Bonus bets: what a bonus bet is really worth

The short version

A bonus bet is a bet credit from the sportsbook, and its stake never comes back to you. If it wins, you get the net profit. If it loses, you get nothing, and none of your own money has moved.

So it's worth less than its face value, and the gap widens as the odds shorten. Terms nearly always come with it: minimum odds, an expiration date, excluded markets.

A bonus bet doesn't change the probability that a bet wins. It changes what you lose when it loses: none of your own money, on that one bet.

What is a bonus bet?

A bonus bet is a bet credit given by an operator. You can use it to place a bet, but you can't withdraw it. On many international sites it goes by the name "free bet", while US sportsbooks have moved to "bonus bet". It comes down to three words: stake not returned.

On a regular bet, a win pays back your stake plus your profit. On a bonus bet, the operator only credits the net profit, because the stake never belonged to you.

The math is the same as on a first sports bet, with one difference: the "stake returned" line drops out of the return.

Bonus bet, bonus cash, second-chance bet, cashback, odds boost: what's the difference?

These five mechanisms sound alike but don't give you the same thing. Two questions sort them out. Is the stake returned? Is what you receive money you can withdraw?

A second-chance bet isn't a bonus bet from the start, then. The first bet is placed with your money, and a bonus bet only follows if it loses.

Where do bonus bets come from?

Bonus bets are handed out at specific points in a player's journey, and always to trigger an action. There are five main families:

• the second-chance first bet, paid as a bonus bet if that first bet loses;
• the no-deposit bonus bet, credited at sign-up, usually for a small amount;
• referrals, paid when a player gets someone else to sign up;
• loyalty rewards, given to active players based on how much they bet;
• missions or challenges, paid after a required series of bets.

Each one rewards an action that suits the operator: opening an account, depositing, betting, coming back.

What terms come with a bonus bet?

A bonus bet always comes with terms, and those terms set what it's really worth. The most common:

• minimum odds, below which the bonus bet can't be used;
• a validity period, often short, after which it expires;
• single use or split use, depending on the offer;
• no cash out, which is almost always the case on a bet placed with a bonus bet;
• excluded markets or bet types;
• wagering requirements on bonus cash: the bonus must be bet a set number of times before it becomes withdrawable.

They all point the same way. They cut the value of the bonus bet or ask you to bet more to get it back. The offer's terms and conditions are what count.

How much is a bonus bet worth?

The expected value of a bonus bet is the possible net profit multiplied by the estimated probability of winning, with the stake not returned. With a book percentage of 106% (a 6% overround), a $10 bonus bet works out as:

expected value = 10 × (odds − 1) ÷ (odds × 1.06)

The estimated no-vig probability starts from the implied probability of the odds, minus the sportsbook's margin. The principle is the one behind no-vig odds, and the expected value follows the logic on the expected value page.

The 2.00 row is the one to look at: $4.72 out of $10, under half the face value. Three caveats help with reading the table:

• The higher the odds, the more likely you end up with nothing. At 10.00, the bonus bet loses nine times out of ten. The expected value is an average over many bets, not what any one bonus bet pays (see variance).
• The real margin is often higher on long odds. Operators load more margin onto underdogs than onto favorites, which pulls down the values at the bottom of the table.
• The table recommends no odds. It shows why a bonus bet's face value is misleading, nothing more.

A 2026 paper by the economist Karl Whelan (University College Dublin) models this calculation for a bet whose stake isn't returned. It reaches the same conclusion: the expected value rises as the probability of winning falls, at the cost of higher risk.

Calculate a bonus bet's value with your own numbers →

Why do sportsbooks hand out bonus bets?

A bonus bet is an acquisition cost: the operator offers it because it expects you to deposit and bet more afterwards. It's one of the expenses its margin has to cover, as explained on how sportsbooks make money.

France gives a sense of scale, because its regulator publishes the figure. In its review of the operators' 2026 promotional strategies, published on January 9, 2026, the ANJ reports that the financial incentives planned by operators (bonus bets, bonuses, refunds) reach 466 million euros, up 23%, or 60% of their promotional budget. I read that 60% as the clearest sign that a bonus bet is a budget line, not a gift.

That isn't generosity. It's a marketing line, like advertising. The operators that lean hardest on the mass market are also the ones that hand out the most, as the page on sharp and soft sportsbooks shows.

What does the law say in the United States and Ontario?

In the United States, there's no federal rule on bonus bets: each state that allows sports betting sets its own, and the states checked here allow bonuses but restrict how they're described. The clearest rules target the word "free".

• New York (9 NYCRR § 5329.37): ads must not present sports wagering as free of risk, nor describe it as "free", "cost free" or "free of risk" when the patron has to risk their own money. Any own-money wager required must be shown in the same font as the bonus credit, and the credit must not be described as free.
• Massachusetts (205 CMR 256.04, January 2023 text): the same ban on "free" and "free of risk", and the same same-font disclosure.
• New Jersey: according to the Attorney General's announcement of April 2023, the Division of Gaming Enforcement's advertising standards bar "risk-free" promises unless the player is fully compensated for lost funds, and require clear wagering requirements.
• The AGA's Responsible Marketing Code, which is industry self-regulation rather than law, has banned any use of "risk free" since its March 2023 update.

In Ontario, bonuses are allowed, but advertising them is banned everywhere except on the operator's own gaming site and in direct marketing to players who actively consented (AGCO Registrar's Standard 2.05, in force since April 4, 2022). Under Standard 2.06, a permitted offer must disclose its material conditions the first time it's shown. It can't be called "free" or "risk-free" if the player has to risk their own money. In March 2025, the AGCO announced a C$110,000 penalty against an operator whose marketing firms and affiliates had offered cash for account sign-ups.

Last verified at source: October 11, 2026.

Rules vary a lot from one country to the next: an outright ban in Belgium, a cap on wagering requirements in Great Britain, prior authorization in Switzerland. Each country page, such as licensed sportsbooks in the United States and in Canada, has a section on bonuses and bonus bets.

What are the risks?

The main risk of a bonus bet is what it pushes you to do before and after. To get one, you often have to sign up, deposit or bet. To unlock its profit, you sometimes have to bet again.

The idea of a "bonus" also plays on a well-known bias. People take more risk with money they don't see as their own, and that habit easily carries over to the real money that follows. In a betting budget, a bonus bet never counts as income.

Are you betting to win back losses? Depositing more than planned to unlock an offer? Have the offers you get become the reason you bet? Those are warning signs, described on the risks of sports betting page.

What this page doesn't cover

This page explains a mechanism, it doesn't compare offers. It names no operator, no current offer and no promo code. It teaches no method for turning a bonus bet into withdrawable cash by betting with several operators. Those practices are still betting, with their own risks, and operators' terms and conditions often restrict them. Short definitions of these terms are in the glossary.

Put it into practice

Apply this guide to real odds.

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