The FanDuel site credit can be split up into any number of bets, unless something has changed in the last couple months.
LongBetter
Karma: 3
This is just empirical, that the vig is roughly 4-5% for long and short bets alike. But the math works out that for a fixed vig, long bets lose more EV because the vig is larger as a fraction as your chance of winning,
Another factor is that the sportsbook’s house edge (vig) loses you more EV for longer bets, since it’s larger relative to your chance of winning when that chance is small. Around +600 (very roughly) is the sweet spot for EV.
Yes, it’s good to split your free bets to lower variance on FanDuel and Barstool who allow it. However, the DraftKings and Caesars bonus bets can’t be split. BetMGM splits your bonus into 5 equal-size bets that can’t be split further.
Say you lose $5,000 on Fanduel and gain $6,000 on DraftKings. If you take the standard deduction, your pay taxes on the $6,000 gain but can’t write off the $5,000 loss. If you instead itemize, you can put the $5,000 loss as a deduction, in effect paying taxes on a $1,000 gain. This makes a big difference even at moderate tax rates.
Fanduel is likely to cap your $5,000 risk-free long bet, that is, limit your wager to a maximum dollar amount that’s only shown when you type in “$5000”. You should avoid this because only your very first bet is “risk-free”. You can look for other games or wait for caps to loosen, but opportunities are slim to place a full $5,000 bet at +300 (1-in-4) odds, maybe just some NBA games when they’re about to start.
But, there’s a way around the caps: parlay bets. When you select two wagers on different games onto your betslip, a “2 Leg Parlay” bet option will show, which bets on both outcomes happening together—that is, you’re paid only if both teams win their respective games. This lets you combine, say, two coin-flip games into one roughly 1-in-4 (+300) bet, but often with a looser cap that lets you wager the full $5,000. I’ve confirmed that parlay bets qualify for the promo on Fanduel and seen people successfully do this.
I’ve been helping organize bets like this for the last couple weeks, so I’m happy to answer any questions.
For Barstool, I’m pretty sure you can’t just withdraw bonus cash—you need to play it through, that is, bet it once. But, because Barstool bonus cash does return the stake when bet, and can be split into any number of bets, it’s not hard to get out most of its value.