Casino whoring: What is it & how it works

1. What is casino whoring?

Casino whoring is the practice of chasing bonuses offered by online gambling websites. A bonus whore – as these individuals are termed – will never put down any money on a website. Instead, they’ll use the free bonus money gambling sites offer to turn that cash into a larger sum. 

Online bonuses tend to come in two types. The most common type is the free money bonus. This bonus is given to a player when they first sign up for an account and doesn’t require a deposit. The second type is a matching bonus. To obtain this bonus, the player must make an initial deposit into their account which the casino will match. 

Strictly speaking, casino whoring isn’t illegal. It’s better to view it as a digital advantage play that goes against the spirit of the game that the punter is playing. Card counting in blackjack in a traditional brick-and-mortar casino is a good example of this tactic. 

2.   How does KYC contribute to enhancing security in the wealth management client onboarding process?

All casino bonuses come with a play requirement. To make significant sums out of the practice, players must play a certain amount before they can cash out. This is known as “playthrough” in the industry. Some casinos are wise to the practice and set their play requirements high – it is not unusual for a play requirement to be as high as $1,000 for a $50 no-deposit bonus. That means a player must bet at least $1,000 before meeting the play requirement. 

Because it can be challenging to meet the play requirement, punters don’t tend to play slot machines when they carry out casino whoring. The stakes are completely stacked against the player with this form of gambling. Instead, bonus whores gravitate towards games like blackjack and poker, where they can use strategy to beat the house. 

Examples of casino whoring

Using blackjack as an example, we can illustrate how casino whoring works in practice. Let’s say a player gets a $50 no-deposit bonus and decides to play blackjack at $1 a hand until they have made $100. At that point, they may decide to increase their bet to $2 a hand until they have reached $200 and $3 until they have reached $300. By slowly and stealthily following this strategy, a player can turn $50 into $1,000 or more by gradually upping their bets. 

There are several strategies players can use to carry out casino whoring. Players can search for bonuses with the highest percentage return or low wagering requirements. They can investigate the terms and conditions associated with the bonus to see if they can take advantage of the wagering requirements, the minimum bet allowed, and other restrictions. Or, as previously mentioned, they can focus on games with a low house edge. 

3. Why is casino whoring a problem for casino operators?

Casinos are in business to make money, and advantage players are a threat to that model. Bonus whorers want to turn the odds in their favor and line their pockets at the casino’s expense. 

And in some cases, the sums involved are far from trivial. In 2006, Chris Ferguson, a professional poker player, was able to build a poker bankroll of $10,000 starting with $0 on Full Tilt Poker, an online betting site. 

4. How can businesses protect themselves from bonus whoring?

In the past, bricks and mortar casinos relied on human intelligence to identify bonus whores. That’s much harder in a virtual world. However, gambling operators can use technology to deter unwanted actors from sabotaging their games. 

One way is to identify the risks posed by a customer using Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Veriff’s identity verification technology, for example, verifies the identity of new customers, screens them against sanctions watchlists, and checks for negative news. By analyzing hundreds of data points, Veriff can stop bad actors from accessing gambling sites. 

Of course, some bonus whores might still attempt to gain access using a fake ID. This is where Veriff’s AI-powered ID verification software can also make a difference. With the ability to identify 11,500 types of ID across 230 countries and territories, Veriff’s technology can detect fake IDs and stop identity fraud at the gates.

Left unaddressed, casino whoring can put a serious dent in your finances. Talk to us today to find out how you can stamp out this practice. 

5.  How can businesses protect themselves from bonus whoring?

The gaming industry has high hurdles to clear — such as costly and complex regulatory requirements and delivering a bespoke user experience that differentiates your brand and minimizes friction. Veriff is helping gaming companies across the board. Veriff makes things as quick, simple, and user-friendly as possible while supporting compliance requirements.

Verify players the first time

Improve your conversion rates with an easy and straightforward verification flow, which helps real players get verified on the first try. Confirm players´ ages with one simple integration.

Make onboarding simple

Know that people who are using your platform are who they say they are and keep your online community safe. Get people playing with no hassle — Veriff provides an intuitive and inclusive process that allows users to use the device or platform of their choice whether that be iOS, Android, or the web.

Reduce errors

Leverage industry-leading AI and data extraction to prefill forms with data from a government-issued identity document, while mitigating manual input error.

A layered approach

We can combine face, document, device, and network diagnostics with video-based behavior analysis to mitigate sophisticated advanced and recurring fraud such as chip dumping, bonus abuse, and multi-accounting. 

6. How is Veriff helping gaming operators?

The gaming industry has high hurdles to clear — such as costly and complex regulatory requirements and delivering a bespoke user experience that differentiates your brand and minimizes friction. Veriff is helping gaming companies across the board. Veriff makes things as quick, simple, and user-friendly as possible while supporting compliance requirements.

Verify players the first time

Improve your conversion rates with an easy and straightforward verification flow which helps real players get verified on the first try. Confirm players´ ages with one simple integration.

Make onboarding simple

Know that people who are using your platform are who they say they are and keep your online community safe. Get people playing with no hassle — Veriff provides an intuitive and inclusive process that allows users to use the device or platform of their choice whether that be iOS, Android, or the web.

Reduce errors

Leverage industry-leading AI and data extraction to prefill forms with data from a government-issued identity document, while mitigating manual input error.

A layered approach

We can combine face, document, device, and network diagnostics with video-based behavior analysis to mitigate sophisticated advanced and recurring fraud such as chip dumping, bonus abuse, and multi-accounting.