A Guide to Understanding Online Casino Bonus Abuse

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Deni

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Expertise: Casino Content Writing, Journalism & (PR), Gambling Regulations, Dutch & German Gambling Markets

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Published: April 1, 2019
Updated: August 7, 2025

As far back as there have been casino bonuses, there have been casino bonus abusers. In fact, when online gambling was in its infancy in the 1990s, there were not many rules grounded to establish guidelines for online casino ethics, so patrons would often take advantage of bonuses in such a way that casinos would suffer severe losses.

Due to abuse, online casino vendors decided to put strict wagering and playthrough requirements in place to avoid the public taking advantage of free money that was offered in good faith.

These requirements require gamblers to play casino games a set number of times before they could simply draw on their winnings. This was the purpose of bonus cash in the first place.

Guide to casino bonus abuse — Continue reading about casino bonus abuses and why you must avoid them!

Technically, some of the abuse is not actually fraudulent or illegal but still goes against casino etiquette and standard ethical practice. Breaking these rules could see you blacklisted and banned from a casino and all other casinos on their network.

What are the most common practices for bonus abuse?

In many cases, people might not realise that they are breaking some of the guidelines' rules or requirements, either because they are new to the gambling industry and do not understand some of the requirements or because they failed to read the fine print on a bonus. The most common practices for bonus abuse are:

Creating multiple accounts
Saving bonuses
Double bonus claim
Ignoring game restrictions
Big bet bonus abuse
Bonus hunting
Wagering requirement abuse
Arbitrage

Ignorance of the law is, however, not ever an excuse for breaking it. This may lead you to contravene casino rules and see yourself blocked from their site. Often, this can come as a severe loss to you, as certain credits may be confiscated.

Below are some of the things that casinos frown upon in detail. It would serve you well to educate yourself on these “taboo” practices, so as not to make the same mistakes yourself.

Creating multiple accounts

Often, bonuses will be limited to one person. In some cases, it may even be restricted to one bonus per household. People have tried to skirt around this rule by creating multiple accounts with different email addresses. They then opt to use different payment providers to make it seem that they are different people.

Why should I avoid creating multiple accounts?

This type of deceitful behaviour is against the terms and conditions of bonus use, and the casino may take drastic action against you.
The casino will easily catch you, as its servers monitor your IP address. Multiple users from one IP address will be flagged, and you will receive an alert from the casino, asking you to explain yourself. There may be a valid reason, such as a friend using your IP address, but the final decision on whether they ban you from their site or not is up to them.

Saving bonuses

When signing up for a bonus, use it. Casinos are not in favour of you saving them and using them in conjunction with later rewards to boost your chances of winning. If you are repeatedly prone to this behaviour, you will find that the casino may withhold bonuses from you in the future.

Why should I avoid saving bonuses?

Bonuses expire quickly and most of them have time limits, so if you wait too long, they’re gone.
Casinos track usage, and repeatedly saving bonuses can flag your account.
You might miss future offers because delays will disrupt loyalty and promotional offers from the casino.

Double bonus claim

Most, if not all, bonuses can only be used once by a player. Players might try to claim the bonus again multiple times and even get it right. Usually, the casino server will pick up that you have used the promotion before and block you, but every so often, this is not the case, and players manage to trigger it again and again.

Why should I avoid a double bonus claim?

There is a good chance that the casino will catch on. In this case, all of your bonus and prize money that you have won will be confiscated, and you could face a ban from the establishment and all other partners on the same casino network.

Ignoring game restrictions

Often, a casino bonus will stipulate what type of games you can play. Games like blackjack and poker are very often excluded from these lists as they carry a very low “house edge”, which means that the likelihood of the casino making any money off you is slim. They do not want you to go ahead and use free money on these games.

Modern casino software is supposed to block you from games that are not included in the promotion. However, there is always a chance of slipping through.

To avoid doing this by mistake, please read the terms of your bonus rigorously before attempting to use it.

Why should I avoid ignoring game restrictions?

The penalties for this could range from credit confiscation to a casino ban.
Casinos may flag you as high-risk or limit future promotions, so you'll miss out on great bonuses in future offers.

Big bet bonus abuse

People sometimes do not respect the number of bonus funds given to them. Because they have nothing to lose, they end up spending it too quickly by making very high wagers. They believe big wagers mean big bucks. While this may be true when using your own money, you must remember that casinos offer you bonuses so that you can spend your time on the platform, learning new games and exploring new options.

Why should I avoid big bet bonus abuse?

This sort of bonus abuse is seen as an insult to their good faith and could result in action being taken against you. You will also find that casinos set maximum bet limits on bonuses, so pay close attention to what these are.
Many players do not realise that the gamble feature does not count as a wager towards meeting playthrough requirements, so do your best to avoid this slot game feature where possible.

Bonus hunting

“Bonus hunting” is based on playing high volatility games in the hope of making big wins quickly and then meeting the wagering requirements. If you lose quickly, then you move off in the “hunt” of the next bonus at another casino. In summary, it is a 3-step plan:

Make a deposit and get a bonus.
Start playing very aggressively on high volatility slot games.
If you lose it all, you move onto the next casino in search of another bonus, but if you win big, you will have created enough of a buffer to slow things down on a lower volatility game and ride out the wagering requirements so that you can withdraw the funds.

Why should I avoid bonus hunting?

Though this is difficult to trace in such a short period of time, if a casino catches on to your tricks, you will face funds confiscation and a ban.

Wagering requirement abuse

Although there is a slim chance that a casino would approve withdrawals prior to you meeting the playthrough or wagering requirements set forth by them.

To avoid doing this by mistake make use of a bonus tracker (available at most sites) or contact customer service and ask them whether you qualify for a payout yet, or not.

Why should I avoid wagering requirement abuse?

The casino may label you as a troublemaker, provoking the casino to cut your membership short.
You may receive a flag for a high-risk player and not get future promotions for loyal players.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is also known as matched betting. This can be done in sports betting by wagering on all the possible outcomes. It is a way for players to make guaranteed profits from free money bonuses.

Why should I avoid arbitrage?

Attempting to do it on one network will bring consequences if caught. You will face a ban from the entire network, as well as confiscation of funds.

CasinoWow conclusion

There is no concise list of “bad practices” found on online casino sites, but there are set terms and conditions. These vary from casino to casino, which makes things a lot more complicated. A stay-safe tip would be to play simple and do not try and be clever. Read the requirements thoroughly and remember the points above.

Remember, a casino does not need an excuse to withhold payouts, so do not give them the slightest bit of doubt that you are a “straight-up” player.

CasinoWow truly recommends that you stay far away from these practices above at casinos. Abide by the ethical values of the industry to avoid unnecessary stress and frustration. Gambling should be treated as a great means of entertainment, not a greedy practice of manipulation.