Matched Betting Guide – Using Bookie Offers To The Max

Published: September 27, 2013
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Last Updated: January 8, 2024
matched betting

What is Matched Betting?

Matched betting is a way to make use of the free bets and promos bookies offer to make money on sports betting. I have to say when working out the process it’s quite involved but once I managed to get my head around it, I was able to make some cash using free bets promotions that all online bookmakers regular run to entice new and existing customers.

How Does Matched Betting Work?

The simple way it works is to use a welcome offer that a bookie has, for example, deposit £10 get a £30 bonus to unlock the £30 of bonus cash. In order to make the £10 you deposit risk-free, you have to lay the equivalent bet on a betting exchange like Betfair in order to make sure you don’t lose the £10.

So for example, Harry Kane to score first could be 4/1, I would then place this bet on a bookmaker like Coral, then I lay on the exchange Harry Kane to score first at very similar odds. So if Harry Kane scores first, I win £40 plus my stake back but I’ve lost £40 on the exchange laying Harry Kane to score first. The same goes if Harry Kane doesn’t score first, I lose with the bookmaker but cover my losses on the exchange.

Whatever the outcome, I don’t lose money but I unlock the welcome bonus on offer. I then repeat the process with the bonus money the bookmaker deposits in my account, until I eventually wager the money enough times to either withdraw my winnings or lose with the bookmaker but gain on the exchange.

Is Matched Betting No Risk?

It depends on how you want to define no risk. This type of betting whilst legal in the UK is not liked by the bookmakers and if they suspect you using matched betting as a way to profit from them, you can find that your betting account is closed or limited from taking advantage of free promotions.

Before you think this is some kind of quick way to make money online, then it’s worth remembering you are limited to one betting account per household, so repeatedly opening betting accounts with the same companies over and over again will see your account being closed or restricted for good.

That said you don’t have to pay tax from what you earn gambling, there are plenty of betting firms that you can open multiple accounts with and so long as you calculate the odds correctly, you are guaranteed to make money doing this.

Can you make money from betting?

I tried matched betting for a week and found that it was time-consuming and to get anywhere near the profits that the creators of matched betting blogs claim you make, anywhere from £300 to £1000 per month, you have to be consistently looking out for promotional bonuses and offers. I also found that some days I was too busy to place the number of bets I needed to place in order to hit the higher levels of income.

So yes whilst it’s possible to make some money from betting in this manner, I quickly got lost keeping track of everything and came to the conclusion that it’s more trouble than it’s worth. However, if you have some time on your hands and the necessary organisational skills then it can be a good way to make some extra pocket money, however, I wouldn’t be giving up my day job in order to try and use this method to become some sort of professional gambler.