The most common betting offers are welcome promotions. By offering "free money", sportsbooks ensure that new players start gambling everyday. SignUp bonuses are also the best way for the players to start betting minimizing the risk of losing their own money. That's why at Sportsbookbonus we've created this selection of sign up and welcome bonuses from our most popular bookmakers.
"Free money." Perhaps the two most head-turning words in the English vocabulary. Hearing or reading those two words consecutively will stop anyone dead in their tracks. Anyone!
Betting sites with sign up bonus (which at this point, is practically everyone) know the power of those two words and throw it out pretty freely to attract new bettors to their platform. But isn't free money too good to be true?
Yes and no. The free play associated with an online welcome bonus is certainly real, but it's not entirely "free." In other words, expect some strings to be attached — some more than others.
Over the course of this guide, we'll give you a "lay of the land" if you will on betting joining bonuses — every online site's favorite marketing tactic. We'll explain the wide selection of different types of bonuses available and which, if any, are the best sign up bonus currently found on the Internet.
After all, every player is eligible to earn such bonuses, and with that, free play. But the overwhelming amount of promotions on the market can make things confusing.
Not anymore, though. We did the research so you don't have to!
Sports Betting Welcome Bonus
First things first, how the heck do you even get a sports betting welcome bonus?
As the name suggests, it's a new customer betting offer. Only first-time bettors to that sportsbook are eligible and you must create a betting account with the site to earn the reward.
Those are typically always the two prerequisites to the sign-up bonus. From there, bonuses vary, mainly on if money needs to be deposited to redeem the award or not.
Speaking completely candidly, the best sportsbook sign up bonus will need some skin in the game. In other words, you're going have to pony up your own money first. These are called "initial deposit welcomes bonuses" and we'll explain how they work.
Initial Deposit Welcome Bonus
Not only are these the top sign up offers, but they're also the most common. They work something like this:
You deposit money into the sportsbook, which will then match your deposit by a certain percentage — usually between 50 percent or the holy grail, dollar for dollar (100 percent). However, there are floors and ceilings to these offers. You must deposit a minimum amount to qualify and a cap will be put on free money that can be earned.
Bitcoin Deposit Welcome Bonus
This is technically just an initial deposit offer, but with a twist. A huge trend in sports betting right now is transferring money in and out of books through cryptocurrency, namely Bitcoin.
To incentivize bettors to adopt the more secure, less-fee-ridden payment method that is crypto, sportsbooks have special offers if that initial deposit comes courtesy of Bitcoin or another digital currency. They work in the same exact fashion but may have a slightly better match percentage and max payout than regular initial deposit promotions.
Free Money Sign Up Bonus
What if you don't want to offer up any money to earn a bonus? If that's the case, you'll want to look for betting sites with a free welcome bonus — in this instance, free truly means free.
We'd like to preface by saying free bet sign up offers are extremely rare nowadays. Once upon a time, when sports gambling was in its infancy, they were commonplace. But as sportsbooks moved to minimize risk, they fell by the wayside in favor of initial deposit bonuses.
They truly are the best sign up bonus sportsbook if you can find one — if being the keyword. Here are a few that currently exist:
As you can imagine, free money promotions are far from lucrative. They usually range between $5 to $20 — a far cry from the $1,000 or $500 being dangled in many initial deposit deals.
However, you can't beat the risk factor of free money sign-up bonuses because there is none! If you find one, there's no reason not to jump on it. You literally have nothing to lose — and who doesn't like those type of odds?
New Customer Free Bet Offers
This online betting sign up bonus is an offshoot of the no-deposit, free-money bonus. They work somewhat similarly, but subtle differences.
This risk-free bet will require you to make an initial deposit — difference number one between a no-deposit offer. Upon making that deposit, you're free to make a wager on anything in the sportsbook.
If that bet wins, then you're playing with house money at that point. But if that bet loses, this is where the "free bet" bonus kicks in. The sportsbook will refund that losing amount in the form of a free bet. So win or lose on that first bet, you're freewheeling either way.
It's always wise to read the general terms for these offers. Typically, they're reserved for single-game bets and not parlays. They also expire relatively quickly upon sign-up. The terms and conditions statement should cover all pertinent details when utilizing these deals.
Such offers are also a rare commodity. However, you're more likely to see them pop up during big-time sporting events, say the Super Bowl bonus or NHL Stanley Cup.
Top Sign Up Offers
We know what you're thinking, "so what's the best betting sites new customer offers?"
For starters, there's no hard definition for "best" in this scenario. Face it, bettors are not created equal. While the end goal is always to come out positive over sportsbooks, how you go about doing that will vary greatly depending on your bankroll. That's why we broke up our answer into two parts:
Best Bonus To Earn Max Free Play Winnings
If getting the most amount of free money possible is your end-all, be-all goal, then you'll need to have deep pockets. That's because the best sportsbook sign up bonus (in terms of max payout) come with steep rollover requirements and middling match percentages.
Rollover rates is the minimum amount of money you need to bet before cashing out that free play is even possible. The rates are expressed in multipliers like 5X, 8X, or 10X and mean how many times over your initial deposit plus sign up bonus needs to be wagered.
With that disclaimer out of the way, feast your eyes on these lucrative betting sites welcome offers. BetNow, MyBookie, Sports Betting, and BookMaker Sports Betting all offer up to $1,000 in free money. Each of the four comes with a 50 percent match, meaning you'll need to pony up $2,000 to earn that max, though.
Best Bonus To Earn A Quick Cash Out
If high rollover rates are an issue, then these will be the best sign up bonus bookmakers to cash out free play as quickly as possible.
With manageable 5X rollovers, GT Bets and Bovada can be quick withdrawal turnarounds. Max cash out on both is $250, so it's not a huge winning by any means, but we've learned never to be greedy. Free money is free money!
Betting Promotions For New Customers
We eluded to this earlier while discussing new customers, free bet options, but let's build upon it more. Sportsbooks, while running year-round, do have "peak times" like any other industry.
Those peaks occur during high attention-grabbing sports moments. Think championship games or the start of a new season. These moments are when the everyday bettor wants to get in on the action themselves.
To capitalize on this, sportsbooks roll out special online betting sign up promotions during those moments. These deals come in all varieties like the ones we have already covered — initial deposit (the most common), free money, and free bets.
Just like the end of the year is the best time to buy a car from a dealership (when they're desperate to meet yearly quotas), it's during these special promotions that signing up for a sportsbook is most beneficial.
Beneficial in terms of money saved and earned, of course. Match percentages and max payouts will get a bump off these new customer betting offers during the special timeframe.
In particular, keep your eyes peeled during September and February. Those months coincide with the start and end of the NFL season. Football remains king in the United States, especially in regards to wagering, so sportsbooks will try to outdo one another with friendly betting deals new customer.
Other timeframes to look out for betting promotions new customers is March. This is during NCAA March Madness basketball, which attracts bettors in droves, especially during the opening weekend of the 68-team single-elimination tournament. June, when the NBA Finals kick-off and NHL Stanley Cup is ongoing, is another one to circle on your calendar.
Best Gambling Sign Up Bonuses
Thus far, we've stuck to sports betting welcome bonus. By and large, these bonuses can be leveraged only in the site's sportsbook.
What about casino games like slots and blackjack? Well, there's welcome offers tailor-made for the casino.
You'll be happy to know these casino-specific bonuses usually outpace sportsbook counterparts in terms of match percentages and max payouts — and by a substantial margin, too.
Take Bovada as a prime example. Its casino bonus can be redeemed three times at a 100-percent match and if maxed out each time, free play would hit a jaw-dropping $3,000. That's no chump change, especially compared to its sportsbook which is capped at a measly $250 in free money.
If using Bitcoin as the deposit method, Bovada's casino offer can reach $3,750. That's perhaps one of the best sign up bonus betting sites ponied up currently.
Another casino offer worth noting is MyBookie. Not nearly as lucrative — it's capped at $750 — but doesn't require the same amount of buy-in as Bovada ($3,000 for max payout). MyBookie matches up to 150 percent, meaning a do-able $500 initial deposit unlocks the $750 award.
As you'd expect, there is a caveat to these high bonuses — steep rollover rates. The playthrough requirements associated with casino deals are much bigger than those revolving the sportsbook.
Here are current casino rollover rates at many betting sites — 25X (Bovada), 30X (BetNow), and 40X (MyBookie and BetOnline). As you can tell, those are gargantuan requirements for equally-gargantuan free play earnings.
You have to take the good with the bad when it comes to betting. But just know, if you're chasing the most amount of free money possible, you'll need to invest a lot of playing time (and your own money) into the casino, as well.