Sports Betting Bonuses in the USA

Everything You Need to Know About Sports Betting Bonuses in the USA

The online gambling industry might be primarily known for its convenience. But we can’t deny that it’s the bonuses and promotions that made the industry into how we know it today. Promotions are exclusive to the online industry because land-based bookies or casinos never offer promotions.

When you consider all the types of available bonuses in the USA as well as across the world, it’s not hard to imagine how intimidating the selection process might be for new bettors. So, we’ve decided to step up and help.

In our guide today, we plan to explore bookmakers bonuses USA so that you know what you can expect. We’re going to break the bonuses down and try to understand what makes the best online sports betting bonus sign up and others.

If you have the slightest interest in the sports betting best bonuses, please read the guide till the end. However, before you delve into the details, you can quickly check out the best bookmakers in the USA who offer lucrative promotions in the table below.

Top Bookmaker Bonuses & Promo Codes

This is the section where the magic happens. We’ve listed the best sports betting bonuses at the best bookies in the USA. We’ve also listed any bonus codes you may need to use to claim them.

We came up with this list after evaluating lots of operators in the area. If you’re interested in the criteria we followed for the ranking, keep reading.

What are Sportsbook Bonuses & Why Are They Offered?

They are exactly what they sound like. They’re different types of promotional rewards offered to the punters of the USA. The goal is to bring in any prospective bettors who might be interested in the bonus.

The reason promotions work so well in customer retention is because it opens up opportunities for players to test the features. Every online bookmaker is different and there’s no way to market the unique characteristics without real money bettors.

So, the sportsbooks offer promotions to bring in a new influx of customers. To claim the bonus, the bettors must use the features offered on the website. As a result, they get acquainted with the features of a particular bookmaker. If the features are good, the punter then deposits more to spend more on bets.

This is the primary idea behind why operators offer such amazing bonuses to the bettors. At the same time, it allows the punters to increase their bankroll and make some hefty real money winnings. It’s a win-win for both parties.

Types of Sports Betting Bonuses in The USA

The bonuses we’re going to explore in this section are not the only ones in existence today. There might be all kinds of other bonuses circulating across the bookmakers around the world. It ultimately comes down to the imagination of the operator and its policies.

So, we’re going to list the most common type of sportsbook bonuses you can find in the USA. In fact, these are common offerings not just in the USA but all over the world. We’ll also include the unique terms & conditions for each promotion. And lastly, we’ll go over the broader spectrum of the terms in a separate section.

Free Bets

Let’s start the list with a promotion exclusive to the sports betting industry. You won’t find free bets in online casinos because there are no games in casinos that can utilize free bets.

The reward token for this promotion is exactly what it sounds like. You get “free” bets. As in, fixed-value betting credits for selected events. They might be part of sports betting sign up bonus, sports betting deposit bonus, or even no deposit bonus.

A free bet promotion may come as “$50 free bets on the market of your choice at minimum 1.50 odds”. We’re using “$” for an example only as it’s the most accepted currency worldwide.

The offer means you have $50 worth of betting credit. You don’t get the $50 in your hand, ever. Rather, you can place bets worth $50 without spending any of your real money. If you win from those bets, the winnings are yours to keep.

If free bets still sound complicated, think of them as food vouchers. You can redeem food against the value of the vouchers. You get the food and not the value of the voucher. The food is the winnings and the voucher is the free bet value in this context.

As for the terms and conditions, you’re most likely required to maintain minimum odds on the market. In fact, it’s a term that comes in many other sports betting sites bonuses. So, we’re going to cover it in our dedicated terms and conditions section.

What sports qualify for the free bets offer will completely depend on the operator. It might preselect the events as well as the markets for the punters. Some operators give complete freedom to the punter on which events they want to utilize. You can even place ACCA bets with free bets if you want!

Risk-Free Bets

This is basically a fancy way of saying no deposits free bets. The free bets we’ve discussed in the previous section may be part of the best sports betting welcome offers, a daily bonus, a weekly bonus, or anything else.

But when risk-free bets are concerns, it’s pretty much always a no deposit bonus. Because the operator doesn’t want you to “risk” anything. You may receive this promotion when you first sign up at a website. Or, you may receive it randomly at the operator’s discretion as a token of appreciation.

Now, there might be multiple interpretations of a risk-free bet offer in the USA. Sometimes, you may have to deposit funds before you can receive this bonus. Although it contradicts the statement regarding the “no deposit” aspect of this promotion, it’s certainly possible.

In such cases, you get the bet reimbursed if you lose. Now it makes sense, right? You make a deposit, receive the risk-free bet, and place it on your preferred events. If you win, you keep the winnings and the bet is settled.

If you lose, however, you get the value of free bets reimbursed up to a certain percentage, either in the form of more free bets or real money.

One of the drawbacks of any type of free bets promotions at betting sites in the USA is that you don’t get it in the payout. You only receive the winnings from the bet.

Speaking of regular free bets, you have to maintain minimum odds for these bets as well. Also, most risk-free bets apply on your first deposit or the first wager. After that, the regular free bets promotions may come your way.

Deposit Match

If you’ve been in the iGaming industry before, whether for sports betting or to play online casino games, you should know very well what this promotion is. It’s what it says in the name.

In a deposit match bonus, the operator “matches” your “deposit” to a percentage. It might be 20%, it might be 50%, it might be 100%, or it might be 200%. The numbers we’re stating are all abstract so don’t get too hung up on them. The actual percentage of the bonus will vary drastically from operator to operator in the USA.

From what we’ve seen, 100% seems to be the most common value. If you receive a 100% match on your deposit offer and deposit $20 or equivalent in any other currency, the operator will credit another $20 in your account.

Keep in mind that this is not betting credit. Rather, this is bonus cash that’s added to your bonus funds. Now, you have to use this fund in the preselected events while maintaining the specified minimum odds to successfully convert the bonus into real money.

The great thing about cash bonuses is that you can get your hands on the entire amount. Unlike free bets, you don’t get the profits from a bet only. Also, you get more options to use your free cash when compared to free bets. Pretty much all events qualify for this promotion.

Another interesting thing about sports betting 100 percent bonus or any other percentage is that they’re not exclusive to any category. It might come as sports betting sites welcome bonus or online sports betting free bonus for the day.

You may also get them by using sports betting no deposit bonus codes. It’s going to be the result of the operator’s imagination and your luck.

Along with the minimum odds requirement, this type of promotion is likely to have higher wagering requirements. If you’re not familiar with the concept of wagering requirements, worry not because we’re going to cover it in the T&C section.

For now, keep in mind that deposit match promotions are prone to higher wagering requirements when compared to free bets or risk-free bets.

No Deposit Free Bets/Cash

It may sound redundant to a lot of you at this point but there’s a reason why these promotions are in a separate category of their own. Sports betting free bonus no deposit might come in all sizes and shapes. Most commonly, free bets and free cash.

You already know about free bets. While the definition isn’t going to change for what it is, the terms and conditions may change for the no deposit variants. You may have to deal with higher wagering requirements or no wagering requirements at all. Anything and everything is possible in this industry!

If you get a sports betting bonus without deposit, the amount is most likely going to be very low. From what we’ve seen, it ranges between $5 and $25. Of course, it’s subject to change from country to country.

The biggest drawback of these promotions is the higher wagering requirements. And trust us when we say this, the difference in wagering requirements is very noticeable!

Ideally, we would recommend that you steer clear of no deposit promotions if you can help it. Because the efforts you have to make to release the funds into your real money account are not worth it in most cases.

Boosted Odds

This is a very commonly offered promotion by the majority of the bookmakers in the USA. As the name suggests, you get a boost on the odds of your bet.

Now, the important question is, what is odds? If you’re an experienced bettor already, you can skip this section. Because we’re going to briefly explain what odds are for our new friends.

Outside of a betting context, “odds” refer to the likelihood of an event taking place. So, if someone says “the odds of rain is high today”, it means he strongly believes it’s going to rain today.

In a sports betting context, odds project how much you can win from a bet. It might be decimal odds, fractional odds, or American odds. The format is mostly irrelevant. It’s a way of representing the odds based on the demographics of different countries.

It all comes down to how well you can read odds for your betting needs. To accelerate the process, let’s take a look at the 3 different odds format at a glance.

• Decimal Odds

Decimal odds represent your winnings including the stake. Think of this as a multiplier for your stake. So, if you place your wager on a market with 2.00 odds, the final payout will be (your stake x 2.00). If you wager $100, for example, you’ll receive $200 as the payout.

• Fractional Odds

Mostly used in the UK and Ireland, this is a ratio between the profit and stake. If an event is projecting 4/1 odds, it means you can win $4 for every $1 you wager. If you wager $1, you’ll get a $5 payout.

• American Odds

When you look at American odds for the first time, it might look a lot more complicated than it is. Primarily because the favourites and the underdogs are represented with mathematical operators (+) and (-).

If you place money on the favourite, you have to spend the amount dictated in the odds to win $100. If you wager on the underdog, you have to wager $100 to win the dictated odds.

Now that the concept of odds is out of the way, we can come back to the point we were actually discussing. The boosted odds promotion.

All events have odds assigned to them by the bookmakers in the USA as well as all over the world. When you get longer odds than usual, that’s a boosted odd promotion.

Simply put, you can win more with the same stake if you participate in a boosted odds promotion and win. The wagering requirements, minimum odds requirements, and every other T&C usually remain the same for both parties.

Parlay Insurance

This promotion is relatively exclusive and is hard to come by. To understand what parlay insurance is and how it works, you have to first understand what a parlay bet is.

In sports betting, a parlay is considered among the riskiest bets. Most often, only veteran punters who’re very much aware of the industry go for this bet. A parlay bet is basically multi-level bets that include more than one selection. Each selection is known as a leg.

So, if you include 5 selections in your parlay bet, for example, it’s a 5-leg parlay.

When your bet slip has more than one market under the same bet, the payout is going to be massive. The catch for this type of betting is that all of your selections must win. Even if you miss one of the selections, you lose the entire bet.

That’s where the parlay insurance promotion comes into play. It provides “insurance” against you losing the money just because one of your selections was wrong. The bookmaker gives you a refund of up to a certain percentage of your stake depending on how many legs you get wrong.

The dynamics of this promotion are going to vary a lot from bookmaker to bookmaker in USA. They might create their own policies as well. As a punter, your job is to understand the terms of the parlay insurance in detail before you attempt one of these bets.

Just like the rest of the promotions we’ve discussed in this guide, parlay insurance also has minimum odds requirements. It applies to each leg separately. So, if the terms and conditions section is telling you to maintain a minimum of 1.40 (2/5) odds, you must do it for all the selected legs.

Reload Bonus

This is a commonly credited bonus across online casinos and sportsbooks. It’s not necessarily a different “type” of bonus. Rather, it’s a broader umbrella that all bonuses we’ve already discussed can fit under.

A reload bonus is offered when a punter takes a long break from betting and comes back with a deposit. It’s the reward you receive for “reloading” your account. Another argument regarding reload bonuses entails that the operator may notify you about a bonus via email or SMS in the hope that you’ll come back.

In both cases, the amount you receive as the bonus is considered a reload bonus.

How to Get the Best Online Sports Betting Bonuses in the USA?

Every punter in their subconscious wants the biggest promotion available. It’s no wonder because that’s how we humans are hardwired. We love things that are massive and given to us for free.

Although sportsbook promotions aren’t entirely free per se, you can still get the biggest promotions in the USA. It all comes down to how well you can do your research and understand the bonuses.

The first step of finding the best bookmakers bonuses is obviously to find the perfect bookmaker. Now, you can go into your own research or follow our list to find them. To save time, refer to the list we’ve added at the beginning of this guide. You’ll find the top bookmakers with the biggest offers listed for the USA.

Now, if you have some time on your hand and you want to go on an independent journey to find the biggest bonus, you can follow our ranking criteria.

License

Even before we consider the awesomeness of the promotions, we look over the security of the bookmaker. The biggest protection an online sportsbook can offer in the USA as well as all over the world is the license.

The key is to find the right license for the right jurisdiction. For example, an online bookmaker based in the UK or one that wants to offer services in the UK must be licensed by the Gambling Commission.

Similarly, if a bookmaker wants to operate out of Canada, it must be licensed by the province first. Offshore brands, on the other hand, don’t require a local license in Canada.

Just like these examples, different jurisdictions around the world will have different requirements and different legislation. Learn about the laws of USA first and then delve yourself into smart research.

Promotional Terms & Conditions

It might look like our target is finding the biggest bonus available in the USA but that’s not always the case. The bonus you get must be balanced out with the terms and conditions first.

For example, you may get a 500% match bonus on your first deposit. It’s surely one of the biggest bonuses one can ever receive. But if there’s a 100x wagering requirement that you need to meet within 7 days, it doesn’t make any sense.

So, our goal is always to find the most balanced promotions, be it a welcome bonus, no deposit bonus, free bets, or risk-free bets.

Payment Methods

For reliable transactions, you need reliable payment methods. Although it’s not directly associated with promotions at an online sportsbook, it’s definitely a very important criterion in our ranking.

Because for most promotions, you’ll need to deposit first and then place a bet. How do you plan to do it if there are no payment methods in the first place?

Sportsbook Bonus Terms

As promised in multiple sections earlier, we’re going to look into the terms and conditions associated with the bookmaker bonus bets in the USA.

Wagering Requirements

The most common term in the iGaming industry. It applies to both casino bonuses and bookmakers bonus offers equally.

Also known as a playthrough requirement, this term is actually a multiplier for your bonus value or the (bonus + deposit) value. For example, 5x wagering requirements on a bonus means you have to wager 5 times the bonus amount to convert it into real money.

The reason we’re using 5x as the example is that it’s commonly found across bookmakers in the USA. When compared to online casinos, the wagering requirement is pretty reasonable at sportsbooks.

In general, online casino wagering requirements are between 30x to 50x. Of course, there are a whole lot of different numbers in circulation but 30-50 seems to be the sweet spot. On the contrary, we’ve seen as little as 1x wagering requirements for sports betting.

However, there’s a catch before you can withdraw the bonuses from a sportsbook. It’s not set in stone but in our experience, it’s a pretty common one. You may have to wager your total deposit at least once before you can withdraw.

It means regardless of what bonuses you may have active, you need to wager the deposits at least once. Otherwise, you won’t be able to put in a withdrawal request in the first place.

Minimum Odds

Pretty much all sportsbook promotions have minimum odds requirements for the wagering period. In most cases, the minimum odds are set at 1.50 for decimal and -200 for American.

The question is, shouldn’t it be maximum odds? Because we know that odds directly reflect your winnings from an event. So, if you place wagers on higher odds, your wagering requirements would be completed quickly.

Your thought isn’t wrong. However, there’s another side to the odds coin. It not only shows you how much you can win but also indicates which is the favourite party in the bet.

Favourite teams or players have lower odds while underdogs have higher odds. The favourites are considered “favourites” because they’re more likely to win. As a result, more people will bet on them. To balance out the competition, the favourites have lower odds.

If you reverse the logic, you’ll understand why the underdogs have higher odds immediately.

Coming back to the minimum odds question during the wagering, the minimum odds restrictions are in place so that you can’t place bets on favourites over and over again without the risk of losing. 1.50 is the standard odds that are agreed upon in the iGaming industry.

Minimum Selections

Just like minimum odds, some promotions may impose a minimum selections restriction. If that’s the case, you have to maintain that requirement to successfully claim and benefit from the bonus.

For example, if a promotion requires you to put at least 3 selections in a bet, it means you have to place trebles during the wagering duration.

Expiry Date

Although pretty obvious, many rookie punters forget about the expiry date. In retrospect, expiry dates for bookmakers offers are more short-lived than online casino bonuses. In most cases, your bonuses will expire within 7 to 14 days.

You can find the information regarding when your bonus will expire on the T&C for that particular promotion.