Death, taxes, and deposit bonus offers from betting sites — the three most certain things in life!
No, but seriously, there’s no reason why bettors shouldn’t be taking advantage of these countless offers from online betting platforms. The deposit bonuses come in many ways, including first deposit bonus match, loyalty and reload bonus, just to name a few.
The overwhelming amount of these bonuses available can be confusing at first, but this guide will give you a complete breakdown on those online betting deposit bonus — what they are, which are the best (spoiler alert: the 100-match deposit bonus sports ones), how to claim, and plenty more!
Betting Sites Deposit Bonus
Check out the below sportsbooks which offer reliable deposit bonus.
Think of the table above as an index of sorts, such as the one you'd find at the end of a book. In other words, it's relevant info that will add layers of context to everything we're about to cover regarding deposit bonuses!
As you can see, it's a hand-picked list (by us) of the best betting sites on the Internet today. The rankings are all backed by hours of research and hands-on wagering.
A huge factor that influenced the listing is the quality of the bonus deal offered by the betting site. More or less, the match percentage and max free play — which are neatly displayed on the table — are what makes or breaks a bonus.
If there's a particular bonus that catches your attention, we'd advise you to read our in-depth review (linked in the table) to cross-check the site meets all your wagering needs.
Click into any one of the sites above to be redirected to their sign-up page. No matter which you pick, registering for an account is a painless process and so is depositing money into the site. Matter of fact, it's that initial deposit that unlocks most bonus offers (more on that later).
It literally takes just minutes to go through the entire process before earning free play. We don't know about you, but we're not ones to leave free money on the table. Ever.
First Deposit Bonus Bet
Admittedly, the deposit bonus bet offer is on the rarer side to find nowadays. Perhaps not as rare as the risk-free (no deposit needed) free bet, but it's awfully close.
The first deposit bonus bet works something like this: you make an initial deposit into the site and your first bet is completely on the house. Win the wager and you're playing with house money. Lose and the wager didn't actually cost you anything.
However, that free bonus bet comes with an awful lot of string attached. Typically it can only be applied to single events, not parlays. Even within single games, not all are wagerable. Lines that have lopsided odds are usually off-limits (well, only if betting the overwhelming favorite).
All betting guidelines are usually buried in the terms and conditions statement. While betting sites are quick to advertise match percentages and possible free play earnings, the fine print has the nitty-gritty details that will really dictate your matched betting strategy.
More often than not, first deposit bonus bets aren't extremely lucrative, especially compared to reload and welcome bonuses. But the risk factor, or complete lack of one, associated with this deal makes it more than worthwhile when it is available.
Best Reload Offers
By and large, bonus offers are made to lure in first-time bettors. Candidly speaking, there's more value in these customers from a betting site's perspective, especially if they can retain them for long stretches of time, if not for life. That's why you'll see a staggering amount of welcome sportsbook deposit promo offers compared to any others.
What about tried-and-true bettors that have been at this wagering thing for a while? Is there any sort of reward for loyalty? Rejoice because there is in the form of bookmaker reload offers.
Look, the online betting market is overflooding with sportsbooks and casinos. That scenario has actually empowered individual bettors. With so much bevy of options, these gamblers could conceivably jump from site to site.
In response, sites have rolled out reload offers to keep bettors in one spot. They function just like it sounds — every time you re-deposit money into a site, that site will give you a bonus. Typically, those bonuses are quantified by a percentage that they'll match off your reload.
No surprise here, but the higher the match percentage, the better the offer (for the most part). At the end of the day, you want to earn free play and a 75-percent match earns you more than 50-percent as an example.
Be wary of rollover rates, though. All free money earned is not withdrawable until you've wagered a minimum amount of money. That number is calculated by adding your reload and the bonus by the rollover rate.
Some noteworthy examples of tough-to-beat sportsbook promo code reload are BetOnline and MyBookie. Both are carbon copies of one another and applicable to the sportsbook only. The sites will match a reload by 25% with a max possible payout of $500.
Generally, a 25% match on reload bonuses is the standard. It'll be impossible to find one that rivals the dollar-for-dollar (100 percent) or 200 match deposit bonus that you see on some welcome offers.
Nonetheless, outside of a free bets no deposit, it's hard to find a bonus with more value than a reload one. The way we look at is, you were going to bet regardless, why not earn some free cash while at it?
Welcome Deposit Offers
As we mentioned, the vast majority of bonus offers come in the form of a welcome deposit. In terms of earning the highest amount of free play possible, these will be the best sign up bonus you can find online.
They work almost identical to the aforementioned reload bonuses, but the key difference is they generally only apply to the first deposit you make into the site — not every reload afterward.
A prime example of a bettor-friendly welcome deposit bonus is the one offered by BetOnline. For its sportsbook, the site will match 50% of a bettor's initial deposit up to $1,000. BetNow, MyBookie, and SportsBetting offer almost the same exact promotion.
Compared to even the best reload offers, these welcome deals can be redeemed for double the amount in free play — and that's no chump change.
But that's not all. Some sites will even up the reward — both in match percentage and max payout — if that initial deposit comes courtesy of Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. Chalk that up as one more reason to jump on the digital currency bandwagon.
However, as with most great things in life, there is a catch to initial deposit offers. Most come strapped with high rollover requirements sports betting. For instance, BetNow's is 8X and BetOnline and MyBookie up it to 10X. Therefore, don't start counting your chickens because you'll need long playthrougs before that free money can exit the book.
Loyalty Reload Offers
The biggest, flashiest casinos found in Las Vegas or Atlantic City reward their VIP-level players with a bevy of free "comps" — fancy steakhouse dinners, penthouse suite lodging, tickets to entertainment shows, etc. It's all a ploy to retain high-valued players that bet heavy and often.
Admittedly, the "comps" aren't as highly prized in online betting sites, but loyalty is still rewarded in the form of loyalty reload offers. These work in the exact same fashion as the previously-covered reload bonuses, but they aren't readily available to all players — only "loyal" or "VIP" ones.
How one becomes a VIP player varies greatly from site to site. But as a general rule of thumb, it takes a high volume of playing — both in stakes wagered and time.
Most of these loyalty promotions are sent straight to the valued players, either via email, physical mail, or text message. That's why it's always important to sign-up for notifications from sites and use mail addresses that you actually use. You'd hate for these promotions to go unused because you never saw them.
Sportsbook Deposit Bonus Code
It should be noted that betting sites typically offer unique bonuses for its sportsbook and casino area. Usually, the free play earned can only be wagered in one of those platforms, not both.
Most of the time, sportsbook bonuses are significantly lower than casino counterparts — both in match percentage and max winnings. Though, the tradeoff is they also come with smaller rollover rates, so turnaround times for cashing out free play is shorter and more do-able with sportsbook deals.
Some sportsbook bonuses require a bonus code to redeem, but many more are applied automatically upon sign-up. If a code is required, most sportsbooks will readily advertise it on their homepage or account setup page.
The days of scouring the Internet in search of limited-time bonus codes to use have mostly passed. Exclusive bonus codes are an artifact of the old online betting days when there wasn't competition in seemingly every corner of the web.
That's not to say limited-use bonuses don't exist anymore. There are some, but they are few and far between. In many cases, the copious amount of time spent digging around online in hopes of uncovering one isn't be worth the actual reward.
You might see a loyalty bonus code here and there for a VIP. But betting sites have grown more and more tech-savvier, and with that, built systems that will auto-apply bonuses for coveted players.
Most betting sites don't need to hide their sportsbook or casino bonuses anymore. They openly want more players. Use that, plus the information we just laid out, to reap the rewards when it comes to bonuses!