Loopholes are great when they are enacted carefully and thoughtfully – in tax, finance, and other regulated industries – so long as you’re sure they’re legal and aren’t going to get you in hot water in the future. It’s important to stay on top of the latest updates to laws in these sort of matters, which is why many people go down through route of outsourcing their management to specialised accountants and lawyers.
One place where loopholes are bound to get you in trouble is in the gambling industry. ‘The house always wins’ is generally true, even if you plead your case.
A loophole too good to be true
A famous case was that of Michael Friberg John Kane – who netted hundreds of thousands of dollars when he uncovered a winning bug that existed in the Game King poker machine game. The game was all over Vegas and Kane found out how to exploit it for a payout any time he liked, even roping in an accomplice when he realised more wins would bump up his tax bracket.
You see, even though the fault was with the company – the bug was their responsibility – charges were laid against the two men for conspiracy and for violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. While, in the end, charges were dropped, this is perhaps the only luck in this story – a tale that if you abuse the system, things will go down that aren’t good for your livelihood.
Casinos and their T&Cs
The prospect of free money or a bonus is always appealing. But it generally comes with strict terms and conditions – that if you don’t follow, can amount to fraud. This is regardless of whether you’re playing at a land-based casino, or online.
Land-based casino bonuses can come in the form of benefits like member raffles or free hotel stays, while online casino bonuses include no deposit bonuses, matched deposits, and free spins. Terms and conditions may include: for land-based casinos, that you’d need to be present onsite the day a raffle is drawn, for online casinos, that you may only claim a certain number of matched deposit bonuses. If you send a friend to the land-based casino in your place because you’re busy working that day… well, that’s not a loophole, that’s fraud. And if you sign up for more online bonuses under your mother’s name, again, that’s not a loophole, that’s fraud.
Granted, you might be doing inadvertently, but the casino you’re playing at might not really see it that way, so you need to be aware of this. We understand that it’s easy to get caught up in all the excitement, particularly when you’re gambling to win real money, but as with everything in life, you gotta play by the rules! And said rules come in the form of T&Cs…
How to play by the rules for maximum bonus coverage
The easiest way to get more bonuses from casinos, be it online or offline, is to play around at various different establishments.
Each casino will have to enrol you in their membership program to trigger the bonuses, and each casino comes with a different process. The only time this isn’t the case is when you’re dealing with partner casinos – for instance, Crown Casino in Melbourne is linked to Crown Casino in Perth, where you would carry over your account. Some online casinos may also be partners.
If you’re bonus hunting, check out which casinos you can play at within your jurisdiction. Since everywhere around the world is different when it comes to where you can play legally, it’s important to check in the T&Cs that you’re able to get a pay-out – based on your current country of residency and/or citizenship. This is true even in land-based casinos. For instance, in Vietnam, it is only legal for foreigners to play at land-based casinos; it is illegal for Vietnamese residents to play.
Keep an eye out for changing rules and new entrants to the field
The rules surrounding bonuses at casinos tend to be in an ever-changing state. What once was legal under a certain governing body could be illegal the next year. Keeping tabs on what the gaming authorities are doing under the jurisdiction in which you intend to play is key.
With opening regulations and new entrants in places like the US, however, you may find that there are more options available and new casinos to play at – hence more bonuses. Like keeping an eye on the fintech markets across different countries on a day-to-day or weekly basis, it can pay to keep tabs on the ever-changing state of casino bonuses worldwide. It’s better than risking fraud to do so.
