7seven said:
Great info! Can you go into a little more detail on the bonus scenario. Maybe provide a quick example...
Thanks!
A free play is different from a cash bonus. With a free play, you are only allowed to keep the winning from the game, not the stake. So if you bet 110 to win 100 in free play, and the game won, you would have $100 cash added to your account. This is why many books put in provisions that you cannot use free play to bet on large underdogs, because the free play has more value then.
In the example I just gave, the amount of cash you ended up with was only 47.6% of your combined winnings and stake ($210). On the contrary, if you put $100 free play on a 50/1 golf future, and it hit, you would end up with $5000 cash in your account. In this instance the cash you ended up with was 98% of you combined winnings and stake ($5100). That's why books don't like you using free play for big dogs or long shots.
As far as the 3 team parlay example, this is what you do....
-Find 3 games and make sure each game has a hook in it, you don't have any of your legs to be pushes
-There are 8 possible combinations to a 3 team teaser
-So if you had a $400 free play, you would put $50 on each of the 8 combinations
-One of them is guaranteed to hit for a 6/1 payout of $300.
-So with that $400 free play, you are guaranteed to turn that into $300 cash.
If you made 4 $100 bets at -110, you'd likely win 2 and lose 2 which would end up being $182 in cash. Even if you won all 4 the most you would make is $364. Obviously guaranteeing yourself 75% cash equity in the free play is the best option. Many books won't allow this anymore but I did it the last time I took a bonus from DSI about a year ago