It is very important that you understand which bet finder to use for your promotion. Identifying the promotion type is easy, but requires you to read carefully. Before you utilize any promotion, always read the terms and conditions in detail. Here you can find caveats, restrictions, and necessary promo codes that for eligibility.

Below is a quick recap of the common promotions that we've covered. 

Bonus Bet: A bet you can place without using your own money. If you win, only the profits of that bet are given to you as cash.

Site Credit: Money to bet with that a sportsbook gives you. Can only be cashed out if you win it. You get the stake + winnings returned. Often subject to minimum odds or rollover.

Profit Boost: Increases your winnings / profit by a certain percentage. There is often a max bet amount it can apply to.

Second Chance: A bet placed with money from your own account, but is refunded if you lose. Instead of refunded as cash, it is either given as site credit or bonus bets. Tends to be the most common sign-up offer with a high limit.

While these are the general terms to categorize promotions, the specific names and usage will vary by sportsbook. In order to ensure you're choosing the right type, you must read through the promotion and match based on the usage.

An example - BetMGM

Right now BetMGM has a sign up promotion that we can take advantage of:

What kind of promotion do you think this is?

The main thing we can see is the bet limit - $1,500 is pretty high for a promotion. That usually is indicative of a second chance bet. It also then says it will be paid back if you don't win. Clearly, this is referring to a "second chance" even if the words aren't said outright. 

Let's look at the terms and conditions to confirm some things. 

DESCRIPTION OF PROMOTION:

First Bet Offer $1,500

1. $1,500 First Bet Offer Acquisition Promotion for BetMGM Sportsbook
2. BetMGM players will receive a First Bet Offer Token to apply to any bet on any sport (the “Qualifying Event”). Receive up to $1,500 in Bonus Bets if that bet loses. First Bet Offer Tokens may be used on wagers with a minimum odds of -10,000, and are valid for seven (7) days. First Bet Offer token will expire seven (7) days after being issued. Limit one offer per customer.
3. “Bonus Bets” are credits which allow participants to place another bet with BetMGM Sportsbook; such credits cannot be withdrawn or cashed-out by participants, are forfeited when used to place another bet, and are lost if the bet(s) placed with such credits do not win. Bonus bets will expire in seven (7) days.

From this we know it behaves pretty similarly to a textbook second chance bet. We receive the promotion as a token to to apply to our first bet (important!) and we can place it on any sport. It will be refunded as a bonus bet that is only valid for 7 days. This is critical information as failing to apply to apply the token or refund the bonus bet in time means we may miss out on money.

Now, it says "Bonus Bet", but what exactly does that mean for this promotion? Scroll down and find:

35. To use a Bonus Bet, simply add a bet(s) to your Bet Slip (Straight or Parlay), tap on “Apply Bonus Bet?” next to the stake area to display all your eligible Bonus Bets and activate the desired Bonus Bet. Select the “i” button to find out more details. If a wager using a Bonus Bet wins, the net winnings will be credited to the account. The stake amount, which was offered through the Bonus Bet, will not be credited.

This is a regular bonus bet as we defined it. But the language used in the intro of the description also refers to them as credits, and is not explicit that the stake is excluded. This is generally done on purpose to make the promotion sound more lucrative - be wary of these techniques.

Since we know that the wager is refunded as a bonus bet, we need to estimate the return rate. Generally, this is around 70%, but to be careful you should use the Bonus Bet Finder with an amount of $100 to estimate the percentage right now, as profitability is always fluctuating. Assuming a return rate of 70%, you can properly hedge this promotion to make around $600, risk free.

Conclusion

Perhaps the hardest part of matched betting is really just knowing the terms and conditions of the promotion. The language is often dense and confusing, but it justs takes some careful reading to ensure you are doing everything correctly. By properly identifying promotions, you can utilize our algorithms to guarantee free money today. In our next guide, we'll cover how to find promotions to cash out on.