Most bettors will just get a bonus bet and shoot it into the first catchy looking wager they find. Some look for strong favorites, cutting the risks so that the chances of getting some cash is higher. Others will take that bonus bet as a means to charge at the longest odds or big parlay combos, so if the bonus bet does win, they are cashing out large wads of money. While there are no sureties or safer wagers in sports betting, there are smarter ways to use your bonus bet than to throw it at the first bet you see.
In fact, there are advanced betting strategies that revolve around how you use bonus bets, and perhaps more importantly, how you source them. When using your bonus bet, one of the first things to consider is the conditions of the bonus, and how exactly the bonus works. From there, you can learn a few smart tips around maximizing your bonus bet, and appreciating these offers instead of firing them at random bets.
Type of Bonus Bets
The traditional bonus bet is a coupon that you receive, which you can use to fund your next wager. It is essentially a free betting stake, that you can apply to any bonus that meets the bonus conditions. But there are a number of ways that these bonuses can be offered to you.
- Straight bonus bets: You don’t need to make any preliminary action to qualify for this bet. It may be a personal offer, or it can be offered via a limited run promo – with or without a no deposit promo code
- Second Chance/No Sweat bonus bet: You must place an initial qualifying bet to claim this bonus. Some offers only give you a bonus if your bet fails, or if you win that initial bet, depending on the offer and the sportsbook
- Reload deposit bonus: You get a match on your deposit, boosting your funds up to a determined max limit. This is not a bonus bet, but bonus funds, which you can use to fund your next wagers
Regardless of how you got your bonus, let’s say you have one in your account right now. You have to do a quick check through the bonus bet terms and conditions to see where it can be used. Generally, most sportsbooks use the same policies, albeit with a few tweaks depending on the size of the bonus, whether it is tied to any specific events, and other small nuances.
General Bonus Conditions
All bonus bets are just betting stakes, and you won’t get the amount of the bonus bet in the returns on a winning bet. For example, you stake a $10 bonus bet on odds of +200. The bet wins, and normally that would mean you receive $20 + $10. But with bonus bets, you just get the $20 profit from the bet, and not the remaining $10 (the stake) back.
Besides that, bonus bets usually have the following requirements:
- Cannot be used in conjunction with other bonuses
- No cashout/early payout
- They cannot be used to hedge existing bets
- Minimum odds requirements
- Max payout limits
- Can/cannot be used in: parlays/SGP/teasers/live bets/futures
You have a limited time frame to use your bonus, generally from a few days up to a week. Some bonus bets are tied to specific events, so you cannot place them on any sports or any game. For example, a bonus bet that is tied to an English Premier League game between Manchester City and Arsenal. It means you have to use the bonus on any of the allowed wagers in that game. Also, you have an exact deadline when the bonus becomes invalid, usually right before the game.
With all that in mind, let’s move onto the smarter ways to use your bonus bets.
How to Use Bonus Bets Smarter
The things you want to avoid with your bonus bet is pumping it into poor value wagers or picking bets that are too risky and have a very low chance of winning. You can’t win them all, but if you pick a bet with the right odds and high perceived value, then you are giving yourself the best edge over the house.
Betting Odds Math
This is not really a strategy, but more of an important footnote that you should be aware of before using a bonus bet. The fact that you aren’t getting the bonus stake included in your returns (on a win), means that you need to be cautious about the betting odds you take. Picking bets with negative odds (favorite bets) have a higher chance of winning, but they are not necessarily the best use of your resources.
When calculating Expected Value, you always use the formula:
EV = (Probability of Winning x Profit) – (Loss Probability x Stake)
But as the stake here is 0 (you aren’t placing a cash bet but a bonus bet), the Expected Value is always positive. However, the real differences start appearing when you compare that EV percentage against the size of the bonus – which is where you can look for better value on your bonuses.
| Odds | Implied Probability | Profit (on $10 Bet) | After 10 Bets Profit/Total Bonus % | After 25 Bets Profit/Total Bonus % | After 35 Bets Profit/Total Bonus % | After 50 Bets Profit/Total Bonus % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.25 (-400) | 0.8 (80%) | $2.50 | 8 Wins = $2 20% | 20 Wins = $50 20% | 28 Wins = $70 20% | 40 Wins = $100 20% |
| 1.5 (-200) | 0.67 (66.67%) | $5 | 6 Wins = $30 30% | 16 Wins = $80 32% | 23 Wins = $115 32.86% | 32 Wins = $160 32% |
| 1.75 (-133) | 0.57 (57.14%) | $7.50 | 5 Wins = $37.50 37.50% | 14 Wins = $105 42% | 20 Wins = $150 42.86% | 28 Wins = $210 42% |
| 2 (+100) | 0.5 (50%) | $10 | 5 Win = $50 50% | 12 Wins = $120 48% | 17 Wins = $170 48.57% | 24 Wins = $240 48% |
| 2.5 (+150) | 0.4 (40%) | $15 | 4 Wins = $60 60% | 10 Wins = $150 60% | 14 Wins = $210 60% | 20 Wins = $300 60% |
| 3 (+200) | 0.33 (33.33%) | $20 | 3 Wins = $60 60% | 8 Wins = $160 64% | 11 Wins = $220 62.86% | 16 Wins = $320 64% |
| 4 (+300) | 0.25 (25%) | $30 | 2 Wins = $60 60% | 6 Wins = $180 72% | 8 Wins = $240 68.57% | 12 Wins = $360 72% |
| 5 (+400) | 0.2 (20%) | $40 | 2 Wins = $80 80% | 5 Wins = $200 80% | 7 Wins = $210 60% | 10 Wins = $400 80% |
| 6 (+500) | 0.16 (16.66%) | $50 | 1 Win = $50 50% | 4 Wins = $200 80% | 5 Wins = $250 71.43% | 8 Wins = $400 80% |
| 7 (+600) | 0.14 (14.28%) | $60 | 1 Win = $60 60% | 3 Wins = $180 72% | 5 Wins = $300 85.71% | 6 Wins = $360 72% |
| 8 (+700) | 0.12 (12.50%) | $70 | 1 Win = $70 70% | 3 Wins = $210 84% | 4 Wins = $280 80% | 6 Wins = $420 84% |
| 9 (+800) | 0.11 (11.11%) | $80 | 1 Win = $80 80% | 2 Wins = $160 64% | 3 Wins = $240 68.57% | 4 Wins = $320 64% |
| 10 (+900) | 0.1 (10%) | $90 | 1 Win = $90 90% | 2 Wins = $180 72% | 3 Wins = $270 77.14% | 4 Wins = $360 72% |
Very simply put, when you are going for the negative odds, while there is a better chance you will win, and win often, the upscale is too small for the risk it poses. In the graph above, while the -400, -200 and -133 odds won more regularly than the other bets, compare the Profit/Total Bonus %. This is basically the profits from the bonuses that you make – like $50 after 20 wins. Well, you spent around $250 in bonuses to get that $50, which represents a 50% conversion rate from your promos.
The 2 odds (even money bets, 50-50s), brought a little boost, but the upside is always maximum 50% on these bets. But if you pick odds that range from 3 up to 5 and 6, you are looking at much higher percentages, ranging from the 60s to mid 70s, occasionally going straight up to the 80s. By the time you reach odds of +800 and +900, the value drops off a bit – as these bets are simply too volatile, and require a good 100+ bonus bets to make a better turnout.
But the point remains, if you are aiming for odds from 3 up to around 7 (+200 to +600), you are getting nominal value for your bonus bets. Please bear in mind, that this graph assumes that there are no EV+ bets – and that the implied probability is the True Probability on these wagers. With a little variance on either side, the results could vary – and variance generally tends to hurt the longer odds bets than the shorter ones (which is why, within that +200 to +600 scale, it is better to aim more towards the +200 side).
Looking for High EV+ Bets
Getting the perfect ratio of odds for your bonus bet is a strong start, but just going on these odds means you are taking the sportsbook’s prices as the framework for your probability guessing. It doesn’t have to be, not if you can use alternative ways to get better, and more accurate measurements.
There are two ways about getting better EV calculations, and they both involve doing some research:
- Comparing betting odds at different sportsbooks
- Using statistical analysis to determine probabilities
When comparing betting odds, you can use betting tools that devig the odds, calculate fair lines, and give you approximations of the EV+ on the best betting odds compared against the market consensus. If DraftKings offers a +100 bet on the Lakers to win but the market consensus points towards a more even moneyline @ -110, you have around +2.38% EV on those DraftKings odds.
The other method is more hypothetical. You look at datapoints, measure stats and betting trends, and make calculations to get an EV on a wager. This is practically independent from the sportsbook odds, so there can be large discrepancies (such as if you have fewer datapoints measured, or use a very different formula). But it can occasionally lead to very practical, and very lengthy value when you hit the mark.
Both approaches can be maximized by using betting tools – just look for the betting tools with EV+ calculations, and look to see whether they use the betting odds or make independent statistical research – depending on what you need.
Hedging Bonus Bets
A completely different approach is to look for positive ROI hedged bet pairings to unlock as much of your bonus stake as possible. In general arbitrage betting, the discrepancies between sportsbooks can open up windows with ROI percentages ranging from 1% and some even going up to 5% and higher.
But if you are funding one side of the hedged bets with a bonus bet, then you can unlock up to 50% or more of your bonus bet stake. Ok, so that means in general cases with $10 and $25 bonus bets you may be looking at an upside of around $5 – $6 or $12.5 – $15. But with well executed matched bets, there is no guesswork – you are going to lock those profits regardless of the final outcome of the game.
Matched betting has its limitations, and you will need to find good pairing combinations to the bonus bet you get at your first sportsbook. You will need to hold betting accounts at multiple sportsbooks, and you have to be careful to avoid getting limited if they suspect you of matched betting.
There are plenty of betting tools that can help you match your bonus bets, pointing you towards high value ROI and comparing the odds at different sportsbooks so you can distribute your matched bets better. It can come in handy if you want to avoid detection, and keep using those bonus bets to match your wagers.
Parlays and SGPs
On the subject of volatility and variance, which we analyzed before, for some bettors, bonus bets are chances to hit for a true jackpot. It is a risky strategy, as the math indicates that you will lose most of these bonus bets. But if you can win 1 in every 10 or 20, you may win it all back with a generous lump sum.
To get these lengthy odds, you will have to combine wagers into SGPs or parlay bets (if the bonus bet conditions allow), and try to find strong selection combinations that have a good chance of winning.
Parlay optimizers and SGP building software can really lend you a hand there. These do not just locate high value individual selections and look for their winning probabilities. The best parlay building tools also use correlation charts and metrics. So they look at how these bets react when placed together, and how often they win simultaneously.
You can also model matrices and compare hit rates through simulators, working out where your money is best spent, and weeding out any weak links in your parlay, to form a longshot wager with the best potential to win (against longer odds).
Plan for More Bonus Bets
Our final advice for smarter bonus betting, is to look for more bonuses, and make them a common part of your sports betting. While you cannot just request sportsbooks to give you bonuses, it is worth doing a little shopping around, as some sportsbooks have reputations for giving out more.
You can get bonus bets through deposit matches, through offers on featured games, in loyalty programs, or even by spending more at a sportsbook. It depends on the book itself, but the top US sportsbooks are known for being lavish with their bonus bet offers.
Picking Sportsbooks with Frequent Bonuses
Caesars and BetMGM have loyalty programs that can bring monthly bonuses and comp points that can be exchanged for bonus bets. You get a similar thing in DraftKings, but the platform is also well noted for its regular bonus bet promotions. FanDuel focuses on its regular promotions, it doesn’t have a loyalty program, but it does diversify its bonus bet offering to cover more sports. And Fanatics has loads of promos, but it’s most coveted assets are the FanCash bonuses, which can be converted back into bonus bets or profit boosts.
Be sure to check out the following sportsbooks, and for good measure, head to our bonus bets page or check our socials @OddsPlaysUS on X to stay updated on all the latest bonus bet offers.
