Matched betting is growing in popularity amongst punters and we’ll take you through everything you need to know. This includes how to place a matched bet, the best matched betting offers, as well as the matched betting sites that are available to punters.
What Is A Matched Bet?
Matched betting is a betting technique that mathematically generates a profit from various free bet promotions listed by bookmakers across the UK. There are plenty of free bet offers that you can get involved with, so be sure to check out our list of the best betting offers out there. But, to know exactly what matched betting is, first you need to know what a ‘Back’ bet and a ‘Lay’ bets are.
A back bet is where you’ll be betting for a certain outcome to occur during an event. An example of this would be if you were to place a bet on Manchester United to win a match they’re set to take part in. If they were to win that specific match, then your bet would be settled as a winner, although if they were to draw or lose, then the bet would be settled as a losing bet. Back bets will be familiar with the majority of punters, as you can place back bets with the majority of leading bookmakers, with bet365, William Hill, Ladbrokes, and Betfred being some of those to offer this type of bet.
A lay bet is where you’d be betting against a certain outcome to occur. If you’re placing a lay bet on Manchester United to not win the match, then this is a lay bet. If Manchester United were to win the match, then your bet would be settled as a loser, but if they were to draw or lose, then your lay bet would be settled as a winning bet. A lay bet can’t always be placed with your chosen bookmaker, as a betting exchange isn’t always available. The best betting exchanges out there have a great range of events covered with competitive lay odds, and a good example of a solid betting exchange is from a bookmaking heavyweight such as Betfair.
After you place your first qualifying bet with your chosen bookmaker, you will be awarded a free bet (providing a free bet is offered in the welcome bonus of the bookie you’re with). When you repeat this process by using the free bet on the back bet, and then the lay bet, and so regardless of the outcome, you’ll find yourself earning profit through this method.
Free bets are a great way for online bookmakers to attract new customers . The best bookies having minimal wagering requirements involved within the free bets, as some customers may wish to withdraw their potential profit from the free bets relatively swiftly.
How To Do Matched Betting
Matched betting is relatively simple once you’ve placed bets on a few occasions. We’re going to save you the trouble and will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to do matched betting, which can be a great way to earn profit from any free bets that you might have been awarded from online bookmakers. Firstly, we’ll provide you with an example of how to place a matched bet with William Hill on the ‘Back bet’, and Betfair’s Exchange for the ‘Lay bet’.
- Open a Betfair Betting Exchange account, where you’ll be able to place lay bets with the lay odds available on their site.
- Open a William Hill betting account, as they have one of the best sportsbooks around, with a great sign-up offer that includes a sizeable amount in free bets compared to many of their bookmaking competitors.
- If you haven’t already, then change your betting odds to decimal odds, as this is hugely important when it comes to matched betting.
- Find and place your qualifying bet with William Hill after you’ve signed up. Make sure that you follow the qualifying criteria included to obtain the free bets on offer.
- On William Hill, place a £10.00 bet on Dallas to Win at Odds 1.50. Click on the decimal odds to bring up the betting slip. This bet can be your qualifying bet for their welcome bonus, which entitles you to free bets.
- We’ll then head over to the Betfair betting exchange, and will place our ‘Lay bet’ against Dallas at odds of 1.54, meaning we’d technically be placing a bet on them to draw or lose the match against Vancouver Whitecaps. Deposit at least £5.44 in your account as this covers the liability needed to cover the lay bet.
- The difference in odds between the back bet and the lay bet is 0.04, which gives us an acceptable loss of just 44p. Use a matched betting service to work out which matches to place your qualifying bets on, as they can work out which ones can maximise your potential profits.
- On Betfair find the same match you wagered funds on, and then click on the lay odds containing 1.54 (a red button) and type £10.07 under “Backer’s Stake”. This is your lay stake on Dallas to Win. Confirm your bet by clicking the ‘Place Bet’ option.
Free Bets Process
- Head over to the Betfair Exchange, and make sure you have at least £60.16 in your account. This is the ‘Liability’ amount needed to cover the ‘Lay Bet’. Don’t worry though, as you’ll be getting it back.
- On William Hill, place a £30.00 bet on Draw at Odds 3.6. Simply click on the decimal odds to bring up the betting slip, and make sure you select your free bet on offer!
- On Betfair find the same match. Then click on the lay odds containing 4.2 (a red button) and type £18.80 under ‘Backer’s Stake’. This is your lay stake on Draw. Confirm your bet.
- You have now matched the bet you made on William Hill and will make some profit regardless of the outcome, which would be £17.84 in this case.
Once these bets have been settled, you can choose to withdraw your funds, or continue to use matched betting, although when the free bets run out with your chosen operator from a welcome bonus, it might be worth heading over to a new online bookmaker to repeat a similar process as you look to maximise your profit.
Is Matched Betting Legal?
Many punters that are new to matched betting often question whether it’s legal or not, and the short answer to this question is yes, it’s legal. It’s not uncommon for punters to question this, as they may question whether the opportunity of earning a potential profit regularly is too good to be true, but you’ll be pleased to hear that it’s perfectly legal.
It takes advantage of a loophole between betting exchanges and bookmakers, but neither of them loses out on matched betting, as because you’re not backing or laying elsewhere, it doesn’t have an influence on their result from your matched bet.
Matched Betting Sites
There are plenty of matched betting sites out there, and it’s important to read through the reviews of each one if you’re looking for a matched betting service that provides you with all the information that you’ll need to get started with this type of betting.
Some of the match betting services out there waste your time, or can even be a scam, so you must read through their reviews and the process involved in signing up. There are matched betting services that are relatively cheap compared to others, but they might not offer as much depth to their customers within the service. Below, we’ve listed some of the most important things to have ideally in a matched betting service.
- Automated matched betting calculations
- Latest reload offers (which you may otherwise miss)
- Live oddsmatchers
- Personalised tracking
- 1-on-1 support
- Detailed guides, tutorials and videos are available when you need them
- Private forums and communities are accessible.
Two match betting services with good reputations are Profit Accumulator and Odds Monkey. These sites continue to go from strength to strength within matched betting, as they’re some of the most reliable services out there for punters to turn to when it comes to matched betting.
Oddsmonkey has relaunched their site in the last few years with an oddsmatching software which is one of the best around. With a cost of £19.99 per month, or £180 per year, they’re well worth considering signing up to, as they’re a great site to use for both relatively new, and more experienced matched bettors. Below, we’ve listed some of the main things that Oddsmonkey offer its customers within its matched betting service.
- Daily offer calendar
- An array of software and tools: Oddsmatcher, Acca Matcher, Dutching, Racing Matcher, Tennis Matcher, Each Way Matcher.
- Spreadsheets
- Casino offer hub
- Profit tracker software
- Forum
- Free 30-minute 1-to-1 session with an OddsMonkey instructor
- Free trial (See Oddsmonkey’s website for more details)
Another matched betting service that’s worth mentioning is Profit Accumulator’s, as they run a site that is equally as impressive as Oddsmonkey’s. Profit Accumulator is the biggest match betting service out there, with over 150,000 customers signed up to them. They charge their customers £29.99 per month, or £199 for the year, which is slightly more expensive than Oddsmonkey.
Profit Accumulator was started up by student Sam Stoffel, and it’s gone from strength to strength ever since. They have the ideal service if you’re relatively new to matched betting, as they provide training material for you to use to learn matched betting.
Calculators are also provided with this matched betting service, and so they’ll do all the hard work for you. We found their training content which includes videos very useful, as they show you exactly how to place matched bets, which is what inexperienced matched bettors will want to see, as they learn more about this betting technique.
It’s hugely important to stress again though, that you should double-check with each of your matched betting selections, as one error within them can see you lose money. Below, we’ve listed some of the best things involved at Profit Accumulator.
- Forum
- Spreadsheets
- Free trial
- Great range of offers available
- Training content (Guides and videos available)
- Advanced tools such as the Match Catcher and Acca Catcher
- Calculators (Nine available at the time of review)
Is Matched Betting Profitable?
Matched betting profits can be sizeable if you stake accordingly, but it’s hugely important to gamble responsibly with this type of betting. If you make mistakes in matched betting, then your free bets could or your own money could be wasted, which would be far from ideal.
Matched betting certainly isn’t risk-free by any stretch of the imagination, but if you double-check what you’re wagering your funds on, then matched betting is profitable.
Punters can withdraw tax-free money from their accounts if they profit from betting techniques such as matched betting, which is the case for all types of bets with bookmakers online.
For each matched bet, you will be left with up to 95% of the free bet amount as profit to use. This is due to betting exchanges typically charging a commission of 5% on winnings earned by the punter.
Free bets don’t come with too many wagering requirements with the best online bookmakers, and any profit from the free bets can be withdrawn to your chosen payment method when you wish to do so.
Matched Betting Calculator
A matched bet calculator makes the whole process easier. Many people are intimidated by or hesitant to use betting structures like this. A matched betting calculator should make the whole process easier.
First, you need to select the bet type you want to place – a qualifying bet, a free bet, or a risk-free bet. Then you enter your back stake, back odds, and the back commission. You also enter the lay bet odds and commission, and you can see your potential profit.
Work out your winnings with our Matched Bet Calculator.
What Are The Advantages Of Placing A Matched Bet?
Matched betting eliminates risk as much as is possible. If you’re backing both outcomes of a bet then there’s no way of losing.
Another benefit is that you can participate in betting on the most popular events in the world. Whenever high-profile events such as the Grand National or Royal Ascot take place, there are lots of welcome offers to choose from offered by a variety of online operators. The majority of them feature matched bets. This is an excellent opportunity to redeem them.
To know on which odds you could place a bet, come check out our selection of betting sites.
Are There Any Risks & Disadvantages With Matched Bets?
As you can see from our matched betting explanation, this type of betting is fairly simple to understand. Many bettors refrain from taking part in matched betting. But, once you get the hang of it, you can see that it’s pretty easy to grasp.
The biggest issue or risk is betting with an unreliable sportsbook. It’s vital that you find a reliable and secure online operator when making a match bet. When you do, you know that you can count on them to provide a secure betting environment. This also means that you can reach out to their trustworthy customer support in case you need assistance with placing your bets.
FAQs About Matched Betting
There isn’t a specific amount of funds that you can make from matched betting, as each punter has a different budget. However, if you look into this type of betting properly, then you can earn some profit, which is why it’s popular among matched bettors.
The 2up promotion runs with bet365 on football matches involved in major leagues in Europe. If a team you backed to win goes two goals ahead on bet365, then the bet is settled as a winner before the match finishes. However, if the team you backed go on to draw or lose the match, then your lay bets on the betting exchange will be settled as a winner.
In normal matched betting, you’d be placing your back bet with your chosen bookmaker and your lay bet on a betting exchange. But with dutching matched betting, you’re using different bookmakers instead of a betting exchange account to place the lay bets.
Liability in matched betting is the amount of money that you as a punter need in your betting account to cover your lay bets. If your lay bet loses, you’ll lose your liability in the exchange, but win it back at the bookmaker. However, if your lay bets win, your liability will be returned to your account plus you’ll also win your lay stake amount back.
If you underlay a bet in match betting, you’d be placing a lower stake than normal on a lay bet on a betting exchange. If your back bet wins with a slightly larger stake than normal on matched betting, then you’ll be earning slightly more profit than you originally would with your typical staking plan.
Arbing is similar to matched betting, as you’re wagering funds on two different outcomes in the same event, which will guarantee you a return of funds, and hopefully some profit. It’s where the back odds are significantly higher than lay odds available at a betting exchange.
Consistent arb winning bets aren’t popular amongst bookmakers, and it could result in you losing your betting accounts if you’re doing it regularly. This might come as frustrating news to matched bettors, as arbing is legal.
You can start with however many funds you wish when it comes to matched betting as long as you meet the qualifying criteria involved in using any free bets that are offered by a bookmaker.
It’s important to gamble responsibly with funds that you can afford to lose though, otherwise, you should seek relevant support.
Various bookmakers have different ways in which you can keep track of matched bets, as they have live updates from the events you’ve wagered your funds on. This is the case for the majority of events that are covered on a betting site, and with live streaming also being accessible with some operators, you won’t have any trouble in keeping track of any bets you place.