There’s no such thing as a free lunch. We’ve all heard that refrain during our lifetimes. Is there such as free money from an online sportsbook?
Yes and no.
Search out a variety of online sportsbooks and no matter where you look, you’ll be immediately confronted with that respective sportsbook’s signup bonus offer. It’s their lure, the bait, the hook they hope will convince potential new customers to take that leap and open an account with their site.
On the surface, most of the offers are very attractive. Generally, they come in three varieties – a no-deposit bonus, a matching deposit bonus, or a risk-free first bet.
A no-deposit bonus is exactly what it says – a set sum of money deposited into a new account simply for opening that account. Matching deposits are funds provided by the online sports betting site that are a percentage of a player’s first deposit to their new account. Some sites will match up to 100 percent of that first amount.
Risk-free bets are guarantees against a player’s first wager. If that bet proves to be a losing proposition, the money is returned to their account, almost always in the form of a free bet voucher.
Free bet offers generally come with caps on the amount that will be covered and usually put prohibitions on type of wager or the odds on that wager that will make the free bet clause void.
It’s that last bit of information that should give everyone pause, because it offers living proof that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. There’s a catch.
There’s always a catch. And in the world of online sportsbooks, that catch is almost always that there will be rollover requirements attached to any bonus funds supplied to a bettor. The rollover is the number of times that bonus funds must be wagered prior to a player being allowed to withdraw the money from their accounts.
As well, many of these bonus offers come with a time restriction, so you’ll want to act fast to meet the requirements, or risk losing the bonus funds completely. Also, some sites require players to enter a bonus code to access these new player offers. Ensure that one isn’t needed before completing the signup process, or you might miss out on the bonus.
All of these variables in play are why as a prospective sports bettor, the best strategy is to establish the parameters of a personal sportsbook rollover strategy before opting to join a sports betting site.
How much of a rollover requirement are you willing to tolerate in order to access that bonus? What amount of bonus funding would it require to encourage you to take on a significant rollover amount?
Set these objectives in stone and develop a rollover strategy before you begin looking at sportsbooks. And always read the terms and conditions before agreeing to sign up with any betting site.
Let’s look at some of the leading online sportsbooks and compare their bonus offers, as well as the attached rollover requirements.
Bovada
Among the most reliable and trustworthy sports betting sites in the online industry, Bovada offers a 50 percent matching first deposit bonus to new players. In other words, deposit $500 and you’ll garner $250 in bonus funds.
As far as rollover requirements, Bovada attaches a five-time rollover. So you’ll need to bet that $250 in bonus money five times before it can be taken out of your account.
MyBookie
Like Bovada, MyBookie offers new players a 50 percent matching first deposit bonus. However, theirs is capped at an impressive total of $1,000.
On the other hand, MyBookie requires players to roll over that bonus 10 times before it can be withdrawn from their account.
BookMaker
At BookMaker, they offer a unique bonus to new players who opt to top up their accounts via cryptocurrency. They will match a first deposit 100% up to a maximum of $300.
However, the drawback is that this bonus comes equipped with a rather Draconian 30X rollover requirement.