Guide · 7 min read
Reload offers for existing customers: how to work out what they are worth
Once the welcome bonus is used up, bookmakers keep sending offers: a reload bonus on your next deposit, money back if your team draws, insurance on accumulators, boosted prices, loyalty points. Some are worth a few euros, some cost you money once you read the terms. This guide shows a simple way to put a euro value on each type, with worked examples, and the small print that decides the answer.
Updated 22 October 2026
Contents
The types of offers for existing customers
Names differ between bookmakers and countries, but nearly every offer for existing customers is one of these:
- Reload bonus. A deposit bonus for customers who already have an account, for example 50% up to €50. Like a welcome bonus, it comes with wagering requirements before you can withdraw it.
- Money back. If your bet loses under a stated condition (a draw, a 0-0, your team losing after leading 2-0), you get the stake back, usually as a free bet rather than cash. Often advertised as a “risk-free bet”, although the risk doesn't disappear.
- Acca insurance. If one leg of an accumulator lets you down, the stake comes back, again usually as a free bet and up to a cap.
- Odds boosts. A higher price on one selection, or a profit boost token, usually with a low maximum stake.
- Loyalty and cashback. Points per euro staked, levels that unlock free bets, or a small percentage of your turnover paid back.
The basic sum: expected value
Every offer has a value and a cost. The value is what you get on average: a bonus, a free bet, a better price. The cost is the bookmaker's margin on everything you must stake to get it. The difference is the offer's expected value (EV):
EV of the offer ≈ expected bonus value − (required turnover × margin)
For the examples below we assume a 5% margin, a common figure on main markets at soft bookmakers (the guide to the bookmaker margin shows how to measure it). We value a free bet whose stake is not returned at about 70% of its face value; the calculation is further down.
A positive EV is an average over many offers. On any single offer you can still lose.
Reload bonuses
A reload bonus is only as good as its wagering requirement. The requirement tells you how much you must stake, and every euro staked costs the margin on average.
You deposit €100 and get a €50 bonus. Terms: wager deposit plus bonus 5 times at minimum odds of 1.80. Required turnover: 5 × €150 = €750. Expected cost at a 5% margin: €750 × 0.05 = €37.50. EV ≈ €50 − €37.50 = +€12.50.
The same bonus with 8 times wagering: €1,200 turnover, €60 expected cost, EV ≈ −€10. If the requirement applied only to the bonus (5 × €50 = €250), the cost would be €12.50 and the EV about +€37.50.
The wording “deposit plus bonus” versus “bonus only” can triple the turnover. The guide to bonus wagering requirements explains how to read these clauses line by line.
Money back and acca insurance
Money-back offers are often the most valuable offers for existing customers, because the refund arrives exactly when you lose.
You stake €20 at odds of 2.00. After removing the margin, the fair chance of winning is 47.5%, so the bet loses 52.5% of the time. Then you get a €20 free bet worth about €14. Expected value of the refund: 0.525 × €14 = €7.35. Expected cost of the bet itself: €20 × 0.05 = €1. EV ≈ +€6.35.
The narrower the condition, the smaller the value. “Money back if your team leads 2-0 and doesn't win” triggers rarely, so it is worth cents, not euros. The guide to “risk-free” bets covers the variants.
Acca insurance sounds generous, but the margin applies to every leg of an accumulator.
€10 on five selections at 1.50 each, each with a 5% margin. Expected return: 0.955 ≈ 0.774, so an expected loss of about €2.26. The fair chance of each leg is about 63.3%; exactly one leg losing happens about 29.5% of the time. The insurance pays a €10 free bet worth about €7 in that case: 0.295 × €7 ≈ €2.06. EV ≈ −€2.26 + €2.06 ≈ −€0.20.
The insurance makes an expensive bet roughly fair, nothing more. Why accumulators cost so much is explained in why accumulators lose.
Odds boosts and loyalty cashback
Boosts are the easiest to value: compare the boosted price with the fair price from the market.
The fair price from a comparison of several bookmakers is 2.10. EV per €10 staked: 10 × (2.40 / 2.10 − 1) = +€1.43. At the maximum stake of €25 that is €3.57. A “boost” that stays below the fair price is negative, whatever the label says.
The guide to odds boosts shows how to find the fair price and how a boost can become one leg of a sure bet.
Loyalty schemes and cashback are small but easy to calculate: 0.5% cashback on €2,000 of monthly turnover is €10. That lowers the margin you pay, but it doesn't turn a losing bet into a winning one. Check whether cashback arrives as cash or as a bonus with its own wagering.
What a free bet is worth
With a free bet you get only the winnings, not the stake. If you cover it with a bet on the other outcome at a different bookmaker, a fixed part of its face value remains whatever happens.
Free bet on outcome A at 3.80; cover on outcome B at another bookmaker at 1.33. If A wins, the free bet pays 10 × 2.80 = €28. Cover stake: 28 / 1.33 = €21.05 on B.
| Outcome | Free bet | Cover | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| A wins | +€28.00 | −€21.05 | +€6.95 |
| B wins | €0.00 | +€6.95 | +€6.95 |
About 70% of the face value, if both bets are accepted at these odds and stand.
The free bets guide and the free bet calculator go into more detail.
Traps in the terms
- Wagering on deposit plus bonus instead of the bonus alone, which can double or triple the turnover.
- Minimum odds that push you into markets with higher margins.
- Short deadlines. Seven days for a large turnover creates pressure to bet more than you planned.
- Withdrawing cancels the bonus. A withdrawal before the wagering is met often forfeits the bonus and any winnings from it.
- Maximum stake and maximum win while a bonus is active or on free-bet winnings.
- Excluded bets. System bets, cashed-out bets or certain sports often don't count towards wagering.
- Opt-in. Many offers only apply if you activate them before placing the bet.
- Personal offers. Not every customer gets every offer, and limited accounts are often excluded.
Promotion terms differ between bookmakers; always read the full terms of the specific offer. The checklist of bookmaker terms to check helps.
Staying within the rules
Offers for existing customers are meant for you as one person with one account. Several accounts, accounts of family members or other people's identities break the terms of every reputable bookmaker and can lead to all accounts being closed and balances being withheld. Many terms also forbid meeting wagering requirements by betting on all outcomes of the same event at the same bookmaker. The guide to bonus abuse explains where the line is.
Bookmakers send offers to make you bet more. Only stake amounts you had planned anyway, and use the deposit limits in your account.
ArbVantage helps with the part of this that is pure maths: it finds the best price to cover a free bet across your bookmakers and works out the cover stake, and it finds sure bets and middles; value bets are coming soon. Whether an offer is worth taking stays your decision.
Frequently asked questions
What is a reload bonus?
A deposit bonus for customers who already have an account, for example 50 percent up to 50 euros on the next deposit. Like a welcome bonus, it usually has to be wagered several times before it can be withdrawn.
Are offers for existing customers worth taking?
Some are. Work out the expected bonus value minus the required turnover times the bookmaker margin. Money-back offers and boosts above the fair price are often positive; reloads with high wagering are often negative.
Is taking every offer bonus abuse?
No. Taking offers that are meant for you, with one account in your own name and within the terms, is normal. Several accounts, other people’s accounts or breaking the wagering rules is bonus abuse and can get accounts closed.
Why have I stopped receiving offers?
Bookmakers choose who gets which offer. Accounts that only take promotions, or that the bookmaker has limited, are often excluded from future offers. Nothing guarantees that offers continue.
Sources
- EUR-Lex: Commission Recommendation 2014/478/EU on protecting consumers of online gambling services (clear bonus terms)
- UK Competition and Markets Authority: online gambling case on unfair promotion terms
- Kaunitz, Zhong, Kreiner (2017): Beating the bookies with their own numbers, arXiv:1710.02824 (how bookmakers restrict winning accounts)
As of October 2026. The calculations are illustrations under the stated assumptions. Not betting, financial, legal or tax advice. 18+.
Betting involves risk, sure bets included: odds move, bets get voided and accounts get limited. Only stake money you can afford to lose. If betting stops being fun, our responsible gambling page lists free help in Austria and Germany.