What constitutes bonus abuse?

Don’t be fooled. Casinos can and do take action against players they consider to be abusing the bonus system.

Many a player before you has been stripped of their bonus privileges and a huge proportion of disputes with online casinos are centred around bonuses. A typical casino response where they suspect abuse is to freeze your gaming account and to return your deposit.
So the question becomes: what constitutes bonus ‘abuse’ and how do you make sure you are not considered to be abusing the bonus system? The answer is a bit murky and some casinos take a stricter approach than others. It is the sign up or welcome bonus that is the subject of most abuse. Opening multiple accounts at the same casino will definitely land you with the label ‘abuser’ and whilst I don’t agree with this type of behaviour (and is clearly against the rules of most if not all casinos) I don’t think bonus abuse the correct term. However, it is pretty hard to register more than one account these days and if you ever intend on cashing out your winnings you should always use your real name as you will have to go through some pretty serious identification checks.
It is because of bonus abusers in the past who thought that bonuses were bonus money to take home that we now have higher (actually, very high) wagering requirements and can only be meet on certain games that have a higher house edge (like the slots). Sticky bonuses are the next step after wagering requirements (these are bonuses where you can withdraw your winnings but not your actual bonus).