Costa Rica Gaming Online's

Online Gambling Strategy - Advantage Play?

Advantage Play at Online Gambling Establishments - Is it Possible?

Of course it is. There are several ways to enjoy playing at an advantage while gambling online. We will overview several of those ways in this article.

Advantage Play Strategy #1 - Playing for Bonuses

So called "bonus hustling" is probably the most popular form of online advantage play. The process is simple:

1) Find a Casino with a healthy bonus and a reasonable wagering requirement (you can start by reviewing our Casino Bonus Directory here).

2) Sign up and make your deposit.

3) Receive your bonus.

4) Play through the necessary wagering requirement.

5) Cash-in your deposit plus profits (most of the time).

For obvious reasons, you want to meet your wagering requirement by playing a game with a low house edge. The most popular games for advantage-bonus play are blackjack and video poker. Why? Because in most cases the casino has less than a 1% advantage in these games if the player uses perfect strategy (we have sites listed on our useful gambling links page here where you can locate perfect play strategy cards), and that small house advantage is easily obliterated and turned in your favor by the generous bonuses that are readily available. Note: Do not try to complete your wagering requirement by equal betting both sides of even money bets in baccarat, craps, or roulette (such as player and bank in baccarat, red and black in roulette, etc). The casinos will not apply such wagering to your requirement, and will likely blacklist you for being a bonus abuser. Play fair - the odds are already in your favor.

To calculate your advantage, divide the bonus by the wagering requirement. In the case of a $100 bonus with $3,000 in required wagering, that would give you an advantage of 3 1/3%. As you can readily see by reviewing our bonus directory, there are better deals to be found than the example used here. So, while card counters are going to casinos in Las Vegas and Atlantic City dressed up in disguises and worrying if their bet size increases during positive counts are going to tip off the casino personnel, all for a +/- 1.5% advantage, you can be sitting at home in your underwear, playing at your leisure, and enjoying an advantage of 3% and oftentimes much more.

Still not enough of an advantage for you? For those players willing to click through from Costa Rica Gaming Online's Bonus Directory, we are able to offer referral splits at several selected casinos. That amounts to an additional post-play bonus of anywhere from $30 - $75, depending on the casino, and increasing your advantage drastically. E-mail us for current offers.

Advantage Play Strategy #2 - Player Advantage Video Poker

From time to time, casinos offer video poker that is actually in the player's favor (again, if perfect play strategy is used). Be warned: these games generally have large "draw-downs" where the player loses small amounts of money over a period of many sessions before finally hitting a large win that makes up for all the losses and provides a reasonable profit. Be sure your bankroll is large enough to weather the losses prior to jumping in with both feet, or you may find your available funds swallowed up by the standard variance inherent in these types of games.

Nevertheless, if you have a bankroll that is sizable enough to support your play, these games do offer the advantage player nice opportunities to profit.

Currently, Global Player is offering Player Advantage Video Poker regularly during its "Happy Hour," which takes place 3 times per day every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00am - 9:00am, 4:00pm - 5:00pm, and 11:00pm - 12:00am Eastern Standard Time. Games include All American, Double Joker, Jokers Wild, and Deuces Wild Video Pokers, all with an EV in the range of 0.9% in your favor with the VIP comp points included in that figure. Available coin sizes are .05, .10, .25, and $1. Reasonable play speed with $1 coins should provide an expected win of over $30 per hour. HOWEVER, according to Bob Dancer's suggested VP bankroll of 3 to 5 royal flushes, you should have $12,000 - $20,000 available to support your play. Mind you, that is for $1 coins. All numbers provided would need to be adjusted appropriately for the various coin sizes.

Advantage Play Strategy #3 – “Rebate on Loss” Opportunities

Of the three strategies discussed in this article, this one offers the largest player advantage.

The player receives a rebate or refund of a certain set amount of money or a percentage of the total amount of money lost. For example, once a month, Casino On Net offers a $100 rebate on $300 of losses. If you bet $300 and lose it, the casino returns $100 to you (naturally, if you win they pay you your full winnings).

This serves as an excellent advantage for the smart player. Michael Shackelford, the renowned number cruncher affectionately dubbed the ”Wizard of Odds,” has explained the math for this type of deal while encouraging savvy advantage players to capitalize on this.

Here are the “nuts and bolts” of the math and instructions on how to maximize your profits while enjoying minimum risk:

1) Set a large winning goal to double your money or better as this maximizes your expected return.

2) Bet as big as possible for two reasons: A) To increase the likelihood of reaching your goal in as few bets as possible--so you actually win more often, and B) To avoid being ground down by the house advantage as happens with smaller bets.

The expected value (EV) of this promotion is the probability of losing multiplied by the loss rebate (ignoring the house edge, which is relatively insignificant anyway, for simplicity's sake) For example, with a 20% rebate-on-loss offer, a starting session bankroll of $500, and a final session bankroll goal of $1000, the probability of losing is 100% minus 500/1000 or 50%. The positive EV to the bettor is $50 -- 50% of the $100 (20%) rebate amount. The positive EV increases very rapidly if one sets the winning goal higher at lower levels. Continuing with the example already provided, if you increase your winning goal from $1000 to $2000, your EV will increase around 50% (100% minus 500/2000 = 75% of $100 = $75), whereas, an increase from $2000 to $8000 results in an increase of only about 16% (100% minus 500/8000 = 93.75% of $100 = $93.75). For the increase in EV you sacrifice meeting your goal as frequently (which increases your bankroll size requirement).

The downside is that these deals are difficult to find, normally only available once a month or, worse, on a hit or miss basis, and the rebate is often a set limited amount NOT based on a percentage of losses.

Absent wagering requirements and the resulting playable game restrictions, you can often play whichever game you fancy. Obviously, however, as with other types of advantage play, you want to minimize the house advantage as much as possible - so go for either blackjack or any of the even money bets (such as red or black in Roulette, odd or even in Roulette, high or low in Roulette, pass or don't pass in Craps, come or don't come in Craps, or player or banker in Baccarat). The lower the house edge in the game you have chosen, the better this will work.

If you play blackjack, it is best to set your starting bet size at an amount where you can still double and/or split (or both if the casino rules allow it) - but other than those considerations, keep your bet size as high as possible. If you play one of the even money bets, consider making your bet size equivalent to your whole session bankroll.

Advantage Play Strategy #4 - Advantage Sportsbetting

Sportsbetting offers many complex advantage play opportunities, most of which are beyond the scope of this article. From skillful handicapping to scalping/arbitraging to middling, advantage play opportunities are literally everywhere. The most successful advantage play sportsbetting involves shopping for the best lines. We have made line shopping easy by providing you with a directory of trusted sportsbooks, available here.

As you can see, opportunities for advantage play abound. It is still possible to make money gambling. It is still possible to beat the house.