Barstool New Player Bonus

Best Bonus Bet Offers & Sportsbook Promos For New Customers

Bonus bets are among the most widely used promotional tools in the regulated US sports betting market. Sportsbooks use them to attract new users and reward loyal customers, offering a way to place bets without putting your own money at risk.

Most promotions involving bonus bets provide genuine value, but they come with restrictions that affect how much value they add and the best way to maximize value.

This guide explains what bonus bets are, how they work, where to find them, and how to use them strategically.

By the end of this guide, you’ll understand:

  • The main types of bonus bets available
  • How bonus bets compare to other promotions like deposit matches and odds boosts
  • Key terms and conditions to watch for
  • How to extract maximum value from bonus bets while managing risk

Sportsbooks That Offer Bonus Bets

#1. DraftKings App

draftkings sportsbook 1024x538 1

DraftKings Sportsbook is one of the most active operators when it comes to promotions for both new and existing users. It regularly offers a wide range of bonuses tied to major sports leagues, including the NFL, NBA, MLB, college sports, and NHL.

Bonus offers change frequently and can be found in the Promotions tab, located on the far-right side of the DraftKings app’s bottom menu. Some of the common types of offers include:

  • No Sweat Bonus Bets (e.g., money-back offers if your bet loses)
  • Odds Boosts for select games and props
  • DraftKings Lossback promotions
  • Same-Game Parlay Insurance

These offers rotate regularly and are designed to align with popular sporting events, giving users flexible ways to engage with the platform.

#2. FanDuel App

fanduel sportsbook 1024x538 1

FanDuel Sportsbook is comparable to DraftKings in terms of the volume and variety of promotions available to existing users. It consistently ranks as one of the top platforms for ongoing offers, with a strong lineup of Bonus Bets, “No Sweat” bets, parlay insurance, and other daily incentives.

Most promotions for returning users are accessible directly through the FanDuel Sportsbook app, while the website typically features a smaller selection. Offers rotate throughout the week and often align with marquee matchups and seasonal events.

Common FanDuel promotions include:

  • Parlay Insurance
  • Bonus Bets
  • Odds Boosts
  • Reload Bonuses

#3. BetMGM App

betmgm sportsbook 1024x538 1

BetMGM stands out for its intuitive mobile app, which makes navigating sports betting straightforward and user-friendly. Many of the platform’s promotions are app-exclusive and not available on the desktop site, offering additional incentives for mobile users.

BetMGM also features a rewards program that includes missions and ongoing challenges. Completing these missions can unlock bonus funds and other perks, adding a gamified layer to the betting experience.

Regular promotions available through the BetMGM Sportsbook app include:

  • Bonus Bets
  • Odds Boosts
  • Reload Bonuses (often distributed via email)

#4. Caesars App

caesars sportsbook 1 1024x538 1

Caesars Sportsbook boasts an extensive rewards program that allows users to earn points redeemable for bonus bets, merchandise, travel discounts, comped rooms, and much more. Anyone who creates a Caesars Sportsbook account is automatically enrolled in the Caesars Rewards program.

Through the app and loyalty program, users can access recurring promotions such as:

  • Parlay Insurance
  • Bonus Bets
  • Odds Boosts

What Is A Bonus Bet?

A bonus bet is a promotional credit issued by a sportsbook that allows you to place a wager without using your own money.

If your bonus bet wins, you keep the winnings but not the stake. If it loses, you lose the bonus bet but not your own money.

Example

  • Imagine you receive a $50 bonus bet.
  • You place it on a team at +200 odds.
  • If the team wins, you receive $100 in profit (2-to-1 payout).
  • You do not receive the original $50 stake back.
  • If the team loses, you lose nothing from your account balance.

Bonus Bets Versus Cash

Bonus bets are fundamentally different than cash bets because the original stake isn’t included in payouts.

Therefore, maximizing the value of sportsbook bonus bets requires a different approach than simply betting as you normally would.

For example, a bonus bet placed on a heavy favorite yields less expected value (EV) than the same bet placed on an outcome with longer odds. We’ll delve into the math behind bonus bet EV later in this guide.

Types of Bonus Bet Offers

Bonus bets come in several forms, each with unique conditions, advantages, and limitations. Understanding these key points is the first step to making the most of them. In the next section, we’ll explain how bonus bets function after they’re credited to your account.

(Also known as Second Chance Bets or First Bet Refunds)

  • Largest potential upside (get up to $1,500 in bonus bets in some cases)
  • You must lose your first bet to benefit from No Sweat Bet promos
  • You receive nothing extra if your initial wager wins

This type of offer refunds your first cash wager if it loses, usually in the form of a bonus bet.

For example, if you claim a No Sweat Bet and place a $100 wager on a game, there are two possible outcomes:

  • Your bet wins: you collect your profit as usual
  • Your bet loses: the sportsbook refunds your stake with a $100 bonus bet

Second chance bet promotions cap the maximum refund amount up to a specific amount, usually $500 to $1,500.

State sports betting regulations require sportsbooks to disclose the cap upfront, so look for wording like “get up to $1,000 back in bonus bets if your first wager loses).

  • Tend to have less upside (typically worth $100 to $200 in bonus bets)
  • Most Bet & Get offers pay regardless of the first wager’s outcome (everyone benefits)
  • Some Bet & Get offers only pay if your first wager wins
  • Less upfront risk required to claim compared to No Sweat Bets

These promotions reward you with bonus bets after placing a qualifying wager.

Most Bet & Get promotions issue bonus bets regardless of whether the initial wager wins, but some offers require the initial bet to win.

Example:

  • “Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets.”
  • You place a $5 wager on any market.
  • In most cases, you receive $150 in bonus bets regardless of whether the initial bet wins or loses.

Important notes:

  • Some Bet & Get promotions require the qualifying bet to win before the bonus is issued.
  • Bonus bets are often distributed in multiple smaller units (e.g., your sportsbook issues a $150 refund as six bonus bets worth $25 each)

  • Tend to issue the smallest bonus bets (often $10 to $20)
  • Not restricted to new customers (existing users also qualify)
  • Fairly frequent
  • Usually require less upfront risk than new customer bonuses

Bonus bets also appear frequently as part of ongoing customer loyalty programs or one-off existing customer promotions.

Typical existing user bonus bet promos include:

  • Weekly challenges or missions (e.g., “Bet $10 on three different games to receive a $20 bonus bet”)
  • Insurance-style promos like parlay protection (e.g., “Get back up to $50 in bonus bets if your parlay loses by a leg”)
  • Event-based promotions tied to high-interest games or championships (e.g., “Bet at least $20 on the Super Bowl for a chance to win $10,000 in bonus bets)
  • Bad beat refunds if your team loses in an especially painful manner (e.g., “Get up to $20 back as bonus bets if your team loses after leading by at least two touchdowns”)
  • Loyalty rewards bouses (e.g., “VIP members receive a $50 bonus bet every Friday”)

How Bonus Bets Work

Once credited to your account, bonus bets function differently than cash.

The mechanics of placing the wager, the payout calculations, and restrictions are all different when using bonus bets.

Most importantly, bonus bets do not return the original stake. If your bonus bet wins, you only receive the net profit. The initial stake (the value of the bonus bet itself) is not included in the payout.

Example

  • You place a $100 bonus bet at +200
  • The total winning payout is $200 (profit only)
  • Compare this to a $100 cash bet at +200, which would return $300 ($200 profit + $100 initial stake)

Bonus bets also come with restrictions that aren’t present when using cash to place wagers:

  • Fixed Use: Bonus bets are often issued as non-divisible units. For example, a $100 bonus bet may need to be used in a single wager unless specified otherwise by the sportsbook.
  • Expiry Date: Bonus bets typically expire within 7 to 30 days. If you have unused bonus funds after the expiration deadline, they’ll be removed from your account.
  • Market Limitations: Some bonus bets may only be used on specific sports, leagues, or types of wagers.
  • Odds Restrictions: Most bonus bets have minimum odds restrictions. For example, the offer might require you to place your bet on markets priced at -200 or longer (i.e., you can’t bet on heavy favorites; wagers placed at odds of -110, +110, +200, +400, etc., are OK; wagers placed at -200, -300, etc. are not).
  • Non-withdrawable: Bonus bet amounts themselves cannot be withdrawn. Only profits from successful bonus bets can be transferred to your cash balance and withdrawn.

Once you receive a bonus bet, you must manually select it when placing a wager.

To use a bonus bet:

  • Select an eligible wager and add it to your bet slip.
  • On the bet slip, choose the bonus bet option (often a toggle or dropdown).
  • Submit the wager. No funds will be deducted from your cash balance.

Bonus Bets vs. Other Promotions

Understanding how bonus bets compare to other types of sportsbook promotions will help you identify the right promos for your goals – whether that’s minimizing risk, increasing potential payout, or maximizing long-term bankroll stability.

Some promotions are paid in site credit, which is often confused with bonus bets but functions differently.

  • Site Credit: Can be used like cash. If you place a winning wager, both the stake and winnings are returned.
  • Bonus Bet Credit: Only the profit is returned on a winning wager, not the stake.

Always check the terms. Site credit offers tend to be more flexible and valuable but may have other restrictions, particularly wagering requirements.

These promotions provide additional value but in different ways than bonus bets.

  • Parlay Insurance: If one leg of your parlay loses, the sportsbook refunds your stake (often as a bonus bet). This helps mitigate losses on high-risk, multi-leg bets.
  • Odds Boosts: These increase the payout odds on selected bets. You’re still risking your own money, but the potential return is higher.

While neither promotion offers “free” money, they both help reduce risk or increase return on bets you already planned to make.

What Happened to Free Bets?

Online sportsbooks largely stopped using the phrases “free bets” and “risk-free bets” due to regulatory pressure and consumer protection concerns.

Here’s why regulators and the industry itself have moved away from “free bet” language.

The primary issue with phrases like “free bets” and “risk-free” is that they were often deceptive.

“Free bets” were rarely truly free. They almost always came with significant conditions, such as requiring an initial deposit, a qualifying wager, or wagering requirements before any winnings became withdrawable.

The stake of the “free bet” itself was typically not included in payouts, further reducing its “freeness.”

“Risk-free bet” promotions were also misleading because there is always an inherent risk in gambling.

Additionally, “risk-free” offers usually issued refunds in the form of site credit or bonus funds, not withdrawable cash. This meant bettors still had to wager the promotional funds, and if they also lost that subsequent bet, they were left with nothing: the original money deposited by the bettor was still at risk.

State-level gambling regulators have become increasingly focused on consumer protection and responsible gambling.

Increasingly, they viewed “free” and “risk-free” language as predatory marketing that could induce problem gambling by giving a false sense of security or guaranteed success.

Multiple states have amended their gambling laws to prohibit misleading advertising related to sports betting promotions, and some operators have paid hefty fines for using “risk-free” language.

Multiple online sportsbook brands, including DraftKings, have been hit with class-action lawsuits over the misleading nature of “risk-free bet” promotions. In legal proceedings, operators struggle to justify using the phrase “risk-free” responsibly in a gambling context.

In response, the regulated US online gambling industry has pivoted to more accurate (but still promotional) terms like “bonus bets,” “no sweat bets,” and “second chance bets.”

Organizations like the American Gaming Association (AGA) have developed responsible marketing codes for sports wagering.

The AGA’s responsible marketing code explicitly states that “no message should suggest engaging in sports wagering is without risk or utilize ‘risk-free’ language.” This pushes sportsbooks to adopt more transparent terminology.

Extracting Maximum Value from Bonus Bets

Bonus bets are not fixed-value promotions. How you use them can dramatically change their worth – and that’s no mere platitude.

There is a mathematically correct way to maximize bonus bet expected value (EV).

However, you need to weigh your risk tolerance against your desire to maximize EV. Counterintuitive as it may be, the more you maximize bonus bet EV, the likelier you are to lose it all.

That’s because extracting maximum EV from bonus bets requires placing bets on longer-shot outcomes. Thus, the more you maximize your theoretical return; the more you maximize the odds that you lose your real wager.

General Strategy: Target Longer Odds

For most bonus bet promotions, the best value comes from targeting longer odds. The logic is straightforward: if the stake doesn’t come back, then the only way to increase your return is to aim for higher payouts.

Let’s look at two examples using a $100 bonus bet:

  • Even odds (+100): If you win, you make $100 in profit.
  • +400 odds: A win would net $400 in profit.

Even though the longer odds have a lower win probability, they deliver higher expected value over time. This is because the increased payout compensates for the reduced chance of winning.

Best Approach for No Sweat First Bets

Second chance bet promos refund your first cash wager as a bonus bet if it loses. Here’s a two-step strategy to maximize value:

  • Step 1 – The Qualifying Bet: Use your qualifying cash wager on moderately long odds (e.g., +200 to +300). This gives you a reasonable chance of winning outright while still positioning you for a valuable refund if the bet loses. Note: Make sure to read the offer’s terms to ensure you pick a wager that qualifies for the promotion.
  • Step 2 – The Bonus Bet (if refunded): Deploy it on a longer-odds market (e.g., +400 to +600). Since the stake isn’t returned, longer odds yield more expected profit over time.

This approach helps capture upside on both ends of the promotion: either you win the first bet, or you get a high-EV second shot.

Find Your Sweet Spot

Markets with very long odds (e.g., +1,000 and higher) offer the highest theoretical EV, but their low probability of winning means you are likely to exhaust all your bonus bets without a win.

For your consideration, here are some calculations employing a conservative, moderate, or aggressive EV-maximizing strategy using a $100 bonus bet on wagers at varying odds:

Strategy (Odds)Net Potential PayoutWin ProbabilityExpected Value
Conservative (-110)$90.9152.4%$47.64
Moderate (+200)$20033.3%$66.66
Aggressive (+500)$50016.7%$83.50

Why Longer Odds Increase Bonus Bet EV

The reason why it’s +EV to use bonus bets on longer-shot wagers is the result of how payouts are calculated compared to cash wagers.

When you use a bonus bet, the payout is (odds * original stake), not (odds * original stake) + original stake.

Let’s illustrate with an example:

Imagine you have a $100 bonus bet.

Scenario 1: Betting on a heavy favorite (e.g., odds of -400, meaning you win $25 for every $100 wagered)

  • If you win: You receive $25 (profit), but your initial $100 bonus bet stake is not returned.
  • Your payout is $25.

Scenario 2: Betting on a long shot (e.g., odds of +400, meaning you win $400 for every $100 wagered)

  • If you win: You receive $400 (profit), and your initial $100 bonus bet stake is not returned.
  • Your payout is $400.

The mathematical truth lies in how the exclusion of the original stake impacts the percentage of potential profit relative to the risk.

When you bet on a favorite with a bonus bet, your potential profit is a smaller percentage of the “cash value” of that bonus bet bet.

Conversely, with a long shot, the potential payout is much larger, so while you still don’t get your stake back, the impact on your overall expected value is proportionally less severe because the potential profit dwarfs the unreturned stake.

In essence, the unreturned stake represents a fixed “cost” that eats into smaller profits more significantly than larger profits.

Alternative Strategy: Hedging Bonus Bets

One advanced strategy for extracting value from a bonus bet is hedging it at another sportsbook. This approach is ideal for bettors who prefer lower variance and are comfortable managing multiple accounts.

How to Hedge Bonus Bets

Use your bonus bet on one side of a market at one sportsbook and place a cash-money hedge bet on the opposite side at a different sportsbook. This creates a risk-managed setup where you’ll net a profit regardless of the outcome.

For example, imagine you receive a $100 bonus bet. Here’s how you might use the bonus bet and hedge it elsewhere:

  • Bonus Bet: $100 on Team A at +300
  • Hedge Bet: $240 on Team B at -150 at another book

Once you have placed these wagers, there are two potential outcomes:

  • Team A wins: You profit $300 from the bonus bet (no stake returned), lose $240 on the hedge = $60 net gain
  • Team B wins: You win $160 on the hedge, lose the bonus bet (no cash outlay) = $160 net gain

Tips and Notes

  • Ensure odds are accurate and updated in real time to avoid discrepancies
  • Use odds comparison tools to identify profitable markets
  • Factor in any potential withdrawal or rollover requirements at the hedge sportsbook
  • The “net gain” figures discount any risk you had to assume to receive the bonus bet in the first place. If you’re considering a promotion that requires you to place a qualifying wager to receive a bonus bet, you should also factor in the possibility of losing the qualifying wager.

Bonus Bets FAQ

No. Bonus bets are not withdrawable, but any winnings obtained by wagering bonus bets are typically credited as withdrawable cash. As always, it pays to reads the terms and conditions before claiming any bonus bet promotion.

If a wager is voided (cancelled), sportsbooks almost always return the bonus bet to your account if it hasn’t expired.

If a wager pushes (ties), some sportsbooks return the bonus bet, while others do not. Always check the specific offer’s terms.

Sportsbooks usually offer bonus bets to all new customers as welcome promotions. Existing customers may also receive bonus bets via ongoing promotions, short-term promos during major sporting events, and loyalty programs.

Generally, no. The cash-out option, which allows bettors to settle wagers early for partial payouts, is usually disabled for wagers placed with bonus bets.

No. The terms attached to No Sweat Bet and Bet & Get promotions invariably state that using the cash-out option on an initial wager disqualifies it for the promotion.