Are Free Bets Worth It? What A Free Bet Is Really Worth
Every sportsbook wants you to think a "$100 free bet" is $100. It isn't, and the gap between the number on the promo and the cash you can actually withdraw is the whole reason this question keeps getting searched. I've run the real conversion math on hundreds of these bonus-bet offers across DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and Caesars, and the honest answer is that a free bet is worth real money, just not the money the marketing implies. Here's what a free bet is actually worth, and how to make sure you keep most of it.
Are Free Bets Worth It? The Short Answer
Yes, free bets are worth claiming, but their real value is roughly 70 to 80 cents on every advertised dollar, not the full face amount. A $100 free bet (books also call it a bonus bet or a bet credit) is worth about $78 in withdrawable cash if you convert it correctly. Let it expire, or fire it on a short favorite the way most people do, and that same $100 credit is worth closer to $30, or nothing at all. So an already-awarded free bet is usually worth converting, as long as the terms are reasonable. Whether it's worth the full headline depends entirely on what you do with it after it lands in your account.
Why A Free Bet Isn't Worth Its Face Value
A normal cash bet returns your stake plus your profit. Bet $100 of your own money at +200 (decimal 3.00) and a win pays $300 back: your $100 stake plus $200 in winnings.
Free bets work differently, and this single mechanic is the reason they're worth less than they look. With a free bet, the stake is not returned. That same $100 at +200 pays only the $200 profit when it wins. The book keeps the $100 "stake" because you never risked your own cash. Nearly every U.S. sportsbook promo, from "Bet $5, get $150 in bonus bets" to refer-a-friend credits, is a stake-not-returned offer.
That's why a free bet dumped on a -200 favorite is the worst thing you can do with it. If the favorite loses, you get zero. If it wins, you collect a tiny sliver of profit and the book has paid out the least it possibly could. The face value only turns into real money once you play the credit smartly, which brings us to what it's genuinely worth.
How Much Is A Free Bet Really Worth?
The reliable way to turn a bonus bet into cash is to hedge it: place the free bet on one side of a two-way market at one book, then back the other side with your own cash at a second book. Because in a clean two-way market one side usually wins, you collect on almost every outcome, keeping the bulk of the credit's value regardless of which side lands. That process is called free bet conversion, and it's the difference between a $100 credit being worth $78 and being worth $30.
How much you keep is your conversion rate, and the biggest lever on it is the odds you place the free bet at. Because a stake-not-returned bet only ever earns profit, longer odds pay more profit per dollar and therefore convert at a higher rate. Roughly how it scales (illustrative, before you line-shop the hedge):
| Free Bet Placed At | Approx. cash you keep (per $100) |
|---|
| -110 (≈1.91) | $45–$50 |
| +100 (2.00) | $50 |
| +200 (3.00) | $65 |
| +300 (4.00) | $74 |
| +400 (5.00) | $78–$80 |
| +500 (6.00) | $80–$83 |
That table is the math behind the 70 to 80 percent rule of thumb you'll see quoted everywhere, and it's why a free bet is worth taking but never worth the full sticker price. Anything above about 70 cents on the dollar is a strong conversion. The lesson runs opposite to how most casual bettors use a free bet: instead of a "safe" favorite, you want a longer-odds side (the +300 to +500 range is the sweet spot) with a well-priced hedge on the other side.
A $100 Free Bet, Converted To About $78
Here's the value made concrete. Say DraftKings drops a $100 free bet in your account. (The books, sides, and prices below illustrate the math, not a live line; a converter surfaces the actual best pairing for you.)
- Place the free bet on the underdog at long odds. You take a +400 (decimal 5.00) underdog on DraftKings. A cash bet at +400 would pay $500 total; as a free bet, a $100 winner pays only the $400 profit (stake not returned).
- Hedge the favorite with your own cash at a second book. Shopping the other side, you find the favorite at -410 (decimal ≈ 1.244) at FanDuel, a tightly-priced number. You bet a cash hedge of about $322 so both outcomes land near the same payout.
- If the +400 underdog wins: the free bet pays +$400, you lose the $322 hedge, netting ≈ +$78.
- If the -410 favorite wins: the hedge pays about $78 ($322 × 0.244), the free bet loses (no cash risked), netting ≈ +$78.
- Either way you bank about $78 in withdrawable cash from a $100 free bet, a 78 percent conversion.
The hedge stake comes from a simple formula: hedge = free-bet profit ÷ decimal odds of the hedge side, here $400 ÷ 1.244 ≈ $322. One honest caveat: this is low-risk, not risk-free. Lines move between your two bets, books can void or limit wagers, and a market can settle as a push. Treat the numbers as the math when both bets land at the listed prices, not as a promise.
New to OddsShopper? It scans 100+ sportsbooks and, with the Free Bet Converter, finds a high-converting pairing and sizes the cash hedge to the penny, so you keep more of every bonus bet. Try it free for 7 days, and code FREEBET20 takes 20% off OS Pro or OS Core if you subscribe: Start your free trial.
Notice the lever hiding in that example. The +400/-410 pairing is a low-hold one you get by shopping the hedge across books. Take a juicier hedge like -450 and the same free bet converts closer to 73 percent instead of 78. The other side of your hedge is a cash bet, so pricing it against the full board rather than one book is exactly what pushes your real conversion toward the top of the band. That price-shopping discipline is the whole point of OddsShopper.
When A Free Bet Is Worth Almost Nothing
The 70-to-80-cent value assumes you actually convert. Here's where a free bet quietly becomes worth far less:
- You Let It Expire. Free bets commonly expire in 7 days. An unused credit converts at exactly 0 percent. Set a reminder the moment one hits.
- You Bet It On A Short Favorite. Fire a $100 free bet on a -250 favorite and even a win returns about $40 of profit, and a loss returns nothing. That's the single most common way bettors leave value on the table.
- Rollover Or Playthrough Terms. Some "bonus" offers aren't pure free bets at all. They're deposit or bonus-cash promos that require you to wager the amount several times before any of it is withdrawable. A pure free bet usually has no rollover on the credit, but the winnings sometimes do. Read the terms.
- Minimum-Odds Restrictions. Many free bets require a minimum price (often around -200 or longer). That usually helps you, since you want long odds anyway, but it can block a specific line.
- Taxes. Converted winnings are still betting income, so your post-tax value is a touch under the headline rate. This isn't tax advice; if you're converting volume, track your wins and losses.
None of these make free bets not worth claiming. They're the difference between a claimed 78 percent and a realized one.
Are Free Bets Worth It Compared To Other Promos?
"Free bet" is one of several promo types, and they're not equal. Here's how the real value stacks up:
| Promo Type | What you actually get | Real value |
|---|
| Free Bet / Bonus Bet | Stake not returned; a win pays profit only | ~70–80% of face via conversion |
| Deposit Match | Bonus cash that carries a rollover/playthrough | Often well below face after the required turnover |
| Odds Boost | A better price on a bet you place with your own money | Only worth it when the boosted price beats the fair number |
The free bet is the cleanest of the three to bank as cash, because the conversion math is straightforward and the value isn't buried under a playthrough requirement. An odds boost is only worth it when the boosted price is genuinely better than the true odds, and a deposit match can look bigger while paying out less once you factor in the rollover.
How To Get The Most Out Of Every Free Bet
Squeezing the full 78 cents on the dollar comes down to a short checklist:
- Convert, Don't Gamble It Away. The hedge-to-cash play above is the steadiest, lowest-variance way to bank a free bet. The full step-by-step is in our guide on how to convert a free bet.
- Go Long, Not Safe. Place the free bet in the +300 to +500 range, not on a favorite. Longer odds convert more.
- Line-Shop The Hedge. The cash side is a real bet, so the best price on it directly raises your conversion rate. A few cents of saved juice is free conversion percentage, the same edge OddsShopper's odds screen is built to find.
- Use Two Different Books. Hedging your own promo on the same book is treated as bonus abuse and can void the bonus. Free bet at one book, cash hedge at another.
- Let The Tool Do The Math. The moment a bonus bet hits, the Free Bet Converter reads live odds across DraftKings, FanDuel, BetMGM, and more, surfaces two advantageous bets to pair, and returns the exact hedge stake and your conversion rate before you place a thing. It's built to surface the highest-converting pairing available on the board, sizing the hedge so you keep as much of the free bet as the live prices allow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are free bets worth it?
Usually, yes. An already-awarded free bet is worth using, because letting it expire turns the credit into $0. Its real cash value is about 70 to 80 percent of the advertised amount when you convert it, so a $100 free bet is worth roughly $78 in withdrawable money.
How much is a $100 free bet worth?
About $78 in cash if you convert it well, and up to the low $80s on a longer-odds play with a sharply-priced hedge. Bet it straight on a short favorite and it's worth closer to $30 to $40; let it expire and it's worth $0.
Why is a free bet worth less than its face value?
Because the stake is not returned. When a free bet wins, the book pays only your profit and keeps the stake, so a $100 free bet at +200 pays $200, not the $300 a $100 cash bet would return.
Should I bet a free bet on a favorite or an underdog?
An underdog at longer odds. A stake-not-returned bet only earns profit, and longer odds pay more profit per dollar, so you convert at a far higher rate placing the free bet on a +300 to +500 side and hedging the favorite for cash.
Are bonus bets the same as free bets?
Mostly. "Bonus bet," "bet credit," and "free bet" usually refer to the same kind of stake-not-returned promo under different sportsbook branding (DraftKings and FanDuel tend to say "bonus bet"). Most work the same way, but always check whether the stake is returned and whether the winnings carry any restrictions before you convert.
Do free bets expire?
Almost always, often within 7 days. An expired free bet is worth nothing, so convert it as soon as it lands rather than saving it for a game you like.
Can you withdraw a free bet directly?
No. You can't cash out the credit itself, and books usually prohibit or void betting both sides of a game with it at the same sportsbook. The value only becomes withdrawable once a free-bet wager wins and pays profit into your balance, which is why the hedge play exists.
Is converting a free bet legal?
The hedging itself is just placing bets at two sportsbooks, which is legal only where regulated sports betting is offered and you meet your state's age and location requirements. Individual books set their own promo terms, so use separate books only where the promo terms allow it and follow each sportsbook's rules.
The Bottom Line
Free bets are worth it, full stop, but they're worth about 78 cents on the advertised dollar, not the full sticker. The value is real and it's yours to keep, as long as you convert the credit instead of letting it expire or blowing it on a favorite. Place the free bet long, hedge the other side for cash at a second book, and shop that hedge for the best number.
Stop leaving free-bet value on the table. OddsShopper's Free Bet Converter scans 100+ sportsbooks, finds a high-converting pairing, and tells you the exact hedge stake to bank more of your bonus bet as cash. Try it free for 7 days, then use code FREEBET20 for 20% off your first OS Pro or OS Core payment: Start your free trial.
