MilesBuzz! - Miles From Online Casinos

I am brand new to this whole site, so I apologize if this topic has been well discussed. I have noticed all of the strings regarding getting gift cards with credit cards and then either cashing them in or getting money orders.

I was wondering if anyone has ever tried using a mileage earning credit card to put a large deposit in an account for an internet casino. I'm thinking that the money could be deposited, one bet could be made, and then you could request a withdrawal from the account. Keep funding and keep getting withdrawals.

I don't know what rules are in place with credit card companies relating to funding gambling accounts, but I would guess that it should work.

Thank you for your feedback and advice.

Hmmmmm interesting idea....

Plus, a lot of casinos will give you a "kicker" when you make a deposit. You deposti $10,000, but they put $10,100 in your account.

I'm betting (pun intended) that it would show as a cash advance, but....

Anyone?

Difficult and not recommended for several reasons. First, the payment processors for most online casinos are on a block list and few if any of the major milage credit cards will allow charges from those vendors. Second, you're throwing $10,000 into an unregulated company in a foreign country. If they refuse to refund it to you, you'll probably never see it again. Third, I have a friend who attempted this, had their credit card charges rejected for reason 1 above, then subsequently had fraudulent purchases posted against all 3 credit cards used (but no other credit cards the owner had). Fourth, if you steer clear of all 3 of the above problems, you're probably with a reputable company who will refund all deposits to the card they were charged to. They are ususally only willing to send you a check for any winnings above the initial deposit.

The small deposits I've made to an online poker room have all showed as purchases and earned miles. (MP visa)

I've considered the idea, but I haven't executed it yet. The litmus test will be what happens when you "cash out".

I've read some of the threads before when this was mentioned, but never put pen to paper.......the main concern from our friends in the US is the unregulated companies you are transferring large sums to - in the UK, all the main, highly regulated gambling companies, ie Ladbrookes & William Hills to mention 2, offer on-line gaming.

I have to admit, last year I was a little hooked on the old blackjack on these things and did deposit and withdraw large sums throughout the year. I was using a Barclaycard Visa (wasn't hooked on the points thing then!) and had a complete mix of transaction types when withdrawing funds. ALL the deposits went though as purchases - no exception there. Just the withdrawals were mixed. Great - when it was a card payment, points for the B'card scheme (Nectar :td: :td: ) accrued - however, sometimes it did come through as a refund and hence no points!

This year, I signed up for the UK Mileage + Visa card and did my first "test" last month of GBP100. I am travelling back from the US and expect that months's statement to be awaiting me, so then I will see if points were awarded or not ! I'm a bit nervous though of either the Casino seeing you are not actually gambling (must read throug T+Cs carefully) or the Bank changing the transaction type.

This could work for a while and I really have NO fears about losing funds - but I really doubt this is a long term route for points - unless you are really good at gambling......GBP5000 on red or black anyone ;)

Neil

OK - just looked at online statement for last month and the refund from the Casino appears as a "Payment" and not a refund from the supplier - so I assume the 100 points have come through - maybe try 1000 next week to see if that works OK

In the US, online gaming is questionably legal. Hence, if you have a grievance with your online bookie, you have little hope in the way of regulators to go to bat for you.

From what I understand, online gaming may be legal and regulated in the UK and EU. There you have a better chance of working action for credit card miles and not getting burned.


On a related note, I just came back from a friend's house and his new, 1 month old computer had multiple spy/hacker programs running on it. Picked up, presumably, from his venture onto the online poker sites. If you are running Win 98, XP or ME, you can see the programs loading on startup by clicking: Start > Run...
and then typing in: msconfig (click OK)
and then clicking the Startup tab on the window that opens

Most of these progs are ok, but typing in their name at Mr. Google's website will get you info on whether they are spyware or not. If you have entries with no names, they are definitely spyware/viruses.

.....

If you are a high roller the casinos will comp you a free plane ticket to Vegas. :D

What is a high roller? Obviously, any major celebrity that ends up on Entertainment Tonight in front of the casino qualifies, but what about the regular folk?

Does a high roller need to wager $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 on a weekend jaunt to qualify? Are there different limits based on sports betting versus table games? (for example the house always gets a 10% vig on a sports bet)

Does he/she need to lose 10-25% of the time?

Does he/she need to always go to the same casino?

How often do they need to gamble to maintain their High Roller status?

Do they need to carry around those stupid casino player's club cards? That would kill the deal for me.

Which casinos treat there high rollers the best?

OK, I know all those FTers out there can answer these Q's. Because, if there's a way to fly for free as a high roller, I know you all are doing it :D ;) :)

What is a high roller? Obviously, any major celebrity that ends up on Entertainment Tonight in front of the casino qualifies, but what about the regular folk?

Does a high roller need to wager $25,000, $50,000 or $100,000 on a weekend jaunt to qualify? Are there different limits based on sports betting versus table games? (for example the house always gets a 10% vig on a sports bet)

Does he/she need to lose 10-25% of the time?

Does he/she need to always go to the same casino?

How often do they need to gamble to maintain their High Roller status?

Do they need to carry around those stupid casino player's club cards? That would kill the deal for me.

Which casinos treat there high rollers the best?


The easiest answer to this is that it depends on the hotel and the location. A high roller is a different animal at a Reno casino than at a Vegas strip casino, and so on.

But what will kill the deal for you is that you'll have to carry around a casino player's card. That's the major way that they track you as a high roller.

Mike

But what will kill the deal for you is that you'll have to carry around a casino player's card. That's the major way that they track you as a high roller.

Mike

Thanks, Mike. I was actually being sarcastic here. ;) I realize that most casino's use their player cards to dole out perks. (I'm assuming it's become like the airlines miles programs)

I was wondering that once you achieve High Roller status, do you need to keep showing your card or do the pit bosses just automatically check you in?

Also, in keeping with the miles analogy, what are the levels at which you get perks? Are there silver, gold and platinum levels?

I have used 2-3 of my airline/hotel miles earnings credit cards to fund several online sportsbooks I bet w/. I'd say about 90% of the time the trasnactions come through as purchases and I get miles. I've received thousands of miles this way. It just depends by how the transaction is processed...a few times they went through as cash advances and I wanst a happy camper as the interest rate and fees went up.

As mentioned earlier, I always believed that the casinos would refund your credit card with any winnings, and that they would only send you a check for winnings above your deposits.
Does anyone know of a casino that does otherwise?

Thanks, Mike. I was actually being sarcastic here. ;) I realize that most casino's use their player cards to dole out perks. (I'm assuming it's become like the airlines miles programs)

I was wondering that once you achieve High Roller status, do you need to keep showing your card or do the pit bosses just automatically check you in?

Also, in keeping with the miles analogy, what are the levels at which you get perks? Are there silver, gold and platinum levels?

All of these answers depend on the casino. A good pit boss will recognize you by sight, but you might need to keep showing the card to different shifts or different pits.

And most of the casinos have different elite levels as well. The one right down the street from where I live (the Atlantis in Reno) has a player's club with five different levels, ranging from the regular to the (by invitation only) "Royal Diamond" level, which has its own Concierge access, reserved parking, and free car wash. (I only know this because I'm on their mailing list, and they just sent me a flyer outlining the new program.) :D

The perks, of course, will vary by location and level, but even the lowest levels are eligible for comps on food or rooms in most casinos.

Mike

As mentioned earlier, I always believed that the casinos would refund your credit card with any winnings, and that they would only send you a check for winnings above your deposits.
Does anyone know of a casino that does otherwise?

In the United States, there are many MasterCard and Visa cards that will allow you to make purchases at online casinos, but (and I know this because I am a regular player at PokerRoom.com) ALL MASTERCARD and all US-BASED VISA cards do not allow withdrawals from online casinos anymore... it used to be that casinos would credit the amount of your initial deposit back to your credit card or bank account and would only mail you a check for the rest - now they send you a check for your entire deposit.

Before doing this, I'd make sure that you're dealing with a licensed casino like PokerRoom (which offers blackjack, baccarat, etc.) or PartyPoker or UltimateBet, etc... that way there's no risk of your money being lost to some fly-by-night upstart in Indonesia.

Without fail, I have always gotten a check from PokerRoom (fedexed at no additional cost as long as >$1000) for the full amount of my withdrawal.

In the United States, there are many MasterCard and Visa cards that will allow you to make purchases at online casinos.

I haven't found any in a long time. If you know of one (some), do post!

Recently tried funding a poker site with over 20 different CC's. Every single one rejected. Called several, they said the site was on a "fraud list".

In any case, at least with poker sites, the fees for using CC's are way prohibitive, up to 10%.

That’s sound like a good idea.

I recently received a $100 check from PartyPoker.com ! I wanted to test how fast they pay you and the check came in a week. I left some money in my account since I still play on-line. Last week I entered a tournament. It only cost me $11 (you get $10,000 of ‘play money’, but the winners get real money) and I played for a couple of hours, but then lost everything on an all-in hand. Not bad for two hours of fun playing poker and a chance for a good prize and free entry into a bigger tournament.

Of the $100, $80 was free bonus money they gave me. I left the rest of my money in my account since I still am playing on-line.

THE BONUS MONEY

When you sign up you have a choice of a $25 bonus on your first deposit (enter code Stratbonus) or 20% of the deposit up to $100 (enter code Strat20). After signing up and playing for awhile they often offer another 15% bonus on an additional deposit.

Also, in my case, after signing up I didn’t play for a couple of weeks, so they offered me $20 of money if I started to play again. I played the lowest level hold ‘em (50 cents and a dollar) and won a little bit.

You don’t actually get to cash out the bonus money until you play a certain number of hands (I think 5 times the bonus so for $25 you need 125 hands), but it is not hard to do and as long as you play a conservative game one should so OK.

I made my intial deposit to Partypoker.com on my Mastercard and it was treated the same as any other purchase. After requesting the $100, it arrived a week later so I expect the plan to get free airmiles would work.

I was a pretty regular on-line gambler a few years ago, but gave it up, for the following reasons:

1. I did some research at a law library, and found that on-line gambling (like all gambling) is flat out illegal in my state (Virginia). There is no "air" or loophole in the law whatever; it bans all forms of gambling, including office football pools and friendly living room poker games. The punishment for a first-time, low-level gambler isn't that severe (as I recall, it's a misdemeanor). But the thing that scared me is that the law says they can immediately seize "gambling equipment," which I take to mean that they could confiscate my computer, which would be very depressing. So check out the law in your state, and make sure you're comfortable with your legal situation.

2. As a previous poster indicated, I quickly found my computer clogged with spyware when I downloaded the gambling software that most on-line casinos require. I've subsequently gotten another computer, and it is completely free of any any such spyware. On the other hand, gambling-site-related spyware still pops up on my old computer, which I keep in a spare room and use occasionally -- despite the fact that I deleted the on-line gambling software years ago!

3. I actually made a few dollars over the period that I was gambling on-line, largely because I was taking advantage of the "free dollars" offers of many of the on-line casinos, then cashing out and abandoning them. However, this apparently got me blacklisted, and toward the end of my "run" I was getting immediately locked out by the newer casinos, as well as the older casinos that were getting to know me and my reputation.

4. I must have dealt with 30 or 40 different on-line casinos during my run, and all but one of them paid off promptly and professionally. The one that didn't, however, was a nightmare.

I have no moral argument with anyone who gambles on-line with money they can afford to lose, and wish you all the best. But I just wanted to share this practical information with anyone considering on-line gambling and earning any associated frequent flyer points.

Drifting a little further off topic, I wouldn't worry too much about having your computer seized as "gambling equipment". In fact, it's the USA that has something to worry about here -- its online gambling prohibitions are being challenged at the World Trade Organization as violations of trade treaties.

Congress needs to deal with this, pronto. It needs to face reality that this activity is popular and can't effectively be banned. Instead, the feds could regulate online gaming and establish a certification program to assure the casino's fair play and solvency. Casinos who submit to such a reg. scheme would be trusted, and thus successful. Scams and insolvent casinos would have great difficulty pulling in the players (once word gets out).

Such regulation is also the best way to minimize underage gambling and organized crime influence.

I also had good success at Partypoker.com

After watching poker on tv, it was fun to enter a tournament and make large bets (albeit with 'play' money). My brother actually made it into the top 5 in a $10 tournament, and got a free entry into a $250 tournament with a large price. Unfortunately, he didn't do as well in that Tournament.


That’s sound like a good idea.

I recently received a $100 check from PartyPoker.com ! I wanted to test how fast they pay you and the check came in a week. I left some money in my account since I still play on-line. Last week I entered a tournament. It only cost me $11 (you get $10,000 of ‘play money’, but the winners get real money) and I played for a couple of hours, but then lost everything on an all-in hand. Not bad for two hours of fun playing poker and a chance for a good prize and free entry into a bigger tournament.

Of the $100, $80 was free bonus money they gave me. I left the rest of my money in my account since I still am playing on-line.

THE BONUS MONEY

When you sign up you have a choice of a $25 bonus on your first deposit (enter code Stratbonus) or 20% of the deposit up to $100 (enter code Strat20). After signing up and playing for awhile they often offer another 15% bonus on an additional deposit.

Also, in my case, after signing up I didn’t play for a couple of weeks, so they offered me $20 of money if I started to play again. I played the lowest level hold ‘em (50 cents and a dollar) and won a little bit.

You don’t actually get to cash out the bonus money until you play a certain number of hands (I think 5 times the bonus so for $25 you need 125 hands), but it is not hard to do and as long as you play a conservative game one should so OK.

I made my intial deposit to Partypoker.com on my Mastercard and it was treated the same as any other purchase. After requesting the $100, it arrived a week later so I expect the plan to get free airmiles would work.

1. I did some research at a law library, and found that on-line gambling (like all gambling) is flat out illegal in my state (Virginia). There is no "air" or loophole in the law whatever; it bans all forms of gambling, including office football pools and friendly living room poker games.

I'm not providing anyone legal advice here, but this appears to be incorrect. Here is an excerpt of the relevant Virginia Code:

§ 18.2-334. Exception to article; private residences.

Nothing in this article shall be construed to make it illegal to participate in a game of chance conducted in a private residence, provided such private residence is not commonly used for such games of chance and there is no operator as defined in subsection 4 of § 18.2-325.

In terms of on-line poker, Virginia is one of the states that makes placing a bet illegal, so on-line gambling is probably a Class 3 misdemeanor. To my knowledge, no one has ever been charged with illegal gambling as a result of on-line gambling.

[QUOTE=cantstop]In the US, online gaming is questionably legal."



In the US you are breaking a few differnt laws if you gamble online.
just keep that in mind and if you win any large sum be sure to declare it on your tax form.

peace
wwonka

All online casinos will only refund the initial card you used to buy the chips, so you will not have any net gains... The only way I can think of doing this is to buy with one credit card, transfer your chips over to a friend (or another account created by yourself) and cash them out onto a separate, non-miles accruing card.
Haven't tried it yet though!

The previous message is incorrect.

You can deposit by credit card (and get the points credit).

When you cash out your account or part of your account you are given a number of choices - check or direct transfer to your bank account. I got a check.

This is not a refund of your deposit so it won't go back on your credit card.

[QUOTE=cantstop]In the US, online gaming is questionably legal."



In the US you are breaking a few differnt laws if you gamble online.
just keep that in mind and if you win any large sum be sure to declare it on your tax form.

peace
wwonka

That is not completely true.
There are a number of legitimate on-line websites that permit betting on HORSE RACINg, unless you dont consider horse racing gambling :D such as Youbet.com ( which is owned by a subsidary of Churchill downs) and Brisbet.com.
I have used printouts of my activity on such sites as verification with the IRS.
for some years now.


It is also not true as another poster stated the state of Vriginia does not permit ANY FORM OF GAMBLING
When he has some time he might enjoy himself betting at the Colonial Downs Racetrack in Kent, Virginia.
mike

I have been active in the on line casino scene for several years. In fact, at one time I established and ran a function called "Gambling Grumbles" for Gambling.com, the biggest gambling portal on the internet. (It is not a casino, but makes its money from casinos' advertisements.)

Gambling Grumbles took complaints from people who felt they were cheated by on-line casinos, investigated them, tried to work with the casinos to get valid complaints treated fairly, and reported the results -- good or bad -- on line.

(Unfortunately, Gambling.com was sold and the new owners are not interested in having this feature.)

I learned a lot during that time: There are some very honest on-line casinos and quite a few crooks -- and it is not easy to determine which is which. Generally, a casino that works with a major software operator, like Microgaming, tends to be among the honest ones --but even that is not 100% sure.

I would not give my money to any on-line casino unless I knew someone who had a lot of experience with it and recommended it.

As to the legality of on line gambling in the States, it is a very grey area. However, to the best of my knowledge no person has ever been prosecuted, or even charged, for gambling on line as a customer. The few casinos that were foolish enough to operate on U.S. soil have, indeed, found themselves in legal trouble.

There is one place on line which I can recommend but I do it with a couple of warnings:

1. If you sign up for the site Anybets.com (http://www.anybets.com?referrerID=10043) through this link, I will get a slight payment, so while I am comfortable in my mind about it, you might not be.

2. Some American credit card companies will let you deposit here, others will not. I had no problem using my American-issued Amex. Amex did not bill it as a cash advance and I got my SkyMiles for it.

3. They will not refund your money to your credit card. They will, however, either send you a check or make a wire transfer to your bank.

4. They are not a casino, in that you can not play roulette, slots, blackjack, etc on the site. Instead, they offer parimutuel pools on a large variety of propositions, running from American football games to elections in various countries. (What I like about their football pools are that do not use a point spread -- if your team wins, it wins, no matter by how many points.)

5. You can make bets for as little as 1 cent, but you have to deposit at least $25. You can get a 20% bonus if you make the deposit through Neteller, but there is a catch there -- you have to play both the deposit and bonus 5 times before you can make a withdrawal. (eg: If you deposit $100, and get a $20 bonus, you start with $120 but have to make a total of $600 in bets.)

The site is run by Graeme Levin, who was the original CEO of Gambling.com and one of the most respected people in the on line gaming industry. He is also a personal friend.

The legality question appears to be a 'red herring'. I haven't ever heard anyone experience such issues.

QUOTE=JohnOClark]That’s sound like a good idea.

I recently received a $100 check from PartyPoker.com ! I wanted to test how fast they pay you and the check came in a week. I left some money in my account since I still play on-line. Last week I entered a tournament. It only cost me $11 (you get $10,000 of ‘play money’, but the winners get real money) and I played for a couple of hours, but then lost everything on an all-in hand. Not bad for two hours of fun playing poker and a chance for a good prize and free entry into a bigger tournament.

Of the $100, $80 was free bonus money they gave me. I left the rest of my money in my account since I still am playing on-line.

THE BONUS MONEY

When you sign up you have a choice of a $25 bonus on your first deposit (enter code Stratbonus) or 20% of the deposit up to $100 (enter code Strat20). After signing up and playing for awhile they often offer another 15% bonus on an additional deposit.

Also, in my case, after signing up I didn’t play for a couple of weeks, so they offered me $20 of money if I started to play again. I played the lowest level hold ‘em (50 cents and a dollar) and won a little bit.

You don’t actually get to cash out the bonus money until you play a certain number of hands (I think 5 times the bonus so for $25 you need 125 hands), but it is not hard to do and as long as you play a conservative game one should so OK.

I made my intial deposit to Partypoker.com on my Mastercard and it was treated the same as any other purchase. After requesting the $100, it arrived a week later so I expect the plan to get free airmiles would work.[/QUOTE]