Methodology · Bonus pricing
How we price a sportsbook bonus
Every bonus has two numbers: the one on the banner and the one you can actually withdraw. Here is exactly how our calculator turns the first into an estimate of the second.
Last reviewed: · Reviewed by our Editorial Team
How We Review Sportsbooks
Reviews are produced by the Reviewing Sportsbooks Editorial Desk at The Fantasy Prophecy LLC. We do not invent named reviewer personas. Scoring inputs are payout (40%), bonus (25%), markets (20%) and trust (15%). A book with n=1 can show a test result but cannot receive a published overall score or a scored #1.
Payout — 40%
Instrumented withdrawals only. Elapsed hours are computed from request time to arrival and published in the payout log. Operator-reported windows never count as a test.
Bonus — 25%
Usable value after rollover, contribution rules, minimum odds and maximum cashout — not the headline number. When terms cannot be priced, we say so.
Markets — 20%
Only market depth we have verified ourselves: leagues, props, live coverage and alternate lines.
Trust — 15%
Active public licensing, payout history, unresolved complaints and account-limiting behaviour.
Rankings are never sold. Commercial terms never change a score or a position, and any order shown before all four inputs are measured is editorial, not a scored ranking.
Headline value versus usable value
The headline is the maximum bonus an operator will credit. Usable value is what is left after you have met the betting conditions attached to it. Those two figures are rarely close, and the gap is the only thing worth comparing between offers. Our bonus calculator reports an estimate, clearly labelled as such — never a guarantee, and never an operator-specific promise of profit.
Deposit-plus-bonus versus bonus-only rollover
Rollover is how many times an amount must be wagered before withdrawal. The important question is which amount. Bonus-only rollover multiplies the bonus alone. Deposit-plus-bonus (D+B) rollover multiplies your own money as well, which roughly doubles the required turnover for a matched offer. We compute turnover as (Deposit + Bonus) × Rollover for D+B terms, and Bonus × Rollover where the operator states bonus-only.
The house-edge assumption
Turnover costs money. To turn turnover into a dollar cost we assume a 4.5% average sports house edge, which is roughly what standard two-sided -110 pricing implies. This is an estimate, and we label it as one everywhere it appears. Bettors who live in parlays and long-shot props face a materially higher edge; bettors who shop lines carefully face a lower one. The drag is Turnover × edge, and usable value is Bonus − drag.
Max cashout, contribution and minimum odds
Three clauses quietly reduce value further, so we treat each as drag rather than fine print:
- Max cashout caps what you may withdraw from the bonus. If our estimate lands above the cap, the cap wins and we clip the number down to it.
- Market contribution decides whether a bet counts fully toward rollover. Partial contribution means more turnover, which means more drag.
- Minimum odds exclude short favourites. If the qualifying floor forces you into higher-variance bets than you would choose, the real cost is above our baseline.
Where an operator does not publish these terms clearly enough to price, we print Terms too opaque to price rather than inventing a figure.
Where this sits in our scoring
Bonus pricing feeds only the bonus component of an operator score. Payout speed comes from instrumented withdrawal tests, never from bonus math or operator-reported windows. The full weighting is on our methodology page, and you can run your own numbers in the bonus calculator.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the usable value lower than the headline bonus?
Because you have to bet through the bonus before it can be withdrawn, and every bet loses a small slice to the sportsbook's margin. Our estimate subtracts that expected loss from the headline number.
Is the 4.5% house edge a real number for my bets?
It is an estimate for standard -110 sports pricing. Parlays and prop markets carry a much larger margin, so treat our figure as a baseline, not a promise.
What does 'terms too opaque to price' mean?
When an operator does not publish the rollover, the qualifying odds, or the cashout cap clearly enough to price, we say so instead of guessing a dollar figure.
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