First Deposit / About
Who writes this
About me, and why a beginner is reviewing casinos
Last updated 26 July 2026 · Montréal, Québec
I’m Alex. I fix computers for a living, I live in Montréal, and I am not a professional gambler. That last part is the whole point of this site.
The short story
About a year ago I made my first deposit at an online casino. I clicked a bonus because it said 100%, I had no idea what a wagering requirement was, and I found out what one was by losing money to it. Nobody had explained any of it. The guides I could find were either written by people who clearly had never opened an account, or written by people so experienced they had forgotten what it was like not to know anything.
So I started writing down what happened to me. Then I started doing it deliberately: open an account, walk the same path any new player walks, time every step, keep the screenshots, and publish the awkward parts. That is First Deposit.
What I am
| Name | Alex Bennett |
| Where | Montréal, Québec |
| Day job | IT support specialist |
| Experience | About one year of testing casinos, so: still a beginner |
| What I actually play | Video slots at small stakes, and live blackjack |
| Languages | English, and French well enough to test a French interface |
What I am not
- Not an expert. A year is not expertise. It is enough to have made most of the beginner mistakes once, which turns out to be more useful for you than expertise would be.
- Not a high roller. I test with twenty dollars. If you want reviews written from a five-figure bankroll, there are people who do that, and their experience will not match yours.
- Not a tipster. No system beats a casino. Anyone selling you one is selling you something.
- Not independent of the money. This site earns commission from some operators. That is on its own page, in detail, at how this site makes money.
Why a beginner reviewing casinos is useful at all
Because the friction that matters is beginner friction. An expert knows to verify their account on day one, so they never experience the verification delay that ruins somebody’s first withdrawal. An expert reads bonus terms automatically, so they never discover the five-day expiry the hard way. I still hit those walls, and I write down where they are.
The rules I hold myself to
- I register like anyone else. No press account, no special terms, no contact with the casino beforehand.
- I deposit my own money, and I start with the minimum.
- I publish the test plan before I start, so I cannot quietly skip the parts that go badly.
- I screenshot everything, so you can check my claims instead of trusting them.
- When I get something wrong, I fix it in public and say what changed.
The long version, including the seven stages of a full test, is on the how I test page.
On gambling, since you are here
I enjoy this. I also think an enormous amount of writing about online casinos is dishonest by omission, and that the people most likely to be hurt by that are exactly the people I was a year ago: curious, new, and reading a banner that says 200%.
So every page here carries the same reminder, and I mean it every time. This is entertainment that costs money. It is not income. If it has stopped feeling like a choice, the help page lists free, confidential lines in every province.
Get in touch
Corrections, questions, or a casino you want me to put through the seven stages: the contact page has the addresses. I answer in English or French, and I read everything.