Matched Betting Guide

This matched betting guide teaches you a betting strategy to earn free money betting online. Matched betting is a proven betting strategy that earns you free money from free bets. Matched betting can be done on any sports event and you can start off with as little as £50 of your own funds (assuming you start on the £10 free bets). Failure to understand the steps of matched betting could result in the loss of money so ensue you read through our matched betting guide at least twice and fully understand the process.

Matched betting does not take to fools lightly and if you’re a gambler looking to ‘get rich quick’ then matched betting may not be for you. This is because matched betting is a methodical process of extracting free cash from introductory bookmaker offers.

Join a Betting Exchange

Betfair and other betting exchanges are crucial to matched betting. Betting exchanges allow you to cancel out your risk betting at the bookmakers. A betting exchange provides you with a service so that you can set your own odds for a particular outcome of a sports event. A betting exchange allows you to act as both punter and bookmaker.

Recommended betting exchanges

The most popular betting exchange is Betfair and is highly recommended. Other betting exchanges include Betdaq, WBX and Betmate. We recommend that the first action you take is to sign up to Betfair or Betdaq to understand how to place a back or lay bet. You’ll then be in a great position to extract their free bet incentives.

To claim a £25 free bet from Betfair you must open an account with them and bet (or lay) at least £25 of your own money. Most matched bettors start off by depositing £50 to £200*. That’s a potential £25 earnt through matched betting already. All that you must do now is place a matched bet at a bookmaker to extract the £25 free cash.

* For the purposes of this guide it is assumed that a deposit of £200 has been made into Betfair.

Choose a Free Bet

Free bets often range from £10 to £50 but don’t be surprised to see free bets go up to £100 or even £250 in some instances. It is the responsibility of the Matched Bettor to extract all such incentives without falling for the lure of gambling.

To extract a free bet the Matched Bettor is required to make two separate bets – one after the other. The first bet is known as a qualifying bet and the second is known as a free bet. Typically, matched bettors will also come across two types of free bets – Stake Returned and Stake Not Returned.

The most popular free bets are Stake Returned Free Bets (SR) offered by the likes of Betdaq, Betfair, Coral, Eurobet, Jaxx and Sportingbet.

Having signed up to Betfair the next step is to grab the £25 free bet on offer with bookmaker Jaxx (for example). Similar to the sign up process with Betfair, click through to Jaxx then read the terms and conditions of the £25 free bet offer. Sign up and deposit the amount specified. Once you’ve placed your qualifying bet you will receive the £25 free bet from Jaxx.

Find the Best Odds

Bookmakers in the UK use fractional odds (e.g. 3/1). A punter who accepts odds of 3/1 means they are prepared to risk £1 to win £3 from the bookmaker. When you win with fractional odds you also receive back your stake. So, if you risked £1 at odds of 3/1, and then win, you will receive £3 plus your original £1 stake. That’s a total of £4 a bookmaker gives back to the winning punter (at fractional odds of 3/1).

On the other hand, betting exchanges prefer to use decimal odds as they are easier for most people to understand. Decimal odds differ because they include your original stake as part of your winnings. Fractional odds of 3/1 represent 4 in decimal odds. To calculate your winnings you just multiply your original stake (£1) by the decimal odds (4). That’s a total of £4 a bookmaker on the betting exchange gives back to the winning punter (at decimal odds of 4).

The advantage of decimal odds is that they are much easier to compare quickly. Which would you prefer to use… fractional odds of 3/1 and 11/10 or decimal odds of 4 and 2.1?

Example

Manchester United are to play Arsenal and you have decided in advance to find best odds to Matched Bet with on this sports event. The latest odds show that Jaxx are offering Manchester United to win at 2/1 (3 in decimal odds). For matched betting to work you must now find lay odds on Betfair which are less than or as close to 3 as possible. The final task is to scan for the latest Betfair odds for Manchester United to lose. You find lay odds of 9/5 (2.8 in decimal odds) being offered and you decide this is your best chance to matched bet.

Double check

Use our Matched Betting Calculator to check you’ve found the correct odds to match bet. Inputting the above example would result in a qualifying bet which results in a £0.91 profit – irrespective of the Manchester United/Arsenal result. Once satisfied you have found reasonable odds you are now ready to place a qualifying bet to extract the £25 free bet on offer at Jaxx.

Place a Qualifying Bet

Place a qualifying bet first in order to receive the free bet offer from the bookmaker. Qualifying bets are put in place by bookmakers and betting exchanges alike to ensure that you are a genuine punter. Qualifying bets are also seen as the first test of your patience and determination to extract the free bet incentives.

The qualifying bet

Using the Manchester United/Arsenal match odds, first place a £25 bet at Jaxx.com accepting odds of 2/1 on Manchester United to win using the £25 you deposited at the time of sign up. Second, place a £27.27 lay at Betfair accepting odds of 2.8 on Manchester United. This equates to risking £49.09 (£27.27 x 1.8) of the £200 you deposited at the time of signing up to Betfair. All figures in this paragraph are generated using our free Matched Betting Calculator.

Congratulations, that’s your qualifying bet done. You have just covered all possible outcomes of the Manchester United/Arsenal match!! Sit back and enjoy the game knowing that you’re going to win irrespective of the result.

The potential outcomes

If Manchester United win… you will win £75 (including your £25 stake returned) from Jaxx but lose (-) £49.09 at Betfair (End result equals £0.91 profit plus a £25 free bet from Jaxx and a £25 free bet from Betfair).

If Manchester United draw * or lose.. you will lose (-) £25 at Jaxx.com and win £27.27 at Betfair less (-) 5% commission at £1.36 (End result equals £0.91 profit plus a £25 free bet from Jaxx and a £25 free bet from Betfair).

* For the purposes of this guide it is assumed that the Manchester United/Arsenal match resulted in a draw. Your Jaxx balance now stands at £0 but you will have a £25 free bet credited to your account. Your Betfair balance now stands at £225.91 as you made £25.91 from your winning lay bet.

The outcome

The end result of this qualifying bet was a £0.91 profit and to receive two £25 free bets – one from Jaxx and one from Betfair. This was achieved knowing that a guaranteed profit would occur irrespective of the Manchester United/Arsenal result. The last steps are to match bet your free bets from Jaxx and Betfair and to extract your winnings into a bank acount of your choice.

Place your Free Bet

Free bets are the Matched Bettors reward for their patience and determination. Similar to qualifying bets, free bets must be completed by: adhering to the terms and conditions of the free bet, finding the best odds, placing a back bet then placing a lay bet. However, it is important to calculate the correct back and lay amounts before placing your free bet.

To achieve this you must update our free matched betting calculato to denote whether you are using a Stake Returned free bet or Stake Not Returned free bet. As Jaxx and Betfair are both Stake Returned you’ll enter £50 in the ‘Of which free :’ cell (if the free bets were Stake Not Returned you would need to enter the approriate amount in the ‘Stake forfeit :’ cell instead).

Example

Chelsea are to play Tottenham in the FA Cup and you have decided in advance to find best odds to match bet your Jaxx £25 free bet on this sports event. The latest odds show that Jaxx are offering Chelsea at 5/1 to win 1-0 (6 in decimal odds). For matched betting to work you must now find lay odds on Betfair which are less than or as close to 6 as possible (i.e. Chelsea NOT to win 1-0). You also find lay odds of 5/1 (6 in decimal odds) being offered and you decide this is your best chance to match bet your free bet.

The free bet

Using the Chelsea/Tottenham FA cup match odds, first place your £25 free bet at Jaxx accepting odds of 5/1 on Chelsea to win 1-0. Second, place a £25.21 lay at Betfair accepting odds of 6 on Chelsea to win 1-0. This equates to risking £126.05 (£23.95 x 5) from your Betfair account – £25 of which is free remember! All figures in this paragraph are generated using our free Matched Betting Calculator.

Congratulations, that’s your 2 x £25 free bets done. You have just covered all possible outcomes of the Chelsea/Tottenham FA cup match.

The potential outcomes

If Chelsea win 1-0… you will win £150 from Jaxx but lose (-) £101.05 at Betfair (End result equals £48.95 profit).

If Chelsea do not win 1-0 *… you will lose nothing at Jaxx and win £25.51 at Betfair (plus your £25 free cash) less (-) 5% commission at £1.26 (End result equals £48.95 profit).

The outcome

Having found the best odds on this sports event, placed your £25 free bet at Jaxx and placed an appropriate lay bet at Betfair the end result will always be the same – you will have covered every possible outcome of the sports event and will stand to make a profit.

* For the purposes of this guide it is assumed that the Chelsea/Tottenham match resulted in a 2-0 win to Chelsea. Your Jaxx balance now stands at £0. Your Betfair balance stands at £274.86 as you made £48.95 from your winning lay bet (having had a prior balance of £225.91).

Collect your winnings

Congratulations on achieving your first full matched bet! You are now ready to collect your deserved winnings.

You have earnt the following:

• £0.91 profit from a qualifying bet, plus
• £23.95 winnings from a £25 free bet at Jaxx, plus
• £25 winnings from a £25 free bet at Betfair.

That makes a total profit of £49.86. You made profits of £0.91 from the qualifying bet, £23.95 from the £25 free bet at Jaxx and £25 from the free bet at Betfair. You started off originally with a float of £25 in Jaxx and £200 in Betfair. Your Jaxx balance after placing the free bet is £0 but your Betfair balance is now £274.86.