What is Matched Betting?

Matched Betting, also known as double betting, is taking advantage of Free Bets offered by bookmakers if gamblers make an initial bet. Mathematically, making a bet that is then matched by the bookie as a Free Bet offers the gambler a better chance of success. Free Bets never usually return the stake amount but on 50/50 chance sports such as Tennis, it guarantees a return of some sort.

How does Matched Betting Work?

You don’t need to be an expert to make Matched Betting work for you; instead you simply need to know the difference between a Back Bet and a Lay Bet.

Back Bet: A simple bet made backing an outcome where you receive a return if you win and lose your stake if you don’t. Back Bets are fixed on one outcome so you can back a team to win a game but will lose your stake if the team draws or loses.

Lay Bet: A more complicated bet where the gambler generally backs a team not to win. The gambler will collect his winnings if the team draws or loses as strictly speaking they have failed to win. Lay Betting can only be done on a betting exchange, also known as gambler versus gambler, but it reduces the gambling risk significantly. Laying a Bet is usually where a gambler will place a fixed bet with a bookmaker and then bet against themselves at an exchange to guarantee success either way.

This is where Matched Betting comes in as Laying a Bet means you will lose at least one stake value, Matched Betting makes use of Free Bets to prevent this happening. Essentially, if you place a bet that Qualifies for a Free Bet you can then use that Free Bet to Lay a Bet on the opposite outcome.

One way or another, the gambler wins and the bookies can’t do anything about it.

How much will I Make from Matched Betting?

Naturally, there’s a catch to a system that beats the bookies. You will lose money on your Qualifying Bet if the Laid Bet comes in as you will lose your stake but if your Qualifying Bet comes in you retain all of the profits without Laying a Cash Bet. The Betting Exchange will also take 5% of your winnings should you be successful as a commission fee, even Free Bets are taxed in this way.

What are the Risks of Matched Betting?

Obviously, Matched Betting appears to be completely risk free and a guaranteed way to make money but such is life it most certainly is not. You may be protecting your Qualifying Bet by Laying a Free Bet as an insurance policy but you must be careful.

Failing to read the bet or odds correctly can lead to you losing both bets or not profiting at all, for example: If your Qualifying Bet is Manchester United to win at 2/1 you could then go to the Betting Exchange and Lay a Bet on Manchester United to Lose at 6/1. Sounds like a win win situation but if the game ends in a draw you win nothing; you must read the odds carefully.

Equally, if you place a Qualifying Bet on a Saturday afternoon it is entirely possible your Free Bet won’t become available until Sunday morning rendering the system useless. Get to know the bookmakers and their processes before you attempt Matched Betting.

Matched Betting: Step by Step

This guide will explain how to place a Matched Bet of £30 and profit from the Free Bet offered from the Qualifying Bet. Pay attention carefully as it is crucial you do not miss a step or proceed out of sequence:

Sign Up to Betfair
Betfair are the online kings of the Betting Exchange. You will need to sign up to Betfair first to ensure you have access to the Betting Exchange to Lay Bets that remove the risk from your initial bets. Fan v Fan Betting is available via Betfair with likeminded individuals looking to profit. Betfair offer £30 worth of Free Bets when you register so access the site via the link below and follow the registration.
Sign Up to Paddy Power
As your main bookmaker, Paddy Power will be where you place your Initial Bets. You would choose an outcome and use Betfair to Lay your Bet to remove the risk. Paddy Power offer the best deal for new customers with a £10 deposit netting you up to £30 in Free Bets
Use Decimal Odds
Why use Decimal Odds we hear you cry? Betfair use decimal odds and you will want to keep everything in the same format to make it easier on your brain. There is a selection option in the sidebar on the site so make sure you change it!
Place your Qualifying Bet
Before you put any money on anything, you need to check the odds between Betfair and Paddy Power. The odds must be similar between Paddy Power’s normal odds and Betfair’s Exchange odds (Red boxes, or top left “Exchange” button). In this example, Paddy Power state we must choose odds greater or equal to 1.5. Always choose low odds to begin with and aim for between 1.5 and 4.0 to minimise loss/risk.
Claim your Free Bet
We take the example of Everton vs West Brom backing Everton with Paddy Power at odds of 1.61. We will place a £10 on these odds with Paddy Power and Lay the Bet on Betfair with £6.23 at odds of 1.6.

Everton win the game 2-1 and we claim £16.16 through Paddy Power. Aside from this, we lost the £6.23 on Betfair meaning the difference between the two accounts is £9.93, a loss of 7p.
As the bet placed on Paddy Power was a Qualifying Bet, £30 in Free Bets will be added to our account totalling £46.16. Our Betfair account now shows £3.77 as we lost £6.23 of our initial £10 deposit but we planned for this loss thanks to the Free Bet we received from Paddy Power. All we have to do is top up the Betfair account for the next bet and we can begin again.

What Next?

Next, we repeat the process but instead of using cash on Paddy Power, we use the Free Bet always being careful of the odds we choose to ensure we can Lay a Bet on Betfair to remove the risk. Now you can look to odds over 3.0 to maximise profits as you are only using your own money on one website instead of two.

Example

Now that we have a Free Bet to use, we look to Ivory Coast vs Algeria. The odds are 3.0 and above and there is a minimal 0.1 difference between the odds on Paddy Power and Betfair. Backing Algeria to win on Paddy Power at 5.0 we Lay the Bet on Betfair at 4.9.
The Betfair balance is currently at £3.77 so a £94 deposit is needed to cover the liability (£97.77).

No matter what happens, win lose or draw in the game, we stand to reap £23.51 in profit. A healthy profit and proof the system works if you follow the steps carefully.

Profit

Ivory Coast v Algeria ends 2-2. This roughly translated means we lost our £30 Free Bet on Paddy Power as we backed Algeria to win. As a result, the Matched Bet we placed on Betfair nets us £24.74 but we still lose 5% in commission so it’s a profit of £23.51.

Now there is £16.16 in the Paddy Power account, the winnings from the Qualifying Bet, and £121.28 in the Betfair account and we withdraw both to net the £23.44 profit.

In no time at all we have profited £23.44 and following this guide over a few weeks you’ll be raking profit in left right and centre.

As always, bet responsibly. Every system has its risks and Matched Betting is a system with risks you must be aware of. Do not attempt Matched Betting without this guide until you are fully confident you understand the system. Bet responsibly and carefully and you should end up winning.