The Ultimate Guide to Signing Up for a Sportsbook

I have often shied away from discussing what to do with sign-up promos as there are so many different types and the 'maximize the EV rules' often don’t apply to outsized bets. What I mean by this is normally I like to maximize the EV (at least within reason a +100 bet at 25% EV I may choose over a +900 30% EV play from a bankroll management perspective) but when dealing with bets that can be many multiples of your typical unit size, sometimes hedging is the right thing to do even if you sacrifice some EV. With a high variety of Bet and Gets, and large ‘No Sweat’ offers coupled with various unit sizes, it can be a tricky world to navigate. Here I will try and give tips and the pros and cons of each type of offer, depending on the type of bettor you are and the type of bankroll you're starting with.

Lower Bankroll Bettors

If depositing $1000+ into multiple sportsbooks isn’t feasible then the bet/gets are the better place to start.

Best signup promos for the lower unit bettors: FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook each offer $200 in bonus bets when you sign up and make a $5 bet which is significant for lower unit bettors starting out. I would suggest if you are starting out to pick up these $200s in bonuses and then move on to bet365 where you can bet $5 and get $150 in bonuses. Immediately you’ll have $550 in site credits spread out across three different sportsbooks and be ready to move onto more slightly high-risk offers.

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There is also nothing wrong with slowly building up your bankroll betting the promos and boosts before you move onto some of the riskier ones. Being able to split up your bonus bets on FanDuel and Bet365 (well, they give them to you in chunks) allows you to mitigate your risk and less likely to come up empty. To maximize these bonus bets, it is best to use them on longer odds plays that are advantageous odds vs. other books.

If I cannot find a +EV longer odds play to put it on (sometimes home run plays, futures, touchdown scorers, first touchdown scorers) I will parlay +EV regular lines to achieve a +EV (or potentially less negative EV) longer odds play to maximize the bonus bet(s). UniBet and Betrivers signup promos are slightly lamer with bet x get $100 (rather than the $150-$200 you get with some of the larger sportsbooks).

Riskier Offers

PointsBet is the next best one but slightly riskier as you get $100 ‘no sweat’ bets each day until you win for 10 days. Hopefully you hit in the first few days with over an 85% chance of profiting overall and a 96% chance of not losing $1000 (this is why it is good to build up your bankroll with the bet/gets to help absorb it). 

You can arb or hedge these (or wait until your bankroll is larger) if you are not ready for the tail risk involved with the promotion. 

The riskiest promotion but also highest EV promotion out right now is BetMGM’s $1500 Paid Back (not available in NY) promo.

If we stick to the +600 example, the EV of the promo is the probability you lose the original bet (85.7%) * EV of the bonus bet (say 70% conversion *1500) - EV of the original bet (say we are able to find a roughly 0 vig bet to make the math easy but a small amount of vig won't be extremely impactful). So this would bring us to =.857*.7*1500 = ~$900 EV of the promo.

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The odds of losing on BetMGM's promo are much higher so arbing/hedging or waiting is recommended for lower bankroll bettors. For higher bankroll bettors with higher unit sizes/less risk-averse, the MGM promo offers the highest EV and is likely the preferred option of the ones available. Often times, the in-between bankroll/unit size people will look to arb some of this promotion to get it to a point they are comfortable with. The challenges of arbing are finding a book willing to take such a large bet on a certain market (especially when the payout can be heavily minus money it can require a large bet), the ability to deposit enough money to do so, and the EV cost of putting a lot of money down on a negative EC line. This is why it may be wise to wait until your bankroll can handle risking at least a chunk of the $1500 no sweat before jumping in to MGM. 

Higher unit bettors also would potentially want to wait for a better promo offering from FanDuel who has been in and out with $1k+ No Sweat bets. DraftKings and Bet365 have had better offerings than they currently do, but not likely as significant. Betrivers and UniBet I wouldn’t expect to step up their game too much, but this is all speculation on my part.

Sign-up Promo Guide

Sportsbook	Offer	Sign Up
FanDuel Sportsbook	Bet $5, Get $200 in Bonus Bets + 3 Months of NBA League Pass	Here
DraftKings Sportsbook	Bet $5, Get $200 in Bonus Bets + a Sweat Free Same Game Parlay Every Day	Here
PointsBet	10 Second Chance Bets for 10 Days up to $1000	Here
BetMGM	$1500 Paid Back if Your First Best Loses	Here
Bet365	Bet $5, Get $150 in Bonus Bets	Here
UniBet	Bet and Get - amount varies by state	Here
BetRivers	Second Chance Bet if Your First Bet Loses	Here

Sign-up Matrix - Determining the Right Offer for Your Bankroll

Bankroll/Unit Size	Start off with?	Should you hedge/ARB	Things to Avoid
High	All of them	Probably no need to, light hedging/arbing at most	Arbing/hedging on same book
Medium	All of them, but maybe grow bankroll before joining BetMGM	Likely use a hedge-as-you-go approach for parlays or arb from the beginning. Stomach some risk to help mitigate putting so much money on the hedge/arb.	Arbing/hedging on same book
Low	FanDuel, DraftKings, bet365, UniBet, Betrivers. Gradually work towards PB and eventually get to BetMGM.	No need to until you're ready for some of the riskier signup promos.	Arbing/hedging on same book