How to Compare Sportsbook Bonuses Without Getting Tricked

That's a costly mistake. Bonus abuse in reverse – where the bettor gets taken advantage of rather than the other way around – is far more common than people realize. But if you know exactly which numbers to compare and which red flags to spot, you can quickly separate the genuinely useful promotions from the marketing noise. Here's how to do it.

What "Bonus" Actually Means at a Sportsbook

Before comparing promotions, it helps to understand the main types you'll encounter, because they work very differently and the same dollar figure can mean completely different things depending on the promotion type.

A matched deposit bonus means the sportsbook matches your deposit up to a certain amount in bonus credit. Deposit $200, get $200 in bonus funds. Sounds clean, but those bonus funds almost always come with wagering requirements before they convert to withdrawable cash.

A free bet gives you a specific amount to wager without risking your own money. If your free bet wins, you keep the winnings – but typically not the stake itself. So a $100 free bet that wins at -110 odds returns roughly $91 in winnings, not $191. Free bets at better odds return more; free bets on heavy favorites return almost nothing because most of the potential return is the stake you don't get to keep.

A bet and get promotion requires you to place a qualifying bet first, after which the bonus is credited. "Bet $5, get $200 in free bets" means your $5 needs to settle before anything is credited, and the $200 is typically delivered in multiple smaller free bet credits, each with their own expiry windows.

A profit boost or odds boost increases the payout on a specific bet by a percentage. A 25% profit boost on a $100 wager at even money turns a $100 win into a $125 win. These are usually capped and often restricted to specific sports or bet types.

Knowing which type you're looking at shapes every comparison that follows.

Step 1: Find the Wagering Requirement First

The wagering requirement is the single most important number in any bonus evaluation, and it's the one most buried in the terms. It tells you how many times you need to bet the bonus amount (sometimes the bonus plus deposit combined) before you can withdraw any associated winnings.

A bonus with a 5x wagering requirement means you need to wager five times the bonus value before it becomes cashable. On a $200 bonus, that's $1,000 in total bets. A 10x requirement means $2,000 in bets. Some sportsbooks use 30x or even 50x requirements – at those levels, the effective value of the bonus approaches zero because the house edge accumulated across that volume of betting will typically erode the entire bonus before you complete it.

The standard range for US sportsbooks runs 1x to 10x, with 1x being excellent and anything above 10x being essentially unusable for most bettors. For context, a 5x wagering requirement with a -110 vigorish on all qualifying bets means you're absorbing roughly a 4.5% house edge on each bet – across 5x the bonus value, that's an expected erosion of about 22.5% of the bonus before it clears. That math only gets worse at higher multipliers.

Always find this number before evaluating anything else about a promotion.

Step 2: Check the Minimum Odds Requirement

Most sportsbooks restrict which bets qualify for wagering requirement purposes to bets placed at minimum odds – typically -200 or higher (meaning the bet must be at no worse than -200 on the American odds scale). This restriction matters because it prevents you from clearing the requirement by hammering massive favorites at -500 or -800, where a loss is rare but the payout per dollar risked is tiny.

If the minimum odds requirement is -200, any bet at -201 or worse doesn't count toward clearing the bonus. This forces you to bet games where you're accepting more risk, which is the sportsbook's way of making the requirement genuinely hard to clear risk-free. Some promotions require bets at -150 or better (more restrictive), or even at positive odds (meaning you can only use underdogs or even-money bets). The more restrictive the odds requirement, the lower the effective value of the bonus.

Some books also exclude certain bet types from qualifying entirely – parlays, teasers, prop bets, or specific sports may not count toward your rollover. Read this carefully. Finding out your parlay bets don't count after you've placed them is a frustrating and entirely avoidable problem.

Step 3: Calculate the Effective Value

Once you have the wagering requirement and the minimum odds, you can estimate what the bonus is actually worth. This doesn't require complex math – a rough calculation gets you close enough for a comparison.

The formula to use is: Bonus value × (1 – house edge × wagering requirement). For a $100 bonus with a 5x wagering requirement and an average juice of about 4.5% per bet, that's $100 × (1 – 0.045 × 5) = $100 × 0.775 = $77.50 in effective value. That's what you'd expect to have left after clearing the requirement, assuming you bet close to even money on each qualifying wager.

Compare that calculation across the bonuses you're evaluating. A $200 bonus with a 10x requirement often has lower effective value than a $100 bonus with a 2x requirement. The headline number is designed to attract attention; the effective value is what actually matters.

Some bettors skip the math and use a simpler rule of thumb: ignore any bonus with a wagering requirement above 8x for standard deposit bonuses, and treat any free bet as worth roughly 65–75% of its face value after accounting for the no-stake return rule.

Step 4: Read the Expiry Terms

Bonus funds and free bets almost always expire. The window is typically 7 to 30 days, and if you don't meet the wagering requirement or use the free bet within that time, it disappears without trace. This is a real trap for bettors who sign up for a promotion during a busy sports week and then don't have time or qualifying events to complete it in time.

Short expiry windows – 7 days or less – dramatically reduce the usable value of a bonus, especially for bettors who focus on specific sports with limited scheduling. If you're primarily an NFL bettor, a 7-day free bet credited on a Wednesday during the off-season is effectively worthless. A 30-day window on the same free bet might cover two full game weeks, which is actually usable.

Also check whether the expiry clock starts on deposit, on first bet, or on when the bonus is credited. These can differ, and the distinction matters if there's a gap between when you deposit and when your first qualifying bet settles.

Step 5: Look at the Withdrawal Conditions

Some sportsbooks cap the maximum winnings you can withdraw from bonus-funded bets. A $100 free bet might have a $500 maximum withdrawal on any winnings it generates, which doesn't matter for most bets but becomes relevant if you're trying to use it on a long-odds selection. More restrictive caps – like $200 or $250 on winnings from a $100 free bet – effectively limit how much leverage a favorable outcome can give you.

Also check whether bonus winnings are credited as withdrawable cash or as additional bonus funds that themselves carry wagering requirements. Some sportsbooks will credit your winnings from a free bet as more bonus money rather than real money, stacking another layer of requirements on top of what you already earned. This is one of the clearest signals that a promotion is structured to give back as little real value as possible.

Step 6: Compare the Promo Against What You Actually Bet

A bonus that looks great on paper can still be low-value if the qualifying bets or minimum odds don't match how you normally bet. A -150 minimum odds requirement is easy to hit if you typically bet on favorites in major leagues. It's much harder if you focus on player props, niche sports, or positive-odds futures. Forcing yourself to change your betting style to clear a bonus is a way to introduce unfamiliar bets into your approach, which tends to increase mistakes.

The most useful bonuses are the ones you can clear naturally, betting the way you already bet, without bending your strategy to fit the promotion's restrictions. If a bonus requires behavior that's outside your normal approach, discount its effective value accordingly – or skip it.

Red Flags to Watch For

Several patterns in promotion terms indicate that the structure is built more to look generous than to be usable. If you spot any of these, adjust your valuation accordingly.

Multiple account restrictions combined with aggressive terms. Some sportsbooks prohibit bonus use if you've ever held an account at an affiliate site, or restrict the bonus to residents of specific states through a buried geographic clause.

Wagering requirements that combine deposit plus bonus. A "2x deposit plus bonus" requirement effectively doubles the nominal wagering multiple. A $100 deposit + $100 bonus with 2x (deposit + bonus) requirement means 2 × $200 = $400 in total wagering before anything clears.

Time-based rather than bet-based expiry. If the expiry clock runs on calendar time rather than bet count, a bad run early in the period can make the requirement mathematically impossible to complete before expiry.

Odds boosts capped below meaningful amounts. A profit boost on a single bet capped at $25 max in extra winnings is barely material. These look good in promotional emails but add almost nothing in practice.

A Quick Comparison Example

Suppose you're evaluating two welcome offers side by side. Sportsbook A offers a $500 matched deposit with a 10x wagering requirement, minimum odds -200, 14-day expiry. Sportsbook B offers a $200 first bet on the house (free bet) with no wagering requirement, but you don't keep the stake on a win.

For Sportsbook A, the effective value calculation with a 4.5% house edge and 10x requirement gives you $500 × (1 – 0.045 × 10) = $500 × 0.55 = $275. You'd need to wager $5,000 total across 14 days to clear it, and you'd expect to end up with roughly $275 in actual value if your results are close to average.

For Sportsbook B, a $200 free bet at even money returns $200 in winnings on a win (no stake returned), so the bet is worth roughly $200 × 0.5 (approximate win probability at even money) = $100 expected value with no wagering requirement attached. That's immediately accessible with no volume requirement.

In this case Sportsbook B's offer is simpler and the value is immediately available, but Sportsbook A's offer is worth more in raw expected terms if you're going to be placing that volume of bets anyway. Which is better depends on your planned betting volume. That's the kind of contextual comparison that headline dollar figures will never tell you.

FAQ

What's the easiest type of bonus to actually profit from? Free bets with no wagering requirement on the winnings are the cleanest. You risk nothing, and any winnings above the stake (which you don't keep) are immediately withdrawable. Low-multiplier (1x to 3x) wagering requirement bonuses are next most favorable if you're betting regularly anyway.

Do all sportsbooks have wagering requirements? Most do for deposit bonuses. Some sportsbooks in competitive markets have started offering no-rollover promotions to attract experienced bettors, but they're still the exception rather than the rule. Free bet promotions typically don't have rollover requirements on winnings – you just don't keep the stake if you win.

Can I use a bonus on multiple accounts at different sportsbooks? Yes, and shopping promos across multiple legal sportsbooks is a legitimate strategy. Most sportsbooks allow one bonus per household per platform, but there's no rule against being active on DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars simultaneously and using each platform's welcome offer. This approach is sometimes called "bonus hunting" and is entirely legal for recreational bettors.

What happens if I withdraw before meeting the wagering requirement? The bonus funds and any associated winnings are typically forfeited. Your deposited cash is usually still withdrawable, but the bonus portion disappears. Always confirm this in the specific sportsbook's terms before depositing.

Are promotional odds boosts worth using? They can be, especially on bets you were already planning to place. A 20% odds boost on a single-game total you liked at -110 moving it to something closer to +100 is genuine value – about 10 cents on the dollar. The caution is that boosts are frequently offered on popular but lower-value markets (big parlays, exotic props) where the base line already has extra juice built in. Evaluate the boosted line against the market price before assuming it's a good deal.

Final Thought

Sportsbook bonuses aren't inherently traps – some of them are genuinely useful and worth taking. But the industry has no incentive to make the best ones easy to find, and plenty of incentive to make the terms difficult to parse. The bettors who consistently extract value from promotions are the ones who check wagering requirements first, calculate effective value before depositing, and match bonuses to their actual betting behavior rather than adjusting their behavior to match the bonus. Apply those four steps consistently and you'll stop being the target of the promotion and start being the one who benefits from it.