How To Earn Out The DraftKings Bonus

Updated 3/28/2016

Claim your bonus at DraftKings when you sign up now.

DraftKings continues to be one of the most reputable daily fantasy sports sites in a rapidly-growing industry. Its status is a result of more than just marketing; a lot of sites are great at promoting themselves, but less great at living up to their promises. That’s where Draft Kings shines. It makes big promises, but has a track record for delivering on them.

Having said that, it’s worth clarifying a few details regarding how to earn out your DraftKings bonus. It comes with strings attached. (To be fair, the same is true of the bonuses found at all daily fantasy sports sites, online poker sites, and online casinos.)

A quick side note before we dig in…

You’ll occasionally run into folks online who complain that they’re not allowed to withdraw their DK bonus immediately. Their complaints usually stems from a misunderstanding about how deposit bonuses work. I’ll describe how they work below, and explain how your DraftKings.com bonus is released. I’ll also give you a few tips for getting access to your money quicker.

If you’re new to daily fantasy football, baseball, basketball, and hockey, you’re probably excited to get started. We definitely recommend joining a few contests right out of the gate to get some experience. But don’t skip over the information on this page. Learning how to earn out your DraftKings deposit bonus will make your experience that much more fun and rewarding.

So given the above, how can you get your hands on your DraftKings bonus? That brings us to Frequent Player Points (FPPs).

What Are Frequent Player Points (FPPs) At DraftKings?

Every time you join a contest that imposes an entry fee, you earn FPPs. (You don’t earn them for playing in the freerolls.) The number of FPPs you earn is based on the size of the entry fee imposed by the contest.

Let’s take a look a few examples. At the time of writing, the following contests are displayed in the lobby (I’ve appended the entry fees and FPPs for each event in a fee/FPP format):

1. NBA $200K Buzzer Beater [$200,000 Guaranteed] – $200/550
2. NHL $5K High Roller [$5,000 Guaranteed] $109/360
3. Last Week: NBA $200K Buzzer Beater [5 Tix Gtd.] – $27/108
4. Beginner NBA $1 50/50 [$18 Guaranteed] – $1/4
5. NBA $5,300 3-Player – $5,300/8,000

Earning A Bonus With FPP’s

• 100 FPP’s = $1
• 1000 FPP’s = $10
• 60,000 FPP’s = $600 (max bonus possible)

Earning FPP’s
The first contest, the “Buzzer Beater,” carries a $200 entry fee. If you join it, Draft Kings will give you 550 FPPs. That’s not bad.

Now take a look at #4 in the list, the “$1 50/50” contest. It only costs $1 to join, but you’ll only earn 4 FPPs for doing so.

The last event on the list, the “$5,300 3-Player” contest is a bit too rich for our taste, but it’s worth noting that DK will give you a whopping 8,000 FPPs to participate.

You’re not required to win the contest to get the Frequent Player Points. You’ll receive them whether you win or not.

Where To Find The Number Of FPPs For A Contest

Click On A Contest And Find FPP’s Awarded

If you’re following along in the DraftKings lobby, you’ll have noticed that the number of FPPs is not displayed for any of the events. So where can you find them?

Do the following:

Click on one of the contests (it doesn’t matter which one). A box will open on your screen displaying the contest details. For example, you’ll see the number of entrants allowed to join the event, the folks who have already entered, and the payout schedule.

Along the top of the box, you’ll see the contest title. Directly underneath the title, you’ll see a line containing several numbers and dollar figures. The last figure in that line reflects the number of FPPs you’ll earn when you join the contest (technically, you’ll earn the points when the contest starts).

Here’s how you can check the number of points you’ve accrued at any given moment:

Check Your Account Info Anytime Fast and Easy

Close out the contest details box and take a look at the top of your screen. Do you see where your account balance is displayed? Click the small orange triangle shown to the immediate right of your balance.

“Why Is My DraftKings Bonus Pending?”

When you visited DraftKings and registered your account, you were directed to a page from which you could make your first deposit. It was that deposit that determined your sign-up bonus if you were offered one (no more after March 1, 2016).

You were given the option to choose your preferred deposit amoun

Showing 0.00 because I have already cleared my bonus.

Here’s where things get a little confusing if you’re unfamiliar with how deposit bonuses work. A lot of sites claim that you get the bonus right away. Although that’s technically true, it’s somewhat misleading.

The bonus is not placed into the same bucket of funds that contains the money you deposited. Instead, it’s placed into a “Pending Bonus” bucket. And there it sits until you earn it out. You can’t use it to enter the daily fantasy sports contests listed in the site’s lobby. Nor can you withdraw it.

You’ll see your “Pending Bonus” entry displayed directly underneath your account balance. Click it to be taken to your account details page.

In the middle of the details page, you’ll see a section titled “Account Details.” One of the entries in that section is labeled “Frequent Player Points.” There you’ll find the number of points you’ve accumulated to date.

Now that you know what FPPs are and where to find the number of points you’ll earn for any given contest, let’s talk about how they affect your bonus.

Earn Out Your DraftKings Bonus By Racking Up FPPs

Draft Kings releases your deposit bonus in increments – $1 for every 100 FPPs earned.  It’s not easy. As you probably noticed from the earlier list of daily fantasy sports contests, it can take a considerable amount of time to accumulate a significant number of points.

Here’s an example:

Suppose you only played in events that imposed a $1 entry fee. You would earn 4 FPPs per event. That means you would need to enter 25 such events to earn out $1 of your deposit bonus. You’d need to participate in a LOT of them to earn out the entire bonus (5,000 in case you dislike math). Making matters more complicated, the deposit bonus expires after 4 months. That might seem like plenty of time, but you’ll be surprised by how quickly it passes.

Let’s now take a look at how to expedite the release of your DraftKings bonus.

Tips For Accumulating FPPs To Release Your DraftKings Bonus

There’s no trick or clever workaround you can use to trigger the early release of your bonus. If there was, everyone would use it and DraftKings would quickly plug the hole. That means you have to clear the bonus the old-fashioned way: by entering contests and accruing Frequent Player Points.

Here are a few tips:

First, limit your time in the freerolls. They’re great for getting a handle on how daily fantasy sports betting works. They’re also good for gaining the confidence you need to jump into the for-fee events. But you don’t earn FPPs by joining freerolls.

Second, realize that playing in contests with ultra-low entry fees – e.g. $1 – earns very few FPPs. That’s not to say you shouldn’t enter them. Just be aware that doing so won’t give you the momentum you need to earn out your deposit bonus.

Third, resist the temptation to join contests that impose high entry fees just to get the FPPs. It won’t do you any good to lose a chunk of your bankroll just to earn a few extra points toward getting your bonus. That’s a backwards approach, sort of like ordering an expensive dinner just to get the free dessert.

If time is slipping by, and you suspect your bonus is going to expire before you have a chance to earn it out, let it go. The point of playing in daily fantasy sports leagues is to have a good time and win some money along the way. DraftKings does a fantastic job at making that possible. The deposit bonus is icing on the cake.

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