In my personal opinion, those who play in online casinos, and even those who are barely familiar with its activities, have a somewhat misconception about what the bonuses provided by an online gambling resource really are. Usually, these are welcome bonuses for new players, bonuses timed to some sucked out dates, rewards for activity, cashback in case of an unsuccessful game and some “reclamation” bonuses that are much more generous than usual and are intended to “reclaim” the player when he has not visits the site of a gambling resource. Moreover, the word “reclamation” was taken not from the ceiling, but from the words of a certain respectable casino-figure, whose interview was published in one reputable publication devoted to online gambling.
Also, very often, a freebie in the form of promotional codes for free spins and small amounts to a gaming account is used by various affiliates of all stripes to revitalize their resource and advertise a certain online casino. Under the influence of such “promos”, a whole class of Internet idlers has already formed, all of whose life activity is focused on monitoring resources, where such freebies are periodically distributed. Just as in the old days, professional beggars knew by heart all the church holidays, birthdays of all eminent people of the city and churches, in which the parishioners are the most generous, so today’s “bonus catchers” know by heart the schedule of streams with drawing money to the gaming account, they know online casinos, where a freebie is periodically distributed, and scrupulously monitor the resources of affiliates, trying not to be late for the distribution of nishtyaks, to have time to snatch and activate the promotional code faster than their colleagues in this craft.
Earlier, in the era of legal gambling, such people were called “seagulls”. The whole raison d’être of their existence boiled down to daily rounds of gambling halls in search of freebies and a generous playing citizen, with whom, through simple psychological manipulations, they managed to get a hundred or two for the game. I didn’t even think that this tribe would be able to evolve (or degrade?) To such an extent. Now they don’t have to take their butts off the couch to find freebies. It looks wretched, of course, when a bunch of young and not so people do not see any other ways of extracting resources in their lives, except for monitoring the Internet for freebies from a good affiliate or an online casino owner. But this is a more or less obvious side of this medal, degradation under the influence of gambling addiction and micro-doses of freebies. There is a more hidden and veiled, implicit involvement in gambling, retention and “reclamation” of clients of gambling resources. Although at this stage in the development of online gambling, the game industry dealers, in my opinion, have generally ceased to consider it necessary to hide at least something from their clientele. Apparently, their opinion about the analytical skills of their clients fell below the floor, and few ordinary gamblers find time to monitor resources devoted to gambling, if nothing is handed out to them.
Two interviews prompted me to write this article. In one, online casino bonus specialist and CEO of EveryMatrix’s CasinoEngine, Stian Enger Pettersen, talked about how bonuses have evolved. His opinion was published in the 43rd issue of Gambling Insider Friday magazine.
Another was published on the Telegram channel “Casino.News”. In it, Ms. Alina Ziatsikava, owner of SoftSwiss, presenting an overview of the user engagement and retention tools available on the SoftSwiss online casino platform, explained the role of the bonus policy in dealing with players. It is an overview of the tools of involvement and retention in the process of gambling, and not gifts or “generosity” from a gambling resource.
She is echoed by Mr. Stian Enger Pettersen: “Today, the principles are certainly the same as ten years ago. Engage. Hold. Reactivate. But strategies and tools have changed significantly over the past 10-15 years, and one of the biggest changes is how we benefit from our data. ”
The “data” that this gentleman speaks so vaguely about is not only your metrics and geodata. This is, in fact, a drawing of your psychotype and a forecast for the further development of your “playing career”, it is done on the basis of collecting information on the parameters of all your actions on an online resource by fairly advanced programs that have been improving for the second decade. The same programs give recommendations on how to stimulate the “resource biomass” so that it carries out its activities for the longest possible time to squeeze out of itself the largest possible amount of financial resources in favor of those who imposed such an existence on it.
Again, I took the opinion of two different casino figures, at different times expressed by them and quoted on completely different resources. They show the general meaning that bonuses are not a freebie, they are a loop around the gambling addict’s neck, pulling him down to the social bottom and allowing the owners of gambling resources to be exploited without special costs.
The so-called “affiliates” help the owners of gambling shops for 30 pieces of silver to put this stranglehold around our necks, which, in every way advertising “freebies from casinos” for their small percentage, somehow do not really strive to notify the crowd of simpletons about the true purpose bonuses and promotions from online casinos. Again, I will cite the definitions from the gentlemen of online gambling, so as not to once again cause a wave of “indignation” at my “incompetence” from these very affiliates who are sitting at a percentage of our losses and the misfortunes of our loved ones.
Alina Ziatsikava:
“In our company, we believe that bonuses are a kind of backbone on which everything is tied – they not only help retain customers, but also attract new ones. Our visitor does not need to do anything for this – he simply registers at the casino and starts playing. ”
Stian Enger Pettersen:
“Technology has been available for many years to recognize customer behavior patterns and dynamically segment players, allowing operators to develop much more targeted strategies. There are different types of players and at different stages of the life cycle, requiring different actions. the players will behave in the future, for example, who will leave the casino, who can become a VIP client or will be an abuser. Thanks to this, you can immediately make the best decisions in terms of whom and how to reward. ”
That is, as we can see, for a long time there has been a kind of original selection and selection of gambling addicts according to the degree of their usefulness for the gambling resource, and on the basis of this, a conclusion is made about the methods of its most effective stimulation. And again, nothing about the “generosity” of online casinos, the desire to please their customers or share with them a part of their profits. Not a word about the concept that affiliates and streamers are pushing to the masses, about “earnings and passive income” by playing on an online resource. Not a word about “vacation”, for which you have to pay, a favorite concept that employees of online casinos of all ranks rubbed into deceived gamblers. Nothing personal or insignificant, just a well-built business concept of controlled withdrawal of money from gambling addicts.
I do not think that in the near future this rotten “marketing” will be brought into at least some kind of framework with the help of legislative acts and departmental orders of supervisory authorities, but why not express your opinion about this situation from the position of a former gambling addict and expert in this area? Why not warn your fellows in misfortune about the web into which, with the help of all these bonuses and promotions, the owners of online gambling resources are being drawn? And forewarned is forearmed! Here the choice is up to the person himself: to send a forest of game makers with all their “bonus offers”, or to pull the financial yoke for life, sometimes sweetened with micro doses of freebies.
With respect and hope that my brothers in misfortune will see their light,
Alexander Ustinovich, an expert in the field of gambling addiction, gambling addiction and scam studies.
