Who doesn’t love bonus bets from today’s online sportsbooks? You usually get them when you sign up, or through ongoing promos and rewards for existing users.
Most bettors fire them off right away, but there are actually two optimal ways to use bonus bets effectively, and it’s not just betting a big favorite to try to lock in “safe” profit.
How to Use Bonus Bets
Method 1: Betting at Plus Money
The most effective way to use bonus bets is to target plus-money wagers. Since you don’t get the bonus stake back on a win, you want to focus on spots that maximize expected value.
Expected value (EV) is a simple concept: it measures how much you can expect to win (or lose) if you placed the same bet repeatedly over time.
When I look for these opportunities, I focus on a few key factors:
- I target odds in the +300 to +600 range. You don’t have unlimited bonus bets, so while extreme longshots (like +1000 or higher) might look attractive on paper, they don’t hit often enough to reliably turn into profit.
- I prefer tight, two-way markets, where pricing is efficient. For example, +300 vs. -360 on an NBA moneyline is more reliable than something like +400 vs. -950 on a niche prop. The smaller the gap, the more confident the sportsbook is in its line.
- I look for line value compared to the market, meaning the sportsbook offering the bonus bet should have one of the best available prices on that side compared to other books.
So why is betting at plus-money more valuable?
If someone offered you +110 on a fair coin flip, you’d take it every time, even though you’d lose half the time, because the long-term math is in your favor. That’s the core idea behind expected value.
EV is calculated by multiplying your win probability by your payout. In simple terms, it tells you what a bet is worth over time if you could repeat it endlessly.
Here’s a simple breakdown using a $50 bonus bet:
| Odds | Win Amount | Probability | EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| -250 | $20 | 71.43% | +$14.28 |
| +250 | $125 | 28.57% | +$35.71 |
| +500 | $250 | 16.67% | +$41.67 |
Because bonus bets don’t return your stake, you gain more leverage by taking underdogs than favorites. The longer the odds, the higher the theoretical value.
That said, you don’t have an unlimited number of bonus bets, so variance matters in real life. A +1000 hit might look great in theory, but if it never wins, it doesn’t help you much.
That’s why the +300 to +600 range tends to be the sweet spot, balancing strong expected value with a realistic chance of actually cashing a win.
Method 2: "Converting" Bonus Bets to Cash
With bonus bet conversion, you can lock in a profit by hedging across different sportsbooks. The idea is simple: find two prices on opposite sides of the same market, place your bonus bet on one side, and hedge the other side at a separate sportsbook.
Don't bet both sides at the same sportsbook. That can trigger restrictions, limits, or account issues if the sportsbook flags it as bonus abuse.
There are also tools that help identify these conversion opportunities, such as odds comparison platforms that surface the best hedgeable lines. These tools let you sort by the most efficient or profitable bonus bet conversions at the book where your bonus funds are located.
For example, consider this market:
- Baltimore Orioles Over 9.5 Runs (+1100)
- Baltimore Orioles Under 9.5 Runs (-1100)
If you place a $50 bonus bet on Orioles Over 9.5 (+1100), you then hedge Orioles Under 9.5 (-1100) at another sportsbook.
Here’s how the outcomes break down:
- If the Orioles Over 9.5 hits:
You win $550 from the bonus bet, but lose $504.17 on the hedge, for a net profit of $45.83. - If the Orioles Under 9.5 hits:
You lose the bonus bet, but win the hedge for a net profit of $45.83.
Either way, you lock in about $45.83 profit on a $50 bonus bet, effectively converting it to cash at roughly an 92% conversion rate.
