How To Evaluate Online Betting Bonuses

If you sign up to a casino or sports betting site in the present day, you’re almost certain to be offered a bonus as a reward for doing so. You’ll know all about the bonus, as it’s going to be plastered all over the site from the moment you navigate your way there, and while most bonuses are much the same as the others, it is worth being able to differentiate a good one from a bad one.

In fairness, it can be argued that there is no such thing as a bad bonus per se. After all, they could just offer you nothing. But when choosing between long lists of potential casinos, just like these for example, it makes sense to get as much bang for your buck as possible. And while there is something in the suggestion that bigger numbers equal better bonuses, that’s definitely not all there is to it. Below, we’ll look a little deeper into the details that make a bonus better – or worse.

 

Wagering requirements 

Depending on the site you’re using, and whether you’re betting on sports or casino gaming, there will usually be some requirements placed on the bonus you are paid. This will usually come in the form of “wagering requirements”, where you will be expected to bet the amount of the bonus a certain number of times before any winnings can be withdrawn. The higher the number of times, the less appealing the bonus will be. For example, a $100 bonus sounds great, but what about one with 65x requirements? That would see you have to bet $6,500 with the casino before you could actually take any winnings that were leftover.

 

Minimum odds 

These requirements apply to sportsbook betting and mean that you can’t use a bonus bet on any wager that has odds shorter than a certain amount. Different bookmakers will display odds in different ways, so let’s say the minimum odds are -200 in Moneyline odds, which is 1.5 in decimal or 1/2 in fractional. That would mean that if you wanted to place a bonus bet on a sure winner to guarantee some winnings, you’d generally be prevented from doing so. If you’re using a free bet, you might as well use it on something bolder, as that will generate bigger winnings anyway.

 

Market restrictions 

You may be required to use your bonus in a specific way. For example, the free spins usually doled out by casinos to new customers will often be tied to a specific slot game. If your free bet is on sportsbook, it may be valid only on certain sports or even tied to a certain occasion (this is particularly common if you receive the bonus as part of a promotion at the time of a World Cup, for example.). In some cases, it will have to be an accumulator with a certain number of “legs”.

It’s essential that you read the terms and conditions of a promotion before you try to use any bonus money from a sportsbook or casino. While these offers seem generous, to begin with, some are definitely more appealing than others when stripped to their details.