Churning means repeatedly betting the same funds to meet rollover requirements on a deposit bonus. Done correctly with hedging, it extracts most of the bonus value.
Churning means wagering the same funds repeatedly to satisfy the rollover requirement attached to a deposit bonus. Rather than gambling with the bonus, you hedge every churn bet — minimizing vig losses while meeting the wagering requirement so you can withdraw the bonus as cash.
Some sportsbook bonuses (particularly deposit match bonuses) require you to bet the deposit or bonus amount a certain number of times before the funds are withdrawable.
Example: "100% deposit match up to $500, 5× rollover."
You deposit $500. You receive $500 in bonus cash. Before withdrawing, you must wager $2,500 total (5× the $500 bonus).
Churning is the process of making those $2,500 in wagers as efficiently as possible.
Each individual churn bet should be hedged to minimize losses. With -110 lines and a clean hedge, each round-trip costs approximately 4.8% in vig.
On a 5× rollover of $500 ($2,500 in wagers), the vig cost is approximately:
$2,500 × 4.8% = $120 in vig losses across all churn bets.
If the bonus is $500, the net extraction is roughly: $500 − $120 = $380 in withdrawable profit.
That's a 76% extraction rate on the face value of the bonus — lower than a standard bonus bet hedge (which yields 65–80% directly) but still significantly positive.
| Churning | Bonus Bet Hedge | |
|---|---|---|
| Bonus type | Deposit match / site credit | Bonus bet (stake not returned) |
| Rollover required | Yes | Usually no |
| Extraction rate | ~70–80% (depends on rollover) | 65–80% |
| Complexity | Multiple hedge bets | Single hedge |
For the full advanced hedging framework, read our advanced hedging strategies guide.
This is part of our complete guide. Read the full breakdown for the complete strategy.
Read: Advanced Hedging Strategies for Sports Bettors →