A:
[Editor's Note: This answer is provided by Logan Fields, author of our new title 20/20 Sports Betting.]
When making your $200 deposit, you'll be awarded 100%, which puts your balance at $400, with a goal of cashing out at this figure. At first blush, I thought the best way to guarantee cashing out at $400 would be to put your entire balance in play on a heavy favorite, say -800, which most likely would result in a $50 win and a balance of $450. Playing (and winning) this huge favorite would result in walking away with $450, a 125% gain on your initial investment.
But wait. Not so fast.
As if often the case with casino promotions, the devil's in the details. I looked at the fine print for this promotion and sure enough, they put in a clause stating that favorites of -200 or more cannot be played with the bonus funds. So playing by their stated rules, making a $400 wager on a -190 favorite (with true odds of -175) would result in over a 63% chance you'll walk away with $610.
Or if you'd rather have a little less gamble and be content with $400, I'd consider making a couple of $200 wagers at -110, which would give you a 75% chance of reaching, or far exceeding if you won both plays, your $400 goal. Actually, when factoring in the juice, if you won one of the two wagers, your return would be slightly less ($381).
If this isn't enough and you still want to reach your goal of $400, you could use the Martingale system (starting with a $20 bet and doubling after each loss), which would result in a 94% chance of getting to $400. Generally speaking, any discussion of using a Martingale system is enough to make an advantage player sick, but with a very specific goal in mind (having $380 and needing only $20 more), occasionally there can be a time and place for it.
It's certainly within your right to make plays in this fashion, but just don't expect fist-pumps and back-slapping from casino personnel when you cash out. The advice above pretty much falls under the category of bonus exploitation. And since this casino is local, if you're interested in establishing or maintaining a good relationship with them, I wouldn't recommend taking this route, as exploiting such a bonus is frowned on across the gambling industry.
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