Sports betting bonus offers are more than just marketing gimmicks you know? Sure, the bookies use them to appeal to the likes of me and you ahead of the competition.
It’s a crowded market out there though, which is causing the betting sites to make their offers bigger, better, and fairer. In this article, I’ll tell you about my favourite types of betting bonuses. On top of that, I’ll let you in on a few insider secrets to help you find and choose the best offers.
Open Stake.us
Obviously, I don’t want to bore or patronise any of you, but it’s always good to start with the basics, don’t you think? For those of you who are completely new to the sports betting game, let me tell you a bit about what bonuses are and how they work.
Online bookies and betting sites use bonuses primarily to incentivise new customers to bet with them ahead of their competitors. Additionally, further promotions are used to keep existing customers happy and to stop them from taking their business elsewhere.
Are they marketing tools? Absolutely. But can they still benefit us as punters? 100% yes.
As you have probably realised by now, the global online betting market is hugely crowded. Because of this, bookmarkers are constantly coming up with new and more creative offers to stand out and win your custom.
In every other aspect of your life as a consumer, you probably shop around and settle for the best price and the best deal, right? Well, you should take the same approach when it comes to online sports betting, as there’s plenty of value to be found out there.
Before I take a more forensic look at betting bonuses and how you can claim them, I’d first like to summarise the basics. After all, it’s 2025 and aren’t we all just searching for a quick roundup of the good and the bad?
With that in mind, here are the main pros and cons of these offers:
The first type of betting promotion that you are going to come across is the welcome bonus, which is something that pretty much every online bookie in the world offers. As the name suggests, this type of promotion is only accessible to new account holders – but you didn’t need to be Einstein to figure that one out I’m guessing.
“Welcome offer” is a pretty broad umbrella term that covers a variety of bonus types. The promotions that online sports betting sites offer new customers can come in a whole variety of shapes and sizes, and I would like to give you a bit more insight into the most popular offers.
I am a person who lives up to my word, so as promised, here is an overview of the best sports betting bonus types:
This is my favourite type of sports betting offer and is probably the easiest to understand. A bonus bet is effectively like a voucher token that represents a single-stake bet worth a certain value.
For example, if you have a $10 bonus bet in your account, you will be able to use it for one $10 bet. Generally in my experience, you cannot split it – e.g. you can’t use it for 2 x $5 wagers.
To get a bonus bet, you will normally have to deposit and sometimes make a qualifying real money of the same value. However, as I will explain later, the qualifying conditions and T&Cs vary between bonuses and the betting sites offering them.
Here are the Frog, we’re big fans of second chances, and that’s exactly what you get with a no sweat first bet. Please forgive the cheesy rhyme there, I swear it was not purely intentional!
Getting back to the point at hand, this promotion is just like the bonus bet with a couple of key differences:
To get this bonus, you first of all need to sign up and make a qualifying bet under the stated conditions. If your qualifying bet wins, you get your payout, but no bonus.
On the other hand, if your bet loses, you will get a bonus bet worth the same value – e.g. if you made a $50 losing bet, you would get a $50 bonus bet token. As I said above, it’s sort of like a first bet insurance, or a second chance.
With this welcome bonus, the house will match your first deposit up to a certain percentage in bonus credits, most commonly 100%. For example, if the welcome sports betting bonus is 100% up to $100, and you were to deposit $50, you would get $50 in bonus credits.
However, to use a tired old cliche, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Even the best betting site for live streaming can’t afford to give away free money, so as you would expect bonus credits always come with some conditions attached.
Most commonly, they will expire within a certain time period – varies from seven days to one month in my experience. Additionally, they also have wagering requirements that you need to meet before withdrawal, but I’ll cover these in more detail a little later on.
Unlike many other betting offers, such as bonus bets, you can use bonus credits on multiple wagers. For instance, you could use a $50 deposit match as
In theory, this is the best sports betting bonus available, but is also one of the hardest to find. And when they are available, they are usually surrounded by T&Cs to protect the bookies’ interests. However, here at the Frog, me and the team always manage to unearth the odd gem here and there.
A no deposit betting bonus is exactly what it says in the tin – it’s a bonus that you get without having to deposit and bet any of your own money. Usually, no deposit bonuses are small, and the T&Cs usually stipulate that you will need to deposit and wager after you’ve used the bonus if you wish to withdraw.
That being said, in some cases, genuine no deposit bonuses can offer decent value. For example, when a new sportsbook launches, or an existing brand launches in a new location, they will sometimes give free bet credits or bonus bets to new players who sign up in advance of the launch date.
All online bookies, and well, customer-facing businesses in general, put a lot of work into creating offers to attract new customers. If you ask me though, customer retention is far more important.
That’s why, here at the Frog, we’re always on the lookout for the best betting offers that you can claim as an existing punter. All of the above promotions that I covered in the “betting welcome bonus” section are sometimes offered to existing players as well.
However, below I’ve put together a list of some bonus types that are traditionally only offered to you when you become an existing account holder:
| Odds boosters/enhanced odds: | The bookmaker offers you higher odds for a specific market or selection of sports betting markets. |
| Acca/combo bet insurance: | You still receive a payout if one of your accumulator/combo bet selections loses. |
| Acca/ combo boosts: | The value of the final odds for your acca or combo bet are boosted by a certain percentage. |
| Cashback: | You get a certain percentage of your losses back as bonus bets or credits each week. |
| Extra time betting: | If your bet isn’t settled in regulation time, this promotion will pay out as bet credits if your bet comes up in extra time or overtime. |
| Refer-a-friend: | You can get a bonus if your friend signs up and deposits using your referral link or code. |
| Early cashout: | If your bet is winning but the game has not yet ended, you can cash out early at a reduced price. |
If there’s one thing we’ve learned here today, it’s that there’s no shortage of bookmark bonuses available, which is kind of a double-edged sword if you ask me. Sure it’s great to have plenty of choices, but if we’re being honest, we don’t want to waste too much time scrolling endlessly to try and find the best sports betting bonus offers and the best sites.
Fortunately, I know a few tips and tricks of the trade that can help you to sort the good from the bad quickly, easily, and efficiently:
First and foremost, you can use our sports betting bonus comparison tool here at the Frog. We use geolocation technology so that we automatically show you the best-ranked offers where you are.
If you want to go one step further, you can access our expert bonus reviews here at the Frog to get a bit more insight into the offers that are available in your area.
What is your budget, what bet types and markets do you tend to favour? These are just some of the questions that you can ask yourself to help decide which offer is right for you.
Online bookies need to be licensed in all jurisdictions in which they wish to legally operate. Take a look at what betting sites are legal where you are. Depending on your location, this might whittle the list of available offers down pretty quickly.
Logically, all betting offers look fantastic at first glance, that’s how marketing and advertising work after all. I know it’s among the most boring things on earth, but the small print is where the true value of a sports betting bonus is revealed.
I’ve kinda done the theory side of things to death by now but don’t worry we’ve reached the exciting part – claim your bookmaker bonuses. The steps that you need to take to claim the bonus differ between each welcome promotion and betting site.
In general though, it usually goes a little something like this:
Those of you with a good memory will remember that a little while back I mentioned the small print being the most revealing thing about all betting offers. It’s all good reading the small print, but it’s going to be wasted time, and a very boring read if you don’t know what you’re actually looking for.
Fear not, good friends, as not only have I highlighted and explained the most common bonus T&Cs for you. I have also given you some tips to help you work around them (completely within the confines of the rules of course):
| Condition | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Wagering requirements: | You need to play through your bonus and/or deposit amount a certain number of times within the time limit before you can withdraw your bonus. | 5x wagering on your bonus amount: with a $10 bonus you would need to wager $50 in real money before withdrawal. |
| Bonus bet stake not included in returns: | The value of your bonus bet is not included in your returns if you win. | If you were to win a $10 bonus bet at odds of 3.1, your returns would be $21 rather than $31. |
| Minimum odds: | Your bonus or qualifying bet must be placed above a certain odds threshold | Your qualifying bet must be used at odds of 1.5 or greater |
| Time limits: | All bonuses must be used and wagered within a certain time frame | You must use and wager your deposit match within 28 days |
| Market restrictions: | Some markets are excluded from promotion use, while other bookmaker bonuses can only be used on certain markets | You can use your bonus on all sports betting markets besides player props |
It would be remiss of me to write a guide to betting promotions and not drop in a quick section about VIP, loyalty and rewards programs. Some of you might associate these more with online casinos, but most of the top online bookmarks have something in place to reward their most loyal customers.
In general, VIP programs tend to be associated with professional gamblers, big spenders and high rollers. While some betting sites have loyalty programs that only reward truly elite players, I often find that the best sites reward all of their loyal players justly.
If a tiered VIP program works as it should, then you should be justly rewarded for your custom regardless of how much you spend and how often you win or lose. However, it doesn’t always work like that, which is why once again I’m going to direct you towards our bonus comparison tool here at the Frog.
I’m not going to flood you with too much detail here, and instead, just list some of the most common and popular VIP rewards at online bookmakers. As you can see, most of them are fairly self-explanatory:
Sadly, my friends, we’ve almost reached the end of the road and the time has almost come for us to part ways. However, for you, the real journey is only just beginning, and I still recommend that you stick with us for it here at the Frog.
As we have seen, there are hundreds if not thousands of bookmaker bonuses out there, from bonus bets, to deposit matches and more. At the end of the day, you want to make sure that you find the right one for you, and the best way to do that is by using the comparison tool here at the Frog.
So take some time to look around our site so that you can find the top-rated promotions where you are. And remember, you can always bookmark this page and follow my tips and guides to help you along the way.
The answer to this question is pretty subjective, and there are a lot of variables, such as your location, your budget, and what type of sports you want to bet on. However, you can make life easy for yourself and discover your ideal bonus using my bonus guide and comparison tool here at The Frog.
The first thing that you have to do to get any sports betting bonus is create an account with the online bookmaker. After that, you will have to make a real money deposit and possibly place a qualifying bet. Once it settles, you will get your bonus.
There are many different types of sports betting bonuses, and each of them works in a different way. For example, with a bonus bet, the value of the token is not included in your returns. To find out more, head to gamingfrog.com.
