A 100 percent match up to 100 is not worth 100. Here is how to turn any offer into the amount you can expect to withdraw, with the numbers for the offers in our ranking.
Every bonus comes with a rollover: an amount you must stake before the bonus, and often your deposit, can be withdrawn. While you stake it, you pay the bookmaker’s margin on every bet. So the expected value of a bonus is simple: the bonus, minus the turnover required multiplied by the margin you will pay.
The rollover multiple. Three times is generous, five is normal, ten or more is a bonus designed not to be cleared; at ten times on 200 you would turn over 2,000 and expect to lose 120, more than the bonus. What it applies to. Bonus only, or deposit plus bonus: the second doubles the turnover. Minimum odds. Higher minimum odds mean more variance and, on most books, a wider margin. Accumulator-only rollover. The 1xBet family requires accumulators of three or more legs at 1.40 each: the margin compounds and the effective cost of clearing rises to 12 to 15 percent of turnover. Time limit. Seven days forces stakes you would not otherwise place; thirty is workable. Maximum stake and excluded markets. Both stretch the clearing period and push you towards the operator’s worst prices.
A free bet returns the winnings but not the stake, so it is worth its face value multiplied by (1 - 1/odds) at fair prices: a 10 free bet at 4.00 is worth 7.50, at 2.00 only 5.00. Placed at odds around 4 to 5, free bets return 70 to 80 percent of face value, with no rollover on the winnings at most operators. That is why a smaller free bet often beats a larger deposit match; our comparison works through it.
Applying the formula to the twenty-two operators, the British free-bet offers came out worth between 60 and 80 percent of their headline. The European deposit matches with three to five times rollover came out between 30 and 50 percent. The accumulator-only matches on the international platforms came out between 10 and 25 percent, and negative for bettors who would not otherwise place accumulators. The casino-heavy welcome packages on the crypto sites we valued at close to zero for a sports bettor, because the sports part is small and the casino rollover is thirty times or more.
Never deposit more than you would have deposited anyway to reach a bonus ceiling. Never place bets you would not otherwise place to clear a rollover; the margin on those bets is the price of the bonus, and it is usually higher than the bonus. And read the maximum stake and the excluded methods before, not after: e-wallet deposits are excluded from most European offers, and a bonus credited on an excluded deposit is voided.
Only if the rollover is the same; a 50 bonus at three times beats a 200 bonus at ten times.
On some operators the deposit is locked with the bonus; on others withdrawing forfeits the bonus. Check before depositing.
Only through matched betting on free bets, which is legal but leads to limited accounts.