Sportsbooks and the “Rollover Policy”
by Brad Taylor of ALLFREEPICKS.com
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Online sportbooks have great bonuses compared to your local bookie or your local legitimate Casino. When you deposit with an online sportsbook, you usually will get a bonus of some kind. Most bonuses fall within a 20-30% range. So, if you deposit $100, you get $130 in your account to start betting with. Wow, pretty generous right?
Here is the catch, and you know there always is one with everything “too good to be true”. Before you can cash out that bonus money, you must wager your total balance a certain amount of times. This is called a rollover clause. And a rollover makes sense to a degree. Because if you didn’t have a rollover, people would just deposit money, get the bonus and then cash out. It would be free money and there is no such thing in this world, which is unless you are on welfare.
But the rollover clauses aren’t always immediately visible when signing up. Some of them are hidden in the “terms and conditions” page that so many of us are just used to accepting without thoroughly reading.
So, what is a fair rollover amount? Of course, this depends on what kind of bonus you are getting. If you are getting a 10% bonus, then by my calculations a 2X time rollover is more than fair for both sides. For instance, if you deposit $100, you get a $10 bonus, and then you would have to wager $220 total, assuming that you win the first bet(s). This is fair I think. You double your money and then you have to actually win and then risk the win amount over again to be eligible to cash out completely. I mean, we are only talking about 10% here. It won’t break any banks. But, the best you will usually find online for 10% is a 3X rollover. I think this is a little much. BoDog, CRIS, and Pinnacle offer this same bonus. Some books are a little fairer. VIP, and Gameday, owned by the same company, offer 20% with the same 3X rollover minimum. Now we get into the silly stuff. Some of these books out here will lure you in with 40% and 50% bonuses. And you may think “Oh my, now we are talking, why are they being sooo generous?”. Well, now comes the 5x rollover clause. That’s right 5X rollover!! If you deposit $200, you will get a “free $100” in your account. BUT, you have to risk all $300 5 times over to get your $100. LAIM!! That is $1500 in wagers to get your measly $100. They know if you risk the whole amount five times, the odds of you making anything is a slim and none. I call all these bonuses the Big Lure. This is exactly what I just witnessed when betting with Legendz sports. They gave me my “free” $100 when I deposited $200. But when I had looked to cash in, they said I needed to wager another $500 to get my “free” $100 too. So, I am just leaving it behind. The $100 that never truly existed will sit in limbo. And I will take my $700+ in winnings this week and pay a bill, or go on a small vacation.
But, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t play offshore. Just make your deposit and ignore the “bonus”. Pretend it isn’t there. And when you are ready to cash out, leave that lousy free bonus in there. It is free money and never truly existed. The big bonuses are lures. But, playing online is still the best way to go. They are way more convenient and way safer than some ‘ducking and dodging” local bookie. Just know what you are truly getting.
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