Sticky Type I Bonus Strategy

A Sticky Type I Bonus is one in which the bonus money may be wagered with, but never withdrawn. Once a player makes a withdrawal, the amount of the sticky bonus is deducted from the players balance. While these bonuses are not as attractive as cashable bonuses, they can still be extremely profitable, and a lot more fun than grinding out a cashable bonus at $3 per hand.

There are a number of strategies that have been developed to best take advantage of Sticky Type I bonuses. The simplest, and easiest to illustrate, is to bet the entire amount (deposit + bonus) on one hand of BJ. Lets assume that you make a $100 deposit and get a $100 sticky type I bonus with a WR of 4x (D+B). If we assume that BJ has zero house advantage (in most cases the HA is about 0.5%), then we would have an equal chance of either winning $200 after our $200 bet, or losing the bet and thus our $100 deposit. So our expected value (EV) from this bonus is $50. If we won the bet, we would then grind through the remaining WR using our normal small bet sizes, thus keeping most of our $200 profit intact. The main problem with employing this strategy is that you do not have the ability to double down or split since we put our entire balance on 1 hand, which effectively changes the HA of BJ from 0.5% to over 2%.

The strategy that I recommend that has proven the most effective is this:

Using our above example, we start with $200 ($100 D + $100 B). Before beginning play, we set a target for how high we want to try to get our total balance up to before withdrawing. The higher the target you set, the greater the risk. Players with larger bankrolls should therefore set higher targets than players with small bankrolls, since they are better equipped to handle greater risk. As a general rule, I believe that setting a target of double or triple the deposit plus bonus is a good way to approach these.

So, let’s assume that you start with the same $200. You have a total bankroll of only $1000 (fairly low), so you decide to set your target at double the D+B, or $400. You are then committed to playing until you either reach the $400 target, or bust out entirely. Using a bet size of around $10-$25 per hand of BJ is suitable to reach this goal. Given that the WR on most sticky type I bonuses are only about 4-10x (D+B), you will find that most of the time you reach the target, you have already completed the WR. Should you reach the target before completing the WR, you will then drop your bets down to your normal bet size, and grind through the remaining WR, thus ensuring a healthy profit. If you have a larger bankroll (say 5k), and set your target at 5 times the deposit plus bonus ($1,000), you will want to make larger bets, in the range of $30-$50 per hand to help reach the target sooner should you get on a nice streak. Just remember, the higher your target, the greater the chances of busting out before you reach your goal.

In some cases, BJ is excluded from counting towards the WR for Sticky type I bonuses. In these cases, JoB VP still offers the player a nice advantage over the house. Players should make larger bets than they normally would, and set and attempt to reach a target just as with the BJ example. In the rare cases that VP is excluded as well, Casino War is probably the next best alternative.

Please note that when playing a sticky type I bonus at a Playtech casino, in most cases, the player must request their withdrawal for the amount that is cashable. For example, if the player played a $100 + $100 sticky type I bonus, and reached their target of 2x D+B ($400). When they withdraw, they will need to request a withdrawal of $300, since the remaining $100 is the sticky bonus. If you attempt to withdraw the entire $400, you will be informed that you have not met the WR. This only applies to Playtech casinos. In most other cases, players make the withdrawal request for the entire balance amount and the sticky portion is removed by the casino.