Promotions, Offers and Bonuses
Maksym YushytsynThe competition among the sportsbook websites constantly rises. All of them offer equal conditions for betting and all of them use additional means to attract more customers and make their members play more. Bonuses and promotions are the best encouraging method which works perfectly for the income of a sportsbook website and for the bettors.
Bonuses have not always existed in gambling. They appeared in online casinos when the quantity of online gambling houses started to rise and the necessity to stand out among the competitors has appeared. The same is with sportbooks now.
Different website offer different sets of bonuses, and a responsible player always puts much effort to find the site with the most lucrative promotions. Some of the players use guides which accumulate offers from different websites. Mostly, players prefer visit different bookmakers to see how much they can get without some additional efforts or money investments.
There exist several types of bonuses offered at sportsbook website.
Bonus for deposit
This is a bonus, regularly offered at sportsbook website. This is some percentage of money (also called a match) that a gambler receives additionally to his deposit. This type of bonus is usually limited, so it is important to check those limits before you claim the bonus. Another thing that you are to check is actual size of the bonus you receive. Let us analyze two situations, each of which deals with claiming of a bonus.
- Situation #1. A gambler may receive $200 match for any deposit higher than $1000. It may sound pretty lucrative offer, but when you look closer you see that this is only 20% from the deposit. And if you make $2000 deposit, $200 of bonus is only 10%.
- Situation #2. Sportsbook website promises 100% bonus for any deposit higher than $1000. The limit of the bonus is $30.000. It means that a gambler who makes $1500 deposit gets $3000 on his account. However, a bonuse will not be available for a deposit of $800.
As you can understand, the second bonus is far better, although the first one seems quite rewarding from the first sight.
Bonus on a first bet
This type of bonuses encourages you not only to make a first deposit, but also first real money bet. The bonus is paid according to the same principles as match bonus (bonus for deposit), but with a slight difference – the size of bonus depends on the bet you make. Bookmakers call the first bet made by a registered member a qualifying bet, and frequently offer some additional payments for making it. In some sportsbook website the following scheme of paying first bet bonuses is presented. A website offers you to make 3 qualifying bets of equal size and pay only for one of them. For example, you make three bets each $50, which equals $150, but you pay only $50.
Money back bet bonus
This is a bonus with the common mechanics with bonus on the first bet with some differences. Money back bonus allows to make one absolutely free qualifying bet. As a rule, some sportsbook website have limits for this bonus: e.g., the chances should be of the precise size (as a rule, 2.00). The matter is that sportsbookers want to prevent a situation when a player wins thousands of dollars with the smallest bet at the expenses of betting house.
The important point of this bonus is that it has some wagering requirements. So if you win money, you cannot withdraw it until you fulfill all the settled requirements.
Weekly bet bonuses
Free bets help players gamble without any danger to go bankrupt. Online bookmakers have understood the free bets attract players even more, than match bonuses. It became a basis for a type of bonuses based on the refund of played money (also known as a cashback). For example, the difference between players deposits and loses in a certain reference period is $100. He receives free bet bonus for $10 (10% of cashback).
Loyalty and VIP programs
Everyone wants to feel special attitude at the place where he plays. Traditional sportbooks made a first step to detach loyal players and created so-called VIP clubs. Online bookmakers made even more: they added loyal programs for all casino members, even for those one who do not make huge deposits and huge bets. They have created equal attitude to each customer, which has led to the increased loyalty to bookmakers. They create loyalty clubs where players collect loyalty points and can exchange them into some bonuses, convent into cash or collect to reach a new level.
Acca refunds or special bonuses for accumulator bets
In the section of bets we have talked about special accumulator bets. These bets have a unique feature: a player receives the reward if only a succession of bets favors him. These bets have the highest payments, as the chances that a player wins several bets in a row are quite low. To make these bets more attractive for a player, bookmakers offer so called Acca (from ‘accumulator’) refund bets.
This is an encouragement for the players who still hesitate to place bets of such type and rather attractive bonus for those who risk with accumulator bet all the time. For instance, a player makes accumulator bet on 5 matches. He wins 4 of them and loses at 5-th. Not to lose money a player bets, a casino offers a small refund (the size regularly is settled by the casino itself).
Surely, if a player eagers to win $1,000 placing just $2 and loses, $5 will never cheer him up. But they will help him make one more try and perhaps win a desired prize.