What a bonus bet is, and what a $50 one is actually worth

What a bonus bet is

Sportsbet's help centre defines it in one sentence: "A Bonus Bet is a token of a dollar value that you are able to use to place bets with. The Bonus Bet is not reflective of your account balance, as it is a completely separate balance."2 TAB says the same in its FAQ 7: the value "is not added to your account balance", and you can't top a bonus bet up with cash on the same bet.6

Three things follow from "separate balance". You can't withdraw it. You can't add to it. And when it wins, only the profit crosses over into the cash balance. Everything else in the terms is detail on top of those three facts.

How you get one varies. Sportsbet issues them through weekly specials, personalised offers by email, SMS or app notification, and as prizes for free games; it doesn't issue them for signing up or referring a friend.2 TAB and PointsBet issue them as "tokens" tied to a promo: a race saver, a multi saver, a bet-and-get tracker. The glossary covers each token name.

How a bonus bet pays out

The formula is the same at all three bookmakers, and PointsBet writes it out: (bonus bet amount × odds) − bonus bet amount.8 Sportsbet's clause 7.1 gives the example everyone should memorise: "a winning $50 Bonus Bet placed on a selection paying $3.00 will credit winnings of $100 into your Account. The $50 Bonus Bet stake will not be returned."1 TAB's wording is that the stake "will be returned to TAB".6

The same $50 token at other prices, worked the same way:

The last column is the point. The shorter the price, the bigger the share of the return the missing stake takes away. Sportsbet's own worked example uses $20 at $10.00, which credits $180, a 90% share, and that flatters the product; a favourite at $1.20 is where a bonus bet is nearly worthless.3

Exotics can go below zero. PointsBet's help page shows a $10 bonus bet on a quinella that paid $4.60 with a 47.61% flexi share: 0.4761 × 4.6 − 10 comes to −$7.80, "meaning there is no payout".9 A token on an exotic has to clear its own face value before a cent is credited.

Expiry: seven days, and the clock starts at credit

Sportsbet clause 6.2: "The Bonus Bet must be used within 7 days from the time that it is credited to your Account unless otherwise stated in the offer T&C's." Clause 6.3: after that it "will become void and unable to be redeemed".1 TAB's clause 67.1 sets the expiry date as the one in the promo terms or, if none is given, "the date 7 days after the date the Eligible Participant received the Bonus Bet", and the token moves to an "Expired Token List without compensation".7

PointsBet doesn't publish a blanket period; expiry is set per token and shown in the Rewards section. Its daily boosters are the strictest: unused ones "do not roll over to the next day". TAB adds a second trigger worth knowing: a token also expires the day the account is closed, "for any reason, either by the Eligible Participant or by us".7

Using and splitting a token

At all three you place the bet as normal, then choose the bonus bet in the slip instead of typing a cash stake. Sportsbet's help page adds the trap: "Please ensure you don't put a stake amount if you don't intend to place a cash bet on the selection", because a stake in the box plus a token means two bets.3 TAB's tokens work only on tab.com.au and the app, not by phone, IVR or in-store (FAQ 17).6

Splitting turns one token into several smaller ones with the same expiry:

• TAB: tokens of $2 or more, into two, three, four or five equal parts, each at least 50 cents according to FAQ 3 and at least $1 according to clause 65.4 of the Promo T&Cs. The two documents disagree; the T&Cs say they prevail.7
• Sportsbet: up to ten parts, chosen from ten preset options, and each token "can only be split once".4
• PointsBet: two, three or four ways where the token shows a split option, and once split "you will not be able to split it any further".10

Splitting a $50 token five ways at TAB gives five $10 bets, five chances at the profit-only maths, and no change to the total value. It's the closest thing to a free lunch in the terms, because each part can go on a different price.

Where a bonus bet can't go

If the bonus bet button isn't in the slip, the bet type is usually the reason. Sportsbet's clause 9.1 excludes tote multis, combo multis (fixed odds and tote legs mixed), each-way bets and tote singles.1 TAB's FAQ 10 excludes live bets, each-way bets, parlay formula, mystery products, NRL and AFL FootyTAB, non-flexi exotics such as a straight trifecta, Trackside, non-flexi system multis, and any bet with the Multiplier or "The Lock" applied.6 PointsBet allows same game multis but not in-play markets (in Australia, in-play bets on sport are phone-only).10

Two rules cut across all three. A token "must not be used in conjunction with any other offer" (Sportsbet clause 6.6, TAB clause 66.8), so a bonus bet and a boost can't sit on the same bet. And bonus bets at TAB earn no loyalty points (clause 66.11).7

Cash out, voids and scratchings

TAB is flat: "you cannot 'Cash Out' a bet that has been placed using a bonus bet" (FAQ 19).6 At Sportsbet, cashing out a Jet Boost bet means "no Bonus Bet is paid, and the Jet Boost is forfeited".5 PointsBet warns that cashing out a bet with a Pay Back token on it changes the outcome too.

Scratchings are kinder. Sportsbet returns the token when a market is voided; TAB says it "should automatically be returned", with a 72-hour reinstatement if it isn't (FAQ 16); PointsBet returns Event Boosters and Daily Boosters on voided or cancelled bets.6

Bonus bets weighed up

My verdict