I don’t like to encourage gambling even indirectly (on a statistical “sure thing”) so I didn’t report on this loophole/free money (~$100) until CBC reported it yesterday in “B.C. lottery loophole pays out $100“. The following is an excerpt (emphasis and comments added). By the way, also have a read of my engineer blog friend Horace’s article about his BCLC exploit posted on 2nd Spet, 2010.
“A lottery spokesperson said the apparent loophole is actually part of a promotion for the site, in which newly registered players who sign up before Oct. 5 get a $100 bonus deposit in their accounts from the lottery corporation.
Some players say the promotion seems too easy to exploit to be intentional.
If a player deposits $100 of his own money into an account, goes to the baccarat game and bets $50 on both the player and the banker, he essentially breaks even.
Because he has wagered $100, however, he automatically qualifies for the free $100 deposit bonus.
The player then has to play the same bets one more time, in order to be able to cash out their deposit bonus. If the player continues to play at that point, he risks winning or losing, according to the normal terms of the game.
If the player stops at that point, he then has at least $197.50 in his account, after a $2.50 commission. The player can transfer the whole amount to his own bank account and walk away with the extra $97.50 after a few minutes play.
The lottery spokesperson, who declined to be quoted by name, said the $100 bonus works because most players do not cash out after one hand, even if they win. The explanation that it’s a promotional tool doesn’t make sense, according to online marketer Todd Maffin.
“I can’t imagine this was a marketing ploy,” Maffin told CBC News. “To spend almost $100 to get a customer and hope they wouldn’t cash out … there are cheaper ways to do it, [such as] buy a Google ad.”” [Kempton's note: I am not sure if I understand the facts and stats to agree with Todd. I don't run online casino, but running a Google ad is very different from actually hooking someone to setting up an account, connect it to his/her credit card, and actually getting the person to start gambling with real money. The thrill of winning may be enough of an addiction/hook to get the person to keep gambling in the long run.]
Here are questions interested British Columbian taxpayers may want to ask their provincial government:
- How much money did BCLC lose from this loophole?
- How effective is this BCLC promotional program?
- What programs the BC government has in place to combat online gambling addiction problems?
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i want win lottery