You've probably seen a sentence like this in most casinos' bonus terms and conditions: "Roulette, Craps, and Baccarat do not qualify for wagering requirements." You may ask yourself why a casino would disqualify certain games from playthrough requirements, and why they wouldn't also include Blackjack since it can have the lowest house edge in the casino.

The primary reason casinos disqualify those games is because they contain opportunities for what casinos consider "no risk" wagers, and the casinos don't have either the capability or the time to monitor your play to detect these types of bets.

Betting on Red and Black in Roulette. Banker and Player in Baccarat. Pass and Don't Pass in Craps. Those are some examples of wagers that casinos dislike, since they feel a player can artificially inflate their wagering volume without risking their deposit, and then withdraw the bonus without ever really risking their own money.

While those types of bets can affect a player's wagering variance or volatility, they are definitely not "no risk" to the player. In fact, some casinos may want to encourage players to place those three types of bets, since it might attract players who think they're taking advantage of the casino, but are in fact just duping themselves.

Let's take a look at one example of a common no-risk wager, betting on both the Pass and Don't Pass Line in Craps. If a 2 or 3 is rolled on the Come Out Roll, the Don't Pass bet is paid at even money, while the Pass bet loses. If a 7 or 11 is rolled, the Pass bet pays even money while the Don't Pass bet loses. The tiebreaker is the 12 - if it is rolled, the Don't Pass bet is a push, while the Pass bet loses.

For someone trying to use this betting scheme, the expected house edge is 1.39%. That's slightly better than the 1.41% edge for the Pass Line, but is worse than the 1.36% for the Don't Pass Line. A player trying to minimize their losses is better off just sticking to the Don't Pass Line.

In Roulette, if you bet $10 on red and $10 on black, the house will win whenever a 0 or 00 comes up, which results in a house edge of 5.26% on an American table and 2.70% on a European one, no better than any other bet on the same table. Similarly, in Baccarat you're better off betting on Banker than both Player and Banker.

Many people will argue that the reason no-risk wagers are disqualified from bonus wagering requirements is because it gives players a way of artificially increasing their overall wagering volume, which makes it easier for players to meet the required threshold. Or it helps players reduce their risk of ruin by smoothing out the volatility of their wagering sessions. These are valid arguments, but in the end no-risk wagers will give back more money to the house than other, smarter wagers at the same table will. I'd like to see a casino run a limited-time promotion that encourages people to place no-risk wagers, or at least doesn't discourage them. It may attract some good, dumb money.

Jake Soroka has worked in i-gaming marketing and product development since 1999. He is currently the President of Exigency Group, an online gaming consulting firm. He can be reached at jake@exigencygroup.com