives. Why? Are their affiliate programs using a bogus bonus scam to shave you!
A few months ago I was reviewing player stats on a number of casino affiliate programs and made an alarming discovery. It seems most, if not all affiliate programs powered by Microgaming casinos, use the following calculations to work out monthly commissions.
- Gross Gaming minus Bonuses minus Progressive Fees = Net Gaming Revenue.
However taking a closer look into bonus incentives, what happens when a player loses a bonus back to the casino? Are these being added to Gross Gaming and then deducted or are some Microgaming casino affiliate programs claiming all bonuses as loses?
Casino Bonus Incentives Player Examples
- Example A $100 bonus – meets wagering and withdrawals.
- Example B $100 bonus – meets wagering but loses it back to casino.
- Example C $100 bonus – doesn’t meet wagering, can’t withdraw, loses it back to casino.
- Example D $100 bonus – can withdrawal before meeting wagering but bonus is deducted.
Only a few Microgaming casinos allow players to withdrawal before meeting bonus wagering requirements. Hence, Example D is not common. Most demand wagering before withdrawal.
Example A is the only scenario where the casino loses a bonus incentive. All other examples should reflect the lost bonus credited to Gross Gaming. When commission is calculated, bonuses lost back to the casino can be rightfully deducted from Gross Gaming to obtain Net Gaming.
Lets say you have 30 regular players, they deposit in total $50,000 per month. Not every player wins and not every player who meets bonus wagering, withdrawals; most lose it back. This Microgaming casino gives players a total of $12,500 in bonuses. However only $6,250 of these bonus incentives are withdrawn, leaving, $6,250 in bonus incentives lost back to the casino.
For argument sake, your paid 30% commission on Net Gaming Revenue. If the casino affiliate program is not crediting the remaining $6,250 back to Gross Gaming but is deducting the total $12,500 bonuses from Gross Gaming, this bogus bonus scam is stealing $1,875 from you.
Crunch the numbers across all Microgaming casinos your promoting and if they are using this bogus bonus scam, that’s a hefty chunk of commission being stolen from you each month.
I’ve brought my findings to one affiliate program, who I believe used this casino bogus bonus scam to steal over $100,000 from me. I even got a fellow affiliate to sign-up. He lost the bonus incentives and these were treated as losses too. Sadly, all I’ve received are blatant excuses.
However June 2013 player stats, now show, lost bonuses credited to Gross Gaming Revenue.
I’d strongly suggest all affiliates who partner with casino affiliate programs who use Microgaming casinos, to fine tooth comb through all your player stats and if you notice any anomalies, save this data and contact your affiliate manager. While you’ll probably get feed the same lame excuses as me, least going forward, it should prevent you being scammed.