What is the difference between site credit and a bonus bet?

When site credit wins you get the stake back as well as the winnings; when a bonus bet wins you only get the winnings. That makes site credit worth close to its face value.

What odds should I use site credit on?

Near even money, or shorter if the terms allow, on the tightest market you can find. Longer odds only enlarge the hedge and the margin you pay on it.

What is a good site credit conversion rate?

Around 95% when hedged on a tight main-line market near even money. A rate in the 70s means it was converted like a bonus bet, at odds that were too long.

Is site credit withdrawable?

Not directly. It usually has to be wagered once, after which the returned stake and winnings are cash; check how many times your book requires it to be played through.

Bonus bets

Site credit vs bonus bets: why the stake changes everything

Site credit returns its stake when it wins, so it is worth close to face value and converts best near even money. A bonus bet keeps its stake, so it converts best at long odds. Same method, opposite prices.

Updated September 27, 2026 · TrueEdge Academy

Site credit and bonus bets both look like balance you can only wager, but they pay differently. When a site-credit bet wins you get the winnings and the stake back, and both are cash. When a bonus bet wins you get the winnings only. That makes site credit worth far more (hedged near even money, $100 of it locks in about $96) and flips the best odds to use: site credit wants short prices, bonus bets want long ones. Using the method for one on the other can cost you half the value.

Where the difference comes from

Hedging either one means betting the other side with cash at another book, sized so both outcomes pay the same. For a bonus bet, the hedge covers the winnings, B × (d₁ − 1). For site credit, it covers the whole return, B × d₁, because the stake comes back too. Work that through with the pair's overround m (how far 1/d₁ + 1/d₂ exceeds 1) and the two conversion rates come out as:

The two formulas side by side

Bonus bet: (1 − 1/d₁) − m × (d₁ − 1)
Site credit: 1 − m × d₁
Bonus bet hedge stake: B × (d₁ − 1) ÷ d₂
Site credit hedge stake: B × d₁ ÷ d₂

d₁ is the decimal price the credit goes on, d₂ the decimal price of the hedge. The site-credit formula has no fair-value penalty at all: the only cost is margin, and margin cost grows with the odds. So the shortest sensible price wins.

Worked: $100 site credit at +100, hedge at −108

Site credit: $100 on Team A at +100: decimal 2.00
Hedge: Team B at −108: decimal 1.9259
Hedge stake: 100 × 2.00 ÷ 1.9259: $103.85
If Team A wins: $200 − $103.85: +$96.15
If Team B wins: $103.85 × 0.9259: +$96.15
Conversion: 96.2%

Illustration, not a current offer. The pair's overround is 1.92%, and 1 − 0.0192 × 2 = 0.962. The $200 return is stake plus winnings, both yours to withdraw once the terms allow.

The same $100, both instruments, two prices

Site credit at +100, hedge −108: $96.15 (hedge $103.85)
Bonus bet at +100, hedge −108: $48.08 (hedge $51.92)
Site credit at +400, hedge −450: $90.91 (hedge $409.09)
Bonus bet at +400, hedge −450: $72.73 (hedge $327.27)

Bonus bet at +100: hedge 100 ÷ 1.9259 = $51.92, locking $100 − $51.92. Site credit at +400: hedge 500 ÷ 1.2222 = $409.09, locking $500 − $409.09. Each instrument is best where the other is weakest.

Why the best odds flip

A bonus bet loses its stake on every win, and long odds shrink that loss relative to the payout; that is the case for going long. Site credit loses nothing on a win, so there is no stake to protect and nothing to gain by going long. What longer odds do bring is a bigger hedge, and every dollar of hedge pays the market's margin. At +400 the site credit above needs four times the hedge cash it needs at +100 and keeps about $5 less. The practical rule: use site credit on the tightest market you can find at or near even money, or shorter if its terms allow.

Hedge it or just bet it?

Unhedged, site credit on a fair coin flip is worth its face value on average: half the time you get $200, half the time $0. With a realistic fair chance of 48% at +100, that is 0.48 × $200 = $96, almost exactly what the hedge locks in. So with site credit, hedging costs you almost nothing in average value and removes all of the swing. That is a better trade than it is with a bonus bet, where the hedge gives up a few points to buy certainty.

How to tell which one you hold

Books use the names inconsistently. “Site credit,” “bonus funds,” “bet credits” and “bonus bets” can mean either instrument depending on the operator, so ignore the label and read the mechanics: the terms will say whether the stake is included in the returns. The bet slip is the quickest check: $100 at +100 showing a $200 payout is site credit, showing $100 is a bonus bet. Also check whether the credit must be wagered more than once before it becomes cash. A single play-through is what the maths above assumes; a larger multiple turns it into a rollover problem, covered in deposit match bonuses.

Converting it with TrueEdge

The Promo Optimizer treats the two as separate offer types. Choose Site credit under Token type and it ranks short-priced, tight pairs; choose Bonus bet and it favours long ones. Its minimum-odds filter takes the credit's own rule so you only see plans the book will accept, and the funding chip on each leg carries through to the Bet Tracker. The walkthrough covers the controls; bonus bet conversion rates covers the other half of the comparison.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between site credit and a bonus bet?: When site credit wins you get the stake back as well as the winnings; when a bonus bet wins you only get the winnings. That makes site credit worth close to its face value.
What odds should I use site credit on?: Near even money, or shorter if the terms allow, on the tightest market you can find. Longer odds only enlarge the hedge and the margin you pay on it.
What is a good site credit conversion rate?: Around 95% when hedged on a tight main-line market near even money. A rate in the 70s means it was converted like a bonus bet, at odds that were too long.
Is site credit withdrawable?: Not directly. It usually has to be wagered once, after which the returned stake and winnings are cash; check how many times your book requires it to be played through.