Hello, betting fans! We’ve had quite a few articles about sportsbooks the last couple of weeks – we talked about how to choose a good site to bet on, tips on maximizing your profits and types of bet.
Today, we’re going to analyze and go through the esports deposit bonus that platforms offer and everything you need to know about them before you sign up so that you can take full advantage of the best ones and stay away from the shady and hard to obtain ones.
What is a sportsbook deposit bonus?
Most (if not all) betting and gambling sites offer a variety of extra money and perks to attract new users. Perhaps the most used strategy among them all is the free cash. In summary, it consists of matching the user’s first (or more) deposits, doubling the amount that can be used to wager.
It sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? To avoid system abuse, there are a few rules and conditions in place that have to be met in order for the player to clear his reward in most cases – keep reading below to see what’s common practice and what you should be expecting when chasing this kind of bonus, and what you should steer away from and not pursue.
How can you qualify for a deposit bonus?
Being eligible to claim this reward is pretty easy and straightforward. Esports services offer this perk for new users only, so a few criteria have to be met in order to protect the platform from abuse:
First thing, you have to use the code during your sign up. Most sportsbooks do this so that the new users cannot claim a referral promotion and then also claim the first deposit bonus all at once.
Only 1 account per household is allowed. This is set to prevent people from creating multiple accounts from the same IP to take advantage of the promotion. If the sites detect the same IP registering more than once, they are allowed (and you agree to this on their Terms of Service) to suspend or even outright ban your account permanently.
Now that we are clear on who qualifies for the reward, let us analyze some of the most common and used conditions on the market.
Usual terms and conditions you can expect
In this section, we’re going to go over some general terms and conditions you’ll likely find in most promotions offering a welcome extra reward. You must read and understand the site’s policy regarding this, since these terms may differ slightly (or more) from one service to another.
Minimum amount
Some platforms require you to credit a minimum amount in order to unlock the first deposit perk. This can range from as low as $5 to as high as $50. Pay attention to this before you add funds to your balance.
Only the first deposit counts
This is to incentivize new users to put in as much as possible in one go, because if they decide to do a second balance refill, later on, they won’t get matched for it – inducing people to shell out a bit more than they initially wanted to get more out of the freebie.
Maximum match up bonus
Most sites cap the maximum you can get out of the offer. Some sportsbooks offer a cap of $100 – meaning that if you deposit more than this, you’ll only get credited for the first hundred for the promo. Some gambling platforms offer up to 600 in USD or Euros to their new users.
Withdrawal conditions
To prevent abuse from people claiming the reward and cashing out, the sites require you to wager a fixed amount (set in a percentage of your deposit) before you can move your funds. Some platforms require you to wager from 5 to 10x the amount you added to your balance before you’re eligible to do as you please with your money.
Minimum wager odds to clear the reward
Again, this is another criteria put in place to prevent abuse. Since users need to bet a large amount before they can cash out, the sportsbooks make it so only wagers above certain odds count towards unlocking your cash. This is to avoid people abusing the system by betting everything on a huge favorite for a quick deposit clear.
Bonus clearance by steps
Some sites don’t instantly double up your balance right away. Instead, they credit your account with a percentage of your freebie (this is usually divided into 10 chunks of 10%) every time you hit a milestone such as betting X amount of money. For this approach, the user usually has a fixed time limit to unlock all of the extra money, and if he fails to do so, the reward is lost – this time frame usually goes from 90 days to 180 days – Before you sign up for a site, check their rules and plan accordingly to see if you can realistically claim all of the extras that they’re offering.
Conditions you should try to avoid
Knowing all the widely used criteria for claiming the esports bonus, now you know to avoid the ones that are very hard to unlock, such as:
- Very small time window to wager and receive your credits.
- Minimum wager odds too high (you would have to be betting on big underdogs to clear your bonus)
- Very strict withdrawal conditions – the last thing you want is to have your money frozen on the site without being able to move it.
- Small matchup limit – you don’t want to deposit $500 if the site only offers to match up the first $100. Search the market and see if you can find better offers.
This is only a few red flags you should keep an eye out for – but now that you understand how the system and the market work, you can make your own judgment as to whether you think the bonus is worth chasing or not. Just remember that if something on the Internet sounds too good to be true, it probably is! Beware of scams and shady deals, because a lot of people have ended up with frozen balances and no way to get their money out.
We wish you good luck in your future wagers and see you in the next article!
