Bonus bets are promotional credits that a bookmaker puts on your account to stake on a bet but not to withdraw, and a winning one normally pays its winnings without the bonus amount. A $50 bonus bet at $4.00 returns $150, where $50 of your own money at the same price returns $200; if the bonus bet loses, it pays nothing and no cash leaves your account.
Because the stake never comes back, a bonus bet is usually worth less than its dollar amount, and the price you use it on decides how much less. Under the National Consumer Protection Framework the winnings must be withdrawable with no turnover requirement. The credit itself is not money you can take out: it has to go on a bet that fits the bookmaker's terms before it expires.
How bonus bets work, from credit to settlement
A bonus bet is held apart from the money you deposit. It cannot be withdrawn, and an account may show it as a bet token with its own amount, expiry and rules. From there it runs through four steps:
- The bookmaker credits it, under its own terms, often as the payout of another promotion such as a refund.
- You choose a bet the terms permit: an allowed market and bet type, priced at or above any floor, placed before the expiry.
- The bet settles. A winner pays bonus x (odds - 1) as winnings, and a loser pays nothing and uses the bonus up.
- The winnings are yours, like any other winnings, to bet or to withdraw.
The settlement rule in step 3 is called stake not returned: winnings = $50 x (4.00 - 1) = $150 for the bonus bet above, with the $50 kept by the bookmaker. The stake not returned entry covers the rule and how it differs from a bet whose stake comes back.
Why a bonus bet is worth less than cash
Value a bonus bet by what you expect it to pay, not by the amount on the token. Expected value = win chance x bonus x (odds - 1), where the win chance comes from a fair price: an exchange price, or the bookmaker's own market with its margin taken out.
Example: Illustrative numbers only, not a real race or an offer on any account. A money back offer refunds a $25 stake as a $25 bonus bet. You use it on a runner priced at $5.50 whose fair price is $6.00, a chance of 1 in 6.
The bonus bet's value is 1 / 6.00 x $25 x (5.50 - 1) = $112.50 / 6.00 = $18.75, or 75 cents in the dollar. A $25 cash bet at the fair $6.00 would return $25 on average, its face value. Against that, the bonus bet is $6.25 short. Its stake never comes back, which costs 1 / 6.00 x $25 = $4.17, and $5.50 is below the fair price, which costs 1 / 6.00 x $25 x (6.00 - 5.50) = $2.08.
Longer prices shrink the first part, since a stake is a smaller slice of a big payout than of a small one; the best way to use bonus bets compares prices from $2.00 to $8.00.
The other way to value one is to convert it: back the selection with the bonus bet and lay it on a betting exchange, which leaves a similar amount of cash whatever the result, less commission. The bonus bet converter works out the lay stake, the liability and that cash, which is usually below the punting average but does not depend on the result.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A bonus bet that loses pays nothing, an expected value is an average over many bets rather than what any one bet pays, and a lay has to be matched at the price you planned. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Expiry, minimum odds and eligible markets
The terms decide how much of a bonus bet you can use, so read them when it arrives, not when you are about to bet. With illustrative figures:
| Term | What to look for | What it does to the value |
|---|---|---|
| Expiry | The date and time the bonus lapses | Unused by then, it is worth $0: the $18.75 in the example is gone |
| Minimum odds | The shortest price allowed, such as $1.50 | It rules out only short prices, where a bonus keeps least: at a fair $1.50 it keeps 1 - 1 / 1.50 = 33.3% |
| Eligible markets | Racing, sports, named events, fixed odds only | Fewer markets, fewer prices close to fair |
| Bet types | Singles only, or multis, each way or exotics too | Multis reach longer prices, with problems of their own |
| One bet or split | Whether the whole amount must go on one bet | Splitting spreads the result without changing the average |
| Settlement wording | Stake not returned, or stake returned | A bonus whose stake comes back is worth about its face value at a fair price |
Bonus bets on multis covers the multi case. The bookmaker decides whether a bet meets its terms, so check them before you confirm.
Bonus bets from refunds and saver offers
Many bonus bets arrive as the payout of another promotion, one of the shapes betting promotions in Australia maps. A money back offer refunds your stake when a runner finishes in a named placing, and a saver on a multi or same game multi refunds it when the ticket misses in the way the terms describe. The refund is often a bonus bet rather than cash, and it typically has a maximum.
Value the refund as the bonus bet it is. The $25 refund in the example is worth about $18.75, so counting it as $25 overstates the offer by $6.25, and it carries its own expiry and terms. Money back racing promos values a refund offer from exchange win and place prices, and how to get bonus bets covers where else they come from.
No bonus bet may be offered to get someone to open an account or refer a friend: that has been a National Consumer Protection Framework rule since 26 May 2019 (26 November 2019 in NSW). So offers reach only existing account holders, within each state's consent and advertising rules. Why sign-up bonuses are banned explains that rule, and betting inducement rules in Australia covers each state.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A saver offer does not stop a same game multi from losing, a refund paid as a bonus bet pays nothing if that bonus bet loses, and the bookmaker decides whether a bet qualifies. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
What happens to a bonus bet after a scratching, void or dead heat
Online bookmakers set their own settlement rules, so each row is a line to find in your bookmaker's terms:
| What happens | What to check |
|---|---|
| Your runner is scratched, or the game is abandoned | Whether the bet is void, whether the bonus bet comes back, and whether it keeps its original expiry |
| A late scratching in your race | Winning fixed-odds bets struck before it lose a cents-in-the-dollar deduction set by the Stewards; check how that applies to a bet paying winnings only |
| A dead heat for the place you backed | How the bookmaker splits the return on a winning bonus bet |
| A void leg in a multi | Whether the leg is removed and the multi paid at a shorter price |
| Another promotion on the same race | Whether a bet placed with a bonus bet can qualify for it at all |
Scratching deductions works through the deduction arithmetic, and dead heat rules shows how tied bets are split.
Withdrawing bonus bet winnings
The National Consumer Protection Framework sets the rule. Its National Policy Statement (updated 3 May 2022) says winnings from a complementary betting credit or token, a bonus bet, must be able to be withdrawn without being subject to any turnover requirements. The states and territories enforce it through their own laws and licences.
So when the $50 bonus bet at $4.00 wins, the $150 is yours to withdraw without betting it again, and the $50 bonus is used up. A bonus that has not been bet can never be withdrawn: it can only be used or left to expire.
Turnover can still appear elsewhere, such as in the bets needed to earn an offer, and betting turnover requirements covers those cases. If a bookmaker attaches a turnover condition to bonus bet winnings, raise it with the bookmaker first, then with the authority that licenses it. ACMA's register of licensed wagering providers names each provider's licensing authority.
Tip: Withdraw winnings you do not plan to bet. Money left in a betting account is easy to bet again on impulse.
Bonus bet vs free bet: what the names mean
Free bet is the name used in the UK, and an older name in Australia, for the same kind of credit. Bonus bet is the usual Australian term today, and Liquor & Gaming NSW's inducement guideline speaks of free or bonus bets side by side. Under either name, a winning one usually pays the winnings only.
| Name | Where you see it | What a winning one pays |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus bet | Australian bookmakers' accounts and terms | Winnings only, normally |
| Free bet | UK betting, older Australian offers, search results | Winnings only, usually |
| Bet token or bonus token | Accounts that hold promotions as tokens | Depends on the token, which may hold a boost or a refund instead |
| Stake returned bonus bet | Terms that say the stake comes back | Winnings plus the bonus amount |
The settlement wording sets the value, not the name: a credit that pays winnings only is worth less than its face value unless the price beats the fair price by at least $1.
Mistakes that cost value with bonus bets
Costed on the illustrative $25 example, where the bonus is worth $18.75 at $5.50 against a fair $6.00:
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Counting the bonus at face value | It overstates the bonus by $25 - $18.75 = $6.25 |
| Assuming the stake comes back | A winner pays $25 x (5.50 - 1) = $112.50, not $25 x 5.50 = $137.50, so $25 less than expected |
| Letting it expire | The whole $18.75 |
| Adding cash bets so the bonus feels worth using | Cash bets placed only to justify the bonus each carry the bookmaker's margin |
| Treating the winnings as the house's money | Winnings are your cash: betting them again is the same as betting a deposit |
You do not have to use a bonus bet at all: letting it lapse costs no cash, and if offers keep pulling you into bets, the steps in how to stop betting promotions turn them off.
Where B337 fits: bonus bets already on your accounts
Bookmakers issue bonus bets under their own terms; B337 never creates or claims one. Its racing bot only touches promotions already sitting on your own accounts. During the day Auto Scan Promos reads the offers on each account, the Promos page shows those offers with the expiry date each bookmaker gives, and you can opt in to Discord warnings for offers in their final 48 hours.
With Full Automation, the Classic Racing strategy spends a bonus bet only when a runner sits inside your odds range and its conversion against the Betfair price at that moment beats your threshold. When nothing qualifies, the bonus is left untouched until you use it or it lapses. The bot runs on your own computer, which has to be on, awake and online: it places nothing while that computer is off, asleep or offline. Full Automation is arranged with the team, with the price and any charges on top of it confirmed before you pay, and bets placed through B337 use credits, a per-bet usage charge. The settings are described on bonus bet automation. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them.
For free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Many bookmakers restrict automated betting in their terms and can limit or close an account, a session places nothing while your computer is off, asleep or offline, and a bonus bet that loses pays nothing. See responsible gambling for limits and support.