A Simple Explanation of Matched Betting

I’ve tried to explain matched betting to so many people but it’s not simple. I have given it a lot of thought and decided to break it down as simply as possible so that you can understand the basics.

It’s Not Gambling

Okay, maybe it is gambling because you are putting a bet on at a bookmakers, but the method of matched betting means that you are covering all odds so that you cannot lose. With gambling you can win or lose, with matched betting you can only win. (Unless you make a mistake!)

What is Matched Betting?

When you got to a bookies and play a bet you are gambling that your choice will win. With matched betting, after placing a bet you will also place a lay bet at an exchange. This bet will be for your choice not to win. So the bets cancel each other out. This means you neither win or lose, but if your original bet is a free bet then you can only win.

Let me give you a little example. You get a free bet from a bookmaker and place it on a horse called Tiny Tim to win a race at 2.30pm at Haydock. Then you go to an exchange and place a lay bet that Tiny Tim will not win. You are not placing a bet that any other horse will win, just that Tiny Tim will not win. This way you will guarantee a win whether Tiny Tim wins or not. And because your original bet was a free bet you will profit.

Placing two bets in this way means you will get a definite profit, but not necessarily a huge profit, certainly not as much as if you only placed a bet that your horse will win and it does. Making a profit on every bet works out a lot more profitable than winning an odd bet here and there.

The exchange is where you place your lay bet and they require a liability payment. This is sometimes quite high and the odds offered are often quite different too. You need to use find bets that have very similar odds and remember the higher the bet the higher the liability.

Why Does it Have to be a free bet?

To profit from matched betting you need to place one of the bets with a free bet. Otherwise the two bets will just cancel each other out, you could even make a small loss.

Bookmakers are often offering free bets, mostly as a sign up offer. Generally you sign up and place a bet then get a free bet. You will have to pay for the first bet, but if you match it you will either end up with not losing any money or losing just a small amount. But then you get your free bet.

For example: Sign up with £10, place your bet and match it, depending on the odds lets say you make a small loss of  25 pence. Then you get your £10 free bet, match it and then because you have not paid for your first bet you get a guaranteed profit of around £8.25, minus the 25p from the first bet that’s £8 profit!

After signing up you may also get offered free bets from the bookmakers. I have a couple that offer a free bet every week. Then some might offer you free bets for special events like the World Cup or Ascot.

What are the Down Points of Matched Betting?

Brace yourself, there are a few.

You will need to join a lot of bookmakers, especially in the beginning. There is nothing really wrong with this but it doesn’t look good on your bank statement. You may even get a call from your bank as you will look like you are gambling a lot.

You will need a pot of money to begin with. I started small with around £50. The bigger pot you have the more money you can make. I have to admit though, even though my pot is now around £600 I still feel wary of placing big bets.

The exchanges are expensive. When you place a bet you have to pay a liability. This depends on the odds.

for example if the odds are around 2.5 and you are placing a £10 bet at the bookmakers, it will cost you around £6, but if the odds are 8.9 you will pay around £64 for a £10 bet. You do get all of this money back but you will need it to make the bets.

You can make mistakes. Especially when you start out, it’s difficult to grasp at first and mistakes can be costly.

All your family and friends will think you are a gambler.

What’s the Easiest Way to Match Bet?

I would not advise anyone to match bet by themselves, you need to join a matched betting site. I suggest Profit Accumulator, This is my affiliate link and if you sign up we will both earn a commission of £20 each if you become a paying member.  You can sign up for free to start with, and see how you get along. After your first few bets and you’ve seen how much profit you can make you will be willing to pay for membership.

A Matched betting site will give you a list of all the betting sites you can join and get a free bet.

It will also give you all the tools you need to make your bets.

You will also get advice and help from others who match bet.

A site will give you step by step instructions on how to sign up to a betting site and how to complete the offer. You will use the Oddsmatching feature to find the closest match between bets and a calculator to determine how much to bet and what you need to pay on the exchange. It also calculates your profit.

Both the oddsmatching feature and calculator are easy to use but you will have full instructions and videos to watch on how to use them.

Everything you do, especially in the early days, you will find guides to follow for each step.

Why I love Matched Betting

It’s a simple, tax free way of creating an extra income. Depending on how much you want to put into it and how much time you have free, you can make anything from a small regular income to a large bonus.

This is an old post but I’m updating here with a screen shot of my current profit. I’ve earned almost £50 for December and I have barely used the site. (I had some free spins each day as a Christmas advent offer and this is what it mounted up to…that’s £50 just for logging onto a few sites a few days.) As you can see, my total profit stands at just over £2000!

Do let me know if you do matched betting, or if you are willing to give it a try. I am happy to give any help or advice if you get stuck.