What is the best betting strategy to use to avoid losing money in the betting industry? A Free Bet? Using a sports betting site’s welcome offer by opening a betting account?
Those with good knowledge of sports or betting know that while promotions and free bets are a nice benefit, matched betting strategies are the best way to try and guarantee a profit.
However, matched betting is very different to your standard type of bet, whether that’s a free bet, a bonus bet or indeed any other type of wager you can make with a standard betting account.
In this article, we are going to give you a step-by-step guide to how to make money from matched betting both in terms of using a betting exchange, and with special focus on how you can take advantage of free bets from the assortment of betting site free bets and bonuses available and turn them into a cash profit.
How does Matched Betting work?
Match Betting differs from traditional sports betting in several ways.
Sign up with a traditional bookmaker for some online betting and you will likely receive a welcome bonus, this could be a free bet offer, or another benefit the bookmaker offers. Some may require a qualifying bet to be made to activate the welcome bonus.
Then when you start with a betting site, you’ll look for the best odds available on markets you want to back. After you have placed your back bet, if your selection wins, you’ll receive a return based on your stake and the betting odds stated. The return, minus your stake, is your betting profit from that bet.
If your selection loses, then you do not receive a return. The only way you can make a profit, even with the best betting sites, is for most of your betting activity to produce winning returns.
But there is another option which is available by using a different type of betting site. One that allows you to place a lay bet, as well as a back bet. This is called a betting exchange.
And you can use a betting exchange to help you turn any betting site welcome offer including free bets and bonuses into a profit.
What is a Betting Exchange?
The key difference between a traditional bookmaker and a betting exchange, is that on an exchange you can not only place a back bet on a selection to win, but you can also place a lay bet which essentially is a bet on something not to happen.
For example, if you place a back bet on Liverpool to win, then you are backing the Reds to win the game in question.
However, if you place a lay bet against Liverpool to win, you are backing Liverpool not to win, which means that if they were to draw or lose, then your Lay bet would win.
When customers first started to use a betting exchange, it quickly became apparent that the ability to back bets and lay bets to cover all outcomes in an event essentially meant that they could change their betting strategy and essentially act as a bookmaker or betting site.
That was, provided they had the funds available to cover the different outcomes in that sporting event.
The upshot of being able to cover all outcomes in an event on a betting exchange meant that they could eliminate all risk and make a profit regardless of the outcome of the event. Automated software would help them select the best betting odds to offer for an event, while still guaranteeing an overall profit.
How do Betting Exchanges work?
Betting Exchanges work by bringing together a customer that wants to back a certain option in an event, with another punter who will take that bet and lay against the other outcomes too.
It is not the betting site that accepts the bet; it is one customer being matched with another who will accept the bet. Hence, the term, matched betting.
The exchange simply facilitates the bet to be made and allows customers laying bets to ensure that the odds offered can be covered by their financial reserves. This is often completed by the site’s own matched betting calculator.
By ensuring your potential payouts from back bets will be covered by the income you’ll receive from losing back bets and lay bets, offers the customer a chance of a small betting profit whatever the outcome.
Customers who accept back and lay bets on a bigger scale can receive a large potential profit, especially if the outcome is favourable to the customer who covered the lay bets.
Similarly, punters that like to back bets will often find the best odds available on markets on a betting exchange, meaning they will get more money for a win than with a traditional sportsbook.
Matched Betting Pros & Cons
One of the aims of our complete guide to matched betting is to examine why this form of betting is a wise betting strategy to use, even when compared to using free bets, qualifying bets for offers, free bet promotions or similar.
The main advantages of matched betting compared to free bet offers and other promotions (even those on the best betting sites) are as follows:
Matched Betting Advantages
- Matched betting can be used to guarantee yourself a profit on an event.
- Match betting takes as little time to sort out, once you have got used to your chosen betting exchange, as a standard bet.
- Matched betting is legal, provided you use one of the licenced and regulated providers in the UK and Ireland.
- Traditional sports bettors will find the best matched betting offers on the most popular betting exchanges, offering them great value.
- Matched betting can be used on a wide variety of sports, fixtures, and betting markets.
- You can use matched betting with many bookmakers free bet promotions to ensure that you gain a profit from your free bet. By using your free bet, and backing against it with a betting exchange. (It is advisable to check the free bet terms and conditions with the bookmaker before trying this though).
Matched Betting Disadvantages
- You will need a sizeable starting fund to set up your matched betting account if you want to Lay bets as well as Back bets.
- You won’t find too many betting exchange customers offering free bets, or similar promotions, compared to standard betting sites.
- Most exchanges charge customers a small fee for operating on their exchange. This is usually based on a percentage of their transactions each month.
- Some bookmakers have introduced some lengthy wagering requirements which means turning your free bet into profit using a betting exchange can be tricky.
How to use Matched Betting to turn your Free Bet bonus into profit
In this part of the matched betting guide, we are going to specifically look at how you can use a number of available free bet bonuses and welcome offers from betting sites and use them to ensure you get a profit.
For this you’ll need to use a betting exchange. And simply use your Free Bet as per the terms and conditions of the site. Then head to the exchange and lay against your bet.
Do this successfully and your bet will either win, in which case your lay bets lose, but you generate a return from your free bet. Or your free bet loses, and you generate a return from your lay bets!
Best of all, you can repeat this process across many different free bet offers, ensuring you can. Make a profit from a bookmaker’s free bet.
What are the best Matched Betting sites available for new matched bettors?
What is the best betting exchange for customers wanting to start matched betting in the UK? There are a small number of options available compared to standard betting sites but amongst the best are:
- Betfair Exchange
- Betdaq
- Smarkets
- Matchbook
- 1xBet
With Betfair being by far the most popular exchange available in the UK. Read our Betfair review for more details.
It should be noted that Matched Betting is not infallible. Human error can lead to losses even on the best of betting exchanges.
Additionally, customers will need to have a good understanding of the difference between backing and laying bets, what the odds mean, what the risks are and what the different terminology used for this kind of betting means.
You should never indulge in matched betting unless you are clear on what the financial implications are if your Back bet wins, or your Lay bet wins.
However, for those willing to learn the nuances of matched betting, or who want to ensure they get a profit from a bookmaker free bet offer, then it is a simple and effective way to enhance your online betting experience and even beat the bookies!
