Here’s a quick guide to the basic categories of bonuses you’ll come across while researching online sportsbooks:

Sign-up bonuses: This is a generic term for bonuses made available to new depositors. It’s usually the largest and most-advertised bonus at an online book, splashed across banner ads and mass emails. The idea is to incentivize people to sign up for an account by promising them a freebie, usually in the form of a deposit match. The match rates and maximum earnings vary from book to book – match rates everywhere from 10% to 200% of your qualifying deposit. Even US-facing books are offering rollover rates as low as 4x for sports bets.

Deposit match bonuses: If a book offers deposit match bonuses, you can receive a percentage of your initial deposit in addition to your bank roll. For example, if a 50% match bonus was offered, and a bettor deposited $100, the book would add $50 to the bettor's bank roll as a deposit match bonus.

Free bet bonuses: The second most common form of match, besides a deposit match, is the free bet bonus. This offer is particularly popular at online sportsbooks as opposed to casinos. This not only incentivizes existing customers to try their hand at the sportsbook (with the promise of a free bet bonus), it also attracts new sports bettor members for a quick “worry-free” wager. Basically, a site will match the money you deposit in the form of a free (and immediate) wager – if you lose, you can usually redeem your losses with another bonus which, of course, requires a rollover, usually around 4x for sports bet rebates.

Reload bonuses: Bonuses are considered “reload bonuses” when they incentivize adding new funds to your account. Imagine you run a sportsbook – how do you keep customers coming back after they just lost all their money to you? By offering them a special match rate bonus for reloading their account. Usually, these take the form of a percentage match rate capped at a specific amount.

SPORTS BETTING BONUSES CONCLUSION

Bonuses are fun, so long as you follow a few key principles:

Key bonus principles

• Don’t make a deposit at a sportsbook just to earn a bonus.


• Don’t ignore the terms and conditions.


• Don’t expect to get something for nothing.

If you don’t find a deposit bonus offer you like, you may have luck contacting customer support for a special offer. This is especially true for customers depositing a larger amount of money – say $1,000 or more. Sites love bettors with money ready in hand, so contact the cashier department at your favorite book before your next deposit.