How the BetMGM Deposit Match Actually Works & How to Play Through it Faster

When a sportsbook offers you a deposit match, there's always going to be some sort of wagering requirement to unlock the bonus. They're not going to let you deposit $500, get $500 added to your account, then withdraw $1,000. Not a good deal for the house, right?

Instead, they'll put you through what we call a rollover or play-through, meaning you have to wager a certain amount on the platform before you can unlock the full bonus or withdraw any money. These are often designed so that you lose money slowly while trying to unlock the bonus, meaning your bonus ends up being much smaller than you initially anticipated.

With the 20% BetMGM deposit match, the play-through is 10x on your bonus amount — so if you deposit $500 to get $100 in bonuses, you have to wager 10x that $100 in your first 30 days on the platform ($1,000 total). For some bettors, this isn't a problem. But for those who aren't betting frequently, betting smaller amounts, or betting primarily at other sportsbooks, it might be tough to hit that $1,000 mark.

Below we'll detail how the offer works, and how to lose less money while you're hitting the rollover requirement.

How the BetMGM Deposit Match Works

When we published this, the deposit match was 20% for a max of $1,500 in bonus bets, with a 10x play-through requirement. If you're reading this later, it's possible those numbers changed, but the principles should still apply.

Deposit matches always come that "play-through requirement" or "rollover" to prevent users from depositing, taking the bonuses, and then withdrawing and leaving without actually betting much on the platform.

Here's how BetMGM's offer works:

1. Make your first deposit, up to $7,500
2. You'll get 20% of that deposit in bonus bets — so at $7,500 you'd get $1,500. If you deposit $500, you'll get $100.
3. You have seven days to use those bonus bets.
4. You must wager 10x your bonus amount in your first 30 days on the platform, or you'll forfeit anything you won with those bonus bets (since you'll use them well before the 30 days is up). You can't withdraw money until you hit that 10x requirement.
5. Once you hit the 10x number, the promo is over and your money can be withdrawn as normal.

What the Play-Through Is Designed to Do

The play-through helps the sportsbook 1) keep you betting on the platform, at least for a little and 2) decrease the actual value of the promo because it's likely that as you try to hit that wagering requirement, you're going to lose money.

Say with BetMGM, you deposited $500 and got $100 in bonuses. That means you need to bet $1,000 in your first 30 days.

If you place 10, $100 bets on NFL point spreads all at -110 and go 5-5, you'll lose about $45. That's half your bonus!

Of course, sometimes you might go 6-4. Sometimes you might go 3-7. But over a large sample, betting this way, you can expect to lose about half your bonus amount.

How to Hit the Wagering Requirement Faster With Fewer Losses

OK, so how do you retain more of the bonus?

1. Win more bets (duh, wouldn't that be nice)
2. Or, you can hedge at a different sportsbook through "low hold" or "zero hold" bets

A low hold is when there's a small gap between the two sides of the bet. The Jets being +300 at one sportsbook and the Bills being -310 at another book is a low hold. Jets +300 and Bills -300 is zero hold.

In order to hit the wagering requirement with fewer loses, you can employ this technique. Sites like Crazy Ninja Odds will automatically surface low-hold opportunities so you don't have to go digging around every sportsbook yourself.

In this example, you'll bet $100 on Arizona State at -200, and $50.85 on Arizona +195 (you can calculate the proper amounts to bet yourself, or let the tool do it for you). No matter what happens, you'll lose just under $1, and if you deposited $500 like the example above, you're 10% of the way to hitting your play-through requirement.

If you can find 10 similar bets like this, you'll only lose a few bucks during this process, instead of the normal ~$45 like you would if you just bet $100 on 10 point spreads and went 5-5. And you'll quickly hit the wagering requirement, which was $1,000 based on the deposit amount.

Of course, if you deposit more, you're going to need to do more bets like this or wager higher amounts, but it still works the same.

Some important notes about this technique:

• Sportsbooks hate it, and it can get you limited (even though you may actually lose money at BetMGM still). So never bet both sides at the same sportsbooks.
• Make sure you're logged into both sportsbooks and have the bets queued up, so it's less likely the prices move on you.
• Double check that you're betting the right amounts.
• There may not be a perfect, zero-hold opportunity at every sportsbook every day. Some days you may break even on the bets, and some days you may lose a little. Rarely, you'll find an opportunity to arbitrage and actually make money on these bets.
• You can do this with props, but you're 1) more likely to get limited and 2) if you're betting larger amounts, one sportsbook may allow your wager and another may not. Then you'll either be cashing out one bet for a loss, or praying that the one you did get in wins. Not a great situation.
• The easiest way for sportsbooks to identify practices like this is by tracking closing line value by customer. And if you're betting outlier prices, you're more likely to get closing line value.