The so-called bonus abuse was a serious problem for online casinos, especially in the past. To this day, gambling providers use bonus offers to attract new customers. They grant the new Player a free starting balance, but expect corresponding activities in return. Over the years, the promotional conditions of the bonus offers have become stricter and stricter, precisely to avoid that so-called "bonus hunters" abuse the promotions. Previously, the bonus conditions of the providers were noticeably more player-friendly, so that the online casinos sometimes had to cope with considerable losses due to the promotions.
To this day, a small percentage of Casino players systematically try to exploit the generous bonus offers of online casinos. For example, they try to claim the Welcome bonus twice by creating a second account. Another type of bonus abuse is to engage in so-called volatility arbitrage. This means that the bonus users select games with low volatility and play them until the games bring in a handsome win. In order to protect against such bonus abuse, the terms and conditions often state that the gaming behavior is checked for "conspicuous gaming patterns". If such behavior is detected, the Online Casino usually cancels the Bonuses and the resulting wins. Likewise, it is not possible to withdraw existing bonus funds before the turnover requirements are met.
Contrary to other statements, however, bonus abuse is generally not punishable by law, i.e. it is not punished with fines or imprisonment and is also not prosecuted by a law enforcement agency. Instead, it is at most a violation of the General Terms and Conditions (GTC). Nevertheless, it is of course not advisable to engage in bonus abuse for various reasons. Ultimately, those involved not only harm the Provider, but also the entire player community