Since the US Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018 there has been a huge increase in the amount of Americans able to bet legally. Add them to the millions around the world looking to make their own predictions and that means a lot of potential customers for sportsbooks.
Many of these new customers will be betting novices and not know what things to look out for in a betting site. That is why sportsbooks like to offer welcome gifts. There are a few different kinds of offers but we thought we would go through them to see which one is the best sign up bonus available.
Deposit Match
This is one of the more common welcome bonuses out there. You will need to sign up for a new customer account and make a first deposit of funds. The sportsbook will then match your amount by a certain percentage. Usually this means 100% (effectively doubling your amount) – but there can be 50%, 150% or even 200% in some places.
These deposit match offers sound very enticing but there are always terms and conditions attached to any sportsbook offer. With this one, you will probably need to wager the amount a number of times – and the deposit match will be in the form of a free bet credit rather than actual cash.
Free Bets
As with the deposit match, free bet offers always come with a lot of requirements to be met. It may be that you have to place a number of bets, with minimum odds, to activate the free bets. Or it could mean that you will receive free bets for depositing more funds into your account.
But the main point to make here is that the term ‘free bet’ can mean a variety of things. It is very rare that you will actually get a free bet to place, no strings attached. You may find out that the free bet you receive is not that free at all – and that the outlay makes it not really worth the time.
No Deposit Bonus
This offer is not as common but it is definitely one to look out for. Here you will receive your bonus without even having to deposit funds into your account. You could receive free bets or some other kind of incentive, but you will not have to pay out to get something back.
The problem is that whatever you do get back in return for simply signing up for a new customer account and opting into the offer will come with its own requirements as well. Just like the bonuses before, you may find that the no deposit bonus funds actually restrict you in what you can use them for.
Bet Insurance
The bet insurance offer is usually one that is more commonly for existing customer account holders. But there are some sportsbooks that use it for their sign up bonus too. Here you will need to place your first bet after registering. But you will receive your stake back if it ends up losing.
Getting a risk-free bet sounds like an excellent way to begin your experience with an online sportsbook – and it can be argued that it is a very good offer. But you should know that the refunded stake would be in the form of a free bet that probably comes with its own terms and conditions. Are you spotting a pattern yet?
Bonus Combo
As you can see from the list of offers so far, you should always read the terms and conditions of any sportsbook bonus. There will always be some kind of action needed on your part – and some attractive-looking bonuses might not actually be as desirable as they first seem.
But if you can get a good bonus – or even better, a combination of a few different bonuses – when you sign up, it is a good way to start off with a sportsbook. But it is probably more important to check what kind of offers you will get as an existing customer. That’s how you really know if a site is any good or not.