Sportsbooks offer attractive bonuses, which bettors should certainly take advantage of.
But they often come with stipulations that you should know before signing up or using these bonuses — most commonly called a rollover or play-through.
Rollovers exist so that you can't claim a free-money deposit bonus and cash it out immediately, but some rollovers are predatory (especially in the past) and you'll likely never see the money if you're not careful.
Rollover Definition
A rollover is a multiple of a deposit that you must bet in order to cash out any winnings from that sportsbook.
If you deposit $200 with a 10x rollover bonus, you need to make $2,000 worth of bets to ever see that money.
It sounds harmless since you likely deposited at that sportsbook to bet, not win once and run. But when you do the math, you'll realize you may never see the bonus money.
Sportsbooks sometimes bury rollover requirements deep in their terms and conditions, so new bettors are often unaware that they're not getting a fair shake.
More recently, though, larger sportsbooks — particularly FanDuel — are leaning into the "bet $5, get $250 if your first bet wins" bonus approach for new users.
Rather than a roll-through, you'll receive 10 bonus bet tokens, with each one being worth $25. In other words, you aren't able to cash out the bonus money, only the winnings.
Rollover Examples
Let's use an example through a 1x promotional rollover. That's the most fair deal you're going to get.
If you deposit $100 and get a $100 bonus, you only need to make $100 worth of bets to claim the bonus. It's just 1x the deposit amount.
So, if you're betting $20 a game, you need to make five bets before you're eligible to cash out.
But with a 10x rollover, you need to wager $1,000 before you can cash out.
Let's say you keep betting $20 per game. You need to bet 50 games before you can cash out.
Even hitting 50% of your bets over that time (assuming they're -110), you'll lose $50, which is half your bonus.
With a 20x rollover, you'd lose your entire bonus.
Where to Find Rollover Requirements
Some books are more forthright than others.
Offshore books, which often have ridiculous rollover requirements, hide it deep in their terms of service.
Some legal books do too, and often don't call it a rollover — FanDuel calls it a playthrough requirement.
