About Matched Betting

Matched betting is a risk-free method to make money online. It involves placing bets on all possible outcomes of a sports event to ensure a profit.

FAQs

1. Is matched betting legal? Yes, it's completely legal but ensure you adhere to the terms and conditions of bookmakers.

2. Do I need a large bankroll to start? No, you can start with a small amount and gradually build your bankroll as you complete more offers.

3. Can matched betting provide a steady income? Yes, with dedication and by continuously taking advantage of bookmaker offers, matched betting can provide a steady source of income.

4. What if I get stuck? Use resources like matched betting guides, forums, and calculators available online to get help and advice.

What is Matched Betting?

Matched betting is a foolproof betting strategy that involves placing bets on all possible outcomes of an event to lock in profits from free bets and bonuses offered by bookmakers.

It's not gambling in the traditional sense because it's based on mathematical calculations, not chance, ensuring consistent profits.

Simplified Matched Betting Example

Imagine a bookmaker offers you a free £10 bet if you first place a £10 bet. Let's use a coin toss as our event, where it can either land on heads or tails, each having an equal chance.

Here's a simple strategy:

1. Bet £10 on heads and another £10 on tails.

2. No matter the outcome, you don't win or lose money, but you do qualify for the £10 free bet.

Next, use your £10 free bet:

1. Place the free £10 bet on heads and £5 on tails.

2. If heads win, you get £5 profit. If tails win, you also get £5 profit.

This way, you guarantee a profit from the free bet without relying on luck. Typically, you can expect to turn about 80% of your free bet into real profit, which means from a £10 free bet, you could make around £8.

Follow this step-by-step guidance on how to make your first matched bets and start earning profits...

How To Do Matched Betting

Getting Started

To get started with matched betting:

1. Understand the Basics: Know the difference between a Back Bet (betting for an outcome to happen) and a Lay Bet (betting against an outcome).

2. Sign Up for a Betting Exchange and a Bookmaker: Open accounts on platforms like Smarkets for your Lay Bets and bookmakers like Coral for your Back Bets. Look for new customer offers, such as Coral's "Bet £5, Get a £20 free bet."

3. Switch to Decimal Odds: For easier comparison of odds across platforms, switch to decimal odds on both the bookmaker's site and the betting exchange.

Placing Your First Bets

1. The Qualifying Bet: Place a bet to qualify for the bookmaker's free bet offer. For example, bet £5 on any sport at odds of 1.50 or greater with Coral to unlock a £20 free bet. In this example, we are using the Chelsea v Newcastle match. If you are seeing fractional odds, change it to Decimal in Settings, to the bottom left of the left-hand toolbar in the grey area. It will then save your preference.

Step-by-Step Guide to Your First Profit

Let's walk through making a profit from Coral's offer:

1. Place a Qualifying Bet: Bet £5 at odds of 1.50 or greater. Simultaneously, place a Lay Bet on a betting exchange like Smarkets to cover all outcomes.

2. Claim Your Free Bet: After placing your qualifying bet, you'll receive a £20 free bet from Coral.

3. Use Your Free Bet: Place your 4 x £5 free bets on a high-odds outcome and lay a corresponding bet on the betting exchange. Use a matched betting calculator to determine the exact stakes needed for your lay bet to ensure a profit, regardless of the event's outcome..

Identifying A Good Bet

Ideally get signed up to Oddsmonkey to use their excellent Oddsmatcher to find a close match for your Qualifying Bet. If not, you will need to search and find one manually.

Using the English Premier League is an easy way to do this. Find a big match, and see the decimal odds. Here we see that Chelsea are available to bet on at Coral at 1.95.

Finding Your Lay Bet

By checking out Smarkets on the same game, we can see that Chelsea are at 2.02 to lay.

Whilst the odds could be closer, this is a good enough match to use to trigger £20 in free bets.

Tip - the closer the odds, the lower the Qualifying Loss.

Calculating The Bet

By using the Earn Free Cashculator or the matched betting calculator on Oddsmonkey, you can input the back and lay odds, stake and commission, to calculate the lay amount required.

See the example which tells us that at back odds of 1.95 and Smarkets lay ods of 2.02, we should lay £4.88 and expect a loss of 22p, which is fine.

The amount of liability shown is the amount of money you will need in Smarkets to cover this bet.

Placing The Bets

Now we have a decent match with both sets of odds, you can place the back bet at Coral for £5 on Chelsea to win, and the lay bet of £4.88 at Smarkets on Chelsea NOT to win.

Log the bet details on your logbook.

This bet should immediately trigger the 4 x £5 Free Bets from Coral, check for a yellow gift icon in top right screen by your account icon.

Profit Making

2. The Free Bet: Once you've received your 4 free bets, we will use them to place another 4 matched bets, this time aiming to extract around 80% of the free bet value as profit.

   High odds can maximize your profit, but ensure the back and lay odds are close.

To get the best value from a Free Bet, you need to find a close match at higher odds.

In football, an easy and stable market to do this is the Correct Score markets.

In our example here, we can see that using the same game, we could bet on the 1-1 draw at odds of 8.0

If other games are available, use those for the free bet/s.

Looking at Smarkets, you can see that the lay odds are 10.0 on the 1-1 draw.

The calculator tells us that at these odds, the Free Bet will return a profit of £3.44, regardless of the outcome.

Go ahead and select the £5 back bet with Coral, make sure you Add The Free Bet, then place it. Once confirmed, place the lay bet at Smarkets

Congratulations!

You just made your first matched betting profit!

Now the job is to do the same again for the remaining 3 Free Bets.

If each returns £3.44, that's £14.36 in total*. Take away the 22p Qualifying Loss and that's £14.12 profit!

You have 7 days to use them!

• If you joined via Topcashback, you will get the cashback too!

Maximizing Profits

• Repeat the Process: Apply the same process to other bookmakers' offers to continue earning profits.

• Stay Organized: Keep track of your bets, balances, and profits using a spreadsheet.

• Use Tools Wisely: Leverage matched betting calculators and odds matching tools to make informed bets.

Conclusion

Matched betting is a strategic, low-risk way to make money from bookmaker offers. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you're set to unlock a steady stream of income, turning betting from a gamble into a predictable profit generator. Remember, matched betting is about smart calculations, not luck. Happy betting, and here's to your success with Earn Free Cash!