Bet Finder Introduction
If you are new to using Bet Finders on DarkHorse Odds start by reading our Bet Finder Basics guides to learn how to use all the available features such as filters and editing your Bet Slip.
What is Site Credit?
Many sportsbooks use Site Credit when paying out promotional bets, such as Risk Free Bets or deposit match bonuses. Some Sportsbooks refer to Site Credit as ‘Bonus Funds’ or ‘Bet Credit’. There are three key points to understand about Site Credit:
- The stake, bet amount, is returned with the winnings.
- It cannot be withdrawn. It must be bet to convert it to withdrawable cash.
- It often has special requirements tied to it such as rollover and minimum odds.
Converting Site Credit
Properly hedging Site Credit can typically convert ~100% of its value to withdrawable cash. For example, $100 of Site Credit can be converted into $100 of withdrawable cash. To convert Site Credit you will want to use our Site Credit Bet Finder.
Minimum Odds
Site Credit bets often have minimum odds requirements. This is usually around -250, but it varies by Sportsbook. This simply means you cannot place a Site Credit bet on a line that is lower than -250. Meaning you cannot bet on a line that is -260, but you can bet on lines of -250, -200, +150, etc.
Rollover (Playthrough)
A rollover or playthrough requirement is how many times you have to bet the Site Credit before it and any winnings from it become withdrawable cash. Rollover requirements vary from 1x to upwards of 20x. Sportsbooks have rollover requirements to force you to keep betting, knowing that in time you will likely lose it all back to the Sportsbook. However, you can easily turn a profit if you hedge your Site Credit bets.
If you get a $100 site credit at a 1x rollover requirement, you have to bet $100 to complete the rollover requirement. After your bet, any remaining Site Credit from that $100 is converted to withdrawable cash.
If it's a 5x rollover requirement then you have to bet a cumulative $500 to convert it to cash. In the 5x scenario, if you bet $100 at +100 and win, you now have $200. All $200 is restricted from withdrawal until you wager the remaining $400 to meet the rollover requirement.
How you hedge may vary based on rollover requirements. If the rollover requirement is 1x then you want to find the highest conversion no matter if the Site Credit bet is on the underdog or favorite. If the Site Credit has high rollover requirements, you may want to bet on the underdog so that you have a higher chance of losing all the Site Credit. This may seem counterintuitive at first. However, once you lose your Site Credit Bet, you no longer have any restricted funds. Losing the Site Credit Bet means your Hedge Bet won, and you have withdrawable cash on a different sportsbook.
Think of it this way: when you hedge, losing a Site Credit Bet immediately converts it to withdrawable cash in the hedge-bet sportsbook.
Example: 1x Rollover
In this example, you have a $100 deposit match on MGM with a 1x rollover requirement and -250 minimum odds. You deposit $100 cash and now have $200 in our account. $100 is cash and 100 is Site Credit. The 100 Site Credit is restricted from withdrawal until you wager through it 1x. Since it is a 1x rollover requirement you don’t care which side wins you just need to bet it 1x.
Enter Site Credit Criteria
Select the Site Credit Bet Finder:
Set the Minimum Odds filter to -250.
In all of our guides, we filter to “Main Lines Only” as a way to avoid limits. Limits will greatly reduce your long-term earnings potential. Learn the best practices on avoiding sportsbook limits in our Don't Get Limited guide. You can apply this by selecting Filters -> Main Lines Only. This is not required but highly recommended.
This sets Market Type to Money Line, Spread, and Total. It also sets Market Segment to Full Game+ and Full Game.
Select Your Matched Bet
After selecting the sportsbook where you have the Site Credit and entering the bet amount you will be presented with a table of all available Site Credit conversions. You can then select the matched bet that best fits your needs. The example below shows a $100 Site Credit on MGM.
Place Your Matched Bet
After selecting the bet you want, viewing the bet slip provides all the details needed to properly hedge ensuring maximum profit. In this example, on MGM you would place the $200 Site Credit Bet on the Lakers moneyline at -115. Then place a Hedge Bet on any of the listed hedge books of $174 on the Pacers money line at +115. The Lakers and the Pacers play each other; therefore one of these two bets will win. Either way, you will profit $200.
Outcome Explanation
Clicking the information icon on the bet slip above displays further details explaining exactly how you profit $200 no matter the outcome of the event.
Example: High Rollover
Now let’s go through a similar scenario, but with a higher rollover requirement. This time you have a $200 deposit match on MGM with a 5x rollover requirement. You deposit $200 cash and now have $400 in your account. $200 is cash and 200 is Site Credit, but all 400 is restricted from withdrawal until you meet the rollover requirement and wager $1,000 (200 x 5 = 1,000).
You could use the bet from the first example to meet the first $200 of the rollover requirement, but if the bets you find are below 100% conversion, then you will be slowly losing money each time.
A strategy to avoid this is trying to lose the Site Credit Bet and win the Hedge Bet by betting on an underdog with the Site Credit. If you lose all the Site Credit on MGM, you can “drop” the bonus and no longer have to worry about the remaining rollover requirements. You successfully converted site credit on MGM to cash on a different SportsBook. Think of it as a bank transfer.
Enter Site Credit Criteria
Select the Site Credit Bet Finder:
Set the Minimum Odds filter to +100. The higher the minimum odds the more likely the Site Credit Bet is to lose.
In all of our guides, we filter to “Main Lines Only” as a way to avoid limits. Limits will greatly reduce your long-term earnings potential. Learn the best practices on avoiding sportsbook limits in our Don't Get Limited guide. You can apply this by selecting Filters -> Main Lines Only. This is not required but highly recommended.
This sets Market Type to Money Line, Spread, and Total. It also sets Market Segment to Full Game+ and Full Game.
Select Your Matched Bet
After selecting the sportsbook where you have the Site Credit and entering the bet amount you will be presented with a table of all available Site Credit conversions. You can then select the matched bet that best fits your needs. The example below shows a $200 Site Credit on MGM.
Place Your Matched Bet
After selecting the bet you want, viewing the bet slip provides all the details needed to properly hedge ensuring maximum profit. In this example, on MGM you would place the $200 Site Credit Bet on the Skyhawks moneyline at +180. Then place a Hedge Bet on PlayUp of $364 on the Cougars moneyline at -185. The Skyhawks and the Cougars play each other; therefore one of these two bets will win. Either way, you will convert the Site Credit at 98%.
Outcome Explanation
Clicking the information icon on the bet slip above displays further details explaining exactly how you profit no matter the outcome of the event.
Completing the Rollover
DarkHorse Odds always assumes Site Credit Bets are 100% site Credit with 1x rollover when. As discussed this is not always the case, but what is important is the conversion percentage. In this case, it’s 98%. 196 profit divided by the 200 original bet. 196 / 200 = 98%. The higher minimum odds resulted in a slightly worse conversion but may be worth the better chance of avoiding the rollover requirement.
In this example, if you win this site credit bet on MGM, you are left with $800 more to bet before you meet the rollover over requirements and your site credit converts to cash and can be withdrawn. If you lose on MGM, you drop the bonus and have the withdrawable cash on DraftKings. The terms dictating when Site Credit can be withdrawn vary by book, and by each promotion. It is important to understand these restrictions, to maximize your profit.