Matched Betting With Numbers
Matched Betting With Numbers
We’ve already given you the basics of matched betting, so let’s look at it in a bit more detail now. A lot of the information in this post could seem a bit daunting at first…But don’t let this put you off! You won’t need to worry about any of the maths involved, as our calculators do all that for you.
How Matched Betting Works
Matched betting requires us to place 2 bets every time we want to complete an offer. We have the qualifying (back) bet and the lay bet. Let’s take a simple sign up offer as an example: Bet £10 to get a £30 Free Bet.
QUALIFYING BET OR BACK BET:
This is the first bet we have to place at the bookmaker. In our example, this is our £10 bet. We need to place this bet in order to unlock the £30 free bet. Under normal circumstances we would be risking that £10, but with matched betting we’re going to place another bet (the lay bet) to make sure that we don’t lose money, no matter what happen the outcome of the bet is.
For this example we’re going to pretend we’ve placed a £10 bet on Manchester United to beat Chelsea.
LAY BET
This is the second bet we need to place and it’s what cancels out our qualifying bet. In a simplified example, a £10 back bet would be cancelled out by a £10 lay bet.
As we have placed a back bet on Manchester United to beat Chelsea, we now need to place our lay bet against Manchester United beating Chelsea. This means that we’ll have covered all outcomes. If Manchester United win, our back bet wins. However, if they don’t win, then our lay bet wins. A draw would mean our lay bet won, as a draw isn’t a win for Manchester United. So no matter what happens, we win one bet and lose the other. We break even, but we’ve also unlocked our £30 free bet.
Let’s look at this again with some real life odds to give you a real idea of how this works.
Using the OddsMatcher you can find on any of our guides pages, we’ve chosen a bet of Leicester vs Southampton. The selection is a draw.
We can see the back odds in blue and the lay odds in pink.
The first thing we need to do is place our back bet at the bookmaker. So we log in to the bookmaker (which is Betfred in this example) deposit £10 and place a £10 bet on the Leicester vs Southampton game being a draw at odds of 3.6
That’s the easy part out of the way. Now, we need to do a quick calculation on our matched betting calculator to work out the lay bet.
So, as we can see, the back odds and the lay odds are slightly different, which means our lay bet won’t be exactly £10. Plus, we need to take into account that Betfair charges commission of 5% on winning bets. But don’t worry about working all of that out – the calculator does all this for you. Simply enter the odds and your stake.
As you can see on the calculator, we have entered our £10 stake and then the back odds and lay odds, as well as 5% for Betfair’s lay commission.
The calculator tells us we need to place a lay bet on our selection of £9.86. It also tells us that our liability is £26.82. Liability is the amount of money we need in our Betfair account in order to place this lay bet.
Our overall position once this match is complete will either be -0.62p or -0.63p. This small loss is expected but nothing to worry about as we make a much larger profit with the free bet. This is known as the qualifying loss. It’s usually a few pence loss but can sometimes be a few pence profit, depending on the odds.
So we can now head over to the exchange and find our bet. Log in to Betfair and make sure you have enough money to cover the lay bet.
When you find your bet, you’ll see all the betting options as below. We need to click on the pink box in the draw row. We can see the odds of 3.7 (If at this point you see the odds have changed, then simply go back to the calculator and enter the new lay odds to get your new lay stake.)
Once we click that it will be added to our betslip. We enter the stake of £9.86 as advised by the calculator (you will see the liability also matches what it said on the calculator) and click place bet.
We have now placed both our bets and can sit back and wait for this match to finish. At the end of it, no matter what happens, we will win one bet and lose the other. Our money will either go into the bookie or the exchange and in total we will be about 62p down.
Now that is complete, the bookmaker will award us our £30 free bet. This is where we make our profit.
THE FREE BET
Now that we have our free bet, we need to repeat the exact same scenario as above, but this time we’ll be using free money instead. We will still have to use our own money to place the lay bet, but no matter the outcome, we will be in profit.
Using the OddsMatcher on the guide page again we can find a good bet to use our free bet with.
Tottenham v Inter looks good. The selection is Inter.
So we go back to Betfred and place a £30 back bet on Inter to beat Tottenham. Remembering to select the free bet on the bet slip, do not use your own money here.
Now we need to use the calculator again. This time though, we’re going to change the mode on the calculator from ‘Normal’ to ‘Free Bet (SNR). This lets the calculator know we’re using a free bet and adjusts the maths it uses to work out the lay bet accordingly.
Again, we’ve entered our stake (£30) and the odds – remembering to check that commission is 5% and that the Bet Type is now FREE BET (SNR).
The calculator tells us to place a lay bet of £23.76. So again, we head to Betfair and find our selection.
This time, as we’ve backed Inter to win, we need to go to the pink lay box on the Inter row. We can see our odds here are still 5.1
Press 5.1 to add the bet to the betslip, then enter the stake as advised by the calculator. Again the liability matches what the calculator said it would. The liability is a lot higher for this bet as we’re using higher odds and a higher stake. Make sure you have enough in your Betfair account to cover the bet.
Once you’ve placed that bet, we’re done. You have just made easy money from the bookies. No matter the result of the Inter vs Tottenham game we have locked in a profit of £22.58 if Inter win or £22.57 if Inter fail to win. After we deduct or qualifying loss of 67p that leaves us just under £22 in profit.
Conclusion
After reading all of that you might be thinking the process is very long winded to make £22. However, all of this can be done in a few minutes.
Plus, as you can see, you don’t really need to worry about the numbers involved with odds and stakes, as the calculator and guides tell you exactly what you need to bet. All you have to do is choose what you’re going to bet on using the inbuilt odds matching software found on every guide page.
You can now repeat this process over and over again with every bookmaker you can find. We advise following our guides, as the amounts and odds required vary from offer to offer, but the main process is the same. In a few minutes you can use this process to lock in profits over and over again![/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”Sign up now! It’s Free!” add_button=”right” btn_title=”Create Free Account Now” btn_color=”warning” btn_i_align=”right” btn_i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-arrow-circle-right” btn_add_icon=”true” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.matchedbetting.co.uk%2Fregister|||”]Now that you have read through these first 5 guides you are ready to start making some money. By signing up for a free account you can start working your way through all the offers and mark them complete as you go. It’s really easy so why not get going today and start earning some free money![/vc_cta][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- Published in Getting Started
A beginner’s guide to lay betting
A beginner’s guide to lay betting
A ‘lay bet’ is the opposite to a ‘back bet’. When you back something, you think it will win but a lay bet is where you’re betting on something not to win. Back bets are placed at the bookmakers and lay bets are placed at the betting exchange.
Lay betting allows you to take on the role of a bookmaker in that you’re taking the bet that someone else is making. But you don’t actually need to become a bookmaker…
At a betting exchange, such as Betfair or Smarkets, you can find lots of available odds on all sorts of things not to win. In football, a ‘no win’ covers both a loss and a draw.
Another difference between back and lay betting is ‘liability’. Liability is the amount of money you could lose when placing a lay bet. When you back something to win, the most you could lose is your initial stake. However, with a lay bet, you could actually lose more than you stake. (This isn’t the case with matched betting).
For example, if you placed to lay bet 2/1 shot for £20, if it loses then you win £20. But if it wins, then you lose £40 (2 x £20).
How to place a lay bet
Now you know what a lay bet is, it’s time to learn how to place one. Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to lay betting:
1. Go to an online betting exchange and find your chosen market
Your market is the thing you’re betting on, such as ‘final score’ or a particular horse in a race. Whichever betting exchange you use, the onscreen layout will be pretty uniform. You’ll see two different coloured boxes sitting side-by-side. The blue boxes show the back odds so you can ignore those ones. It’s the pink ones we’re interested in.
2 Click on the lay box for your chosen selection
In this example, we’re going to show you how to place a lay bet on Liverpool. Remember: this means that we’re betting on Liverpool not to win.
Once you’ve clicked the pink box, your selection will show on your bet slip which is on the right hand side of the screen.
3 Enter your stake
Once you’ve added the selection to your bet slip, you can add the stake. This differs from a back bet, because you’re inputting an amount you want to make available for other punters to bet on. For example, if you imagine you’re the bookmaker, your stake is the amount that the customer is going to hand you to place the bet.
The number circled below is your liability and the potential payout if the person taking your bet wins.
The formula to calculate this liability yourself is:
Stake x (Lay odds – 1) = Liability
So for the below example, that is:
1.44 – 1 = 0.44
£100 (stake) x 0.44 = £44
4 Place your bet
So when you place a lay bet, instead of the money going to the bookmaker, it goes into the market. That way, it’s available for someone else’s bet to match. If someone already has cash in the system and at the same price, the exchange will match your bets immediately. But if they don’t, you’ll just need to wait for someone to take the price you’ve offered.
If your lay bet wins, you’ll receive the £100, minus a commission of 5%. This is how betting exchange’s make their money.
However, if your lay bet loses, you’ll be down your £44 liability.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
- Published in Getting Started
Betting Exchanges
Betting Exchanges
In this tutorial you’re going to learn about betting exchanges and why they’re important in matched betting. In a nutshell, betting exchanges are the sites used to balance out bets you’ve made at a bookie, so you don’t lose any real money. That might not make much sense right now, but it will soon. Please read on…
The two betting exchanges we recommend you signing up to are Betfair and Smarkets.
In this guide we’ll:
- Show you how to get set up
- Take you around the interface
- Explain how betting exchanges work
So to recap what you’ve learned about matched betting so far: Every matched bet consists of two parts: a BACK bet and a LAY bet.
The bookie is where you’ll put your back bet on and the betting exchange is where you’ll put your lay bet on. This is what makes a matched bet. And a matched bet is a bet that either incurs minimal loss as a qualifier or an actual profit from a free bet!
SIGNING UP TO THE EXCHANGES
Below we’ll show you how to open accounts at Betfair.
- Click on the register buttons below
- Follow the step by step instructions
CURRENT EXCHANGE SIGN UP OFFERS
When you sign up to the exchanges, you also get some welcome offers, which you can take advantage of.
Betfair Offer
0% COMMISSION UP TO £50
Click here to be taken to the Betfair Offer
The Betfair offer is super simple. If you win a bet on Betfair, you’ll be charged a small commission on your winnings. Don’t worry – we factor this in to our calculations for matched betting. This offer is a simple refund of commissions of your winnings that you incur in the first 30 days
Smarkets Offer
£50 BONUS AT SMARKETS
Click here to be taken to the Smarkets Offer.
We’ll show you how to use the £50 bonus from Smarkets in a different guide, but for now just sign up.
Betfair Intro
Step 1 – Clicking to the landing page
Once you’ve signed up, click this link and you should come to a page that looks like this:
Step 2 – Filling in the join up form
Click on the ‘join now’ button in the right corner of the screen. A pop up window that looks like this will appear:
Enter your details and fill out the form. In the promo code box, you should be able to see the offer code EXCCOF. If it’s not there, just type it in to get the £50 commission refund offer mentioned above.
Just like that, you’re done and you’ve signed up to one of the main tools you’ll be using for matched betting.
Step 3 – Showing you the deposit screen
At the moment this is just for your info, but here’s what the deposit screen looks like:
On Betfair when you deposit money, it goes into your ‘wallet’. If you win a bet, the money goes in here too. You can top up your wallet using your card or PayPal.
The lowest amount you can deposit is £5.
Note: There’s a small fee if you use credit card.
Step 4 – The Betfair Interface
So you’ve made it this far with me which is GREAT!
Now it’s time to show you the interface. The homepage can seem a bit busy, but the main things to look at right now are:
1. Search box: Super handy if you know exactly what you’re searching for in terms of a specific event. For example, if Manchester United were playing Chelsea you could simply type either of those teams into the search box to find all the events and markets you could bet on featuring just them.
2. Sports Menu: In terms of finding your way around Betfair, this is probably the easiest way but it can be quite a manual process. As with any menu, the top category drills down into further subcategories. For example: Football >> English Football >> Barclay’s Premier League
3. Sport Highlights: Easy-to-scroll access to upcoming sports highlights.
Step 5 – Choosing something to bet on
Click on one of the available football fixtures like the one circled below:
Step 6 – Placing Exchange Bets
The final part to show you is the exchange were you can place bets on Betfair.
This confusing-looking screen isn’t confusing at all once explained!
On the left hand side you can see the outcomes that are selectable – so Rosenborg, Celtic and The Draw. These are ‘things’ you can select to bet on.
The Blue Section (Back Bets)
Next, let’s focus on the blue section – Can you see that it’s called ‘Back’? That simply means if you were to place a bet on using any of the blue tiles you are placing a bet on that particular thing to happen.
The numbers in the blue tile are simple to understand too. The big numbers are the odds for that selection to happen and the small monetary value underneath is the amount of money currently available to bet on that market.
Let’s unpack that a bit shall we? Take Celtic as the example – you could BACK Celtic at odds of 1.65 and the maximum amount of money that is available to bet at these odds is £129. Simply put, you can bet any amount up to £129 for Celtic to win at these odds.
Obviously, you don’t have to bet the maximum amount of £129 so let’s say you bet on Celtic to win the game and you stake a £10 BACK bet on it. If Celtic do win, your return would be £16.50 (stake x decimal odds = return).
However, if Celtic do not win, you’d lose your £10 stake.
The Pink Section (Lay Bets)
On the right hand side, you’ll see that there is a section called Lay, which is the one in pink.
Very important: LAYING is when you’re predicting that something is NOT going to happen.
The numbers in the pink tile mean the same thing as the blue tile. The big numbers are the odds for that selection NOT to happen and the small monetary value underneath is the maximum you can lay on that selection.
It’s much easier to understand with numbers. Let’s take The Draw selection for this example. Notice that you can lay the draw at odds of 4.4. Let’s suppose you lay the draw for £10.
Remember with LAY betting you only win the bet if what you are laying on DOES NOT happen.
If either Celtic or Rosenborg win then that means a Draw didn’t happen, so you would win your bet. Meaning you would win £10!
Slightly more difficult to understand is what happens if you lose. In this example, if the game was a Draw, you would lose. But you wouldn’t just lose £10. Instead, the amount lost would be £34 (stake x (decimal odds-1) = liability).
Automatically you may think that seems like a lot to lose on one bet. Potentially you could lose £34 if your bet loses, but only win £10 if you win. But odds are based on the likelihood of something happening or not. The higher the odds, the less likely. the less likely it is to happen the more likely you are to win your lay bet.
Betfair Summary
So that’s Betfair in a nutshell. Hopefully this guide will have taken away the mystery of Betfair and what all those tiles mean. A simple way to think of it is the blue tiles you are betting on something to happen, and the pink tiles you are betting on something not to happen.
It’s important you understand these concepts as we will use these in matched betting to unlock real profit without risking your actual money!
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]- Published in Getting Started
What is matched betting? A beginner’s guide
Matched betting is a method of taking betting offers from bookmakers and using them to win real money. Using these free bets, you can cover all outcomes to ensure you earn some cash no matter what happens. It’s not about winning or losing, and you don’t even need a deep knowledge of sports to get start making money.
In this comprehensive beginner’s guide to matched betting, we’ll cover:
How does matched betting work?
In a nutshell, matched betting allows you to bet on all outcomes of an event, minimising the risk usually associated with gambling.
What is a betting exchange? How do they work?
A betting exchange is a marketplace that allows its customers to both back and lay against the outcome of an event — essentially, customers fulfill both roles needed for a wager to take place. The most popular betting exchanges are Betfair, Smarkets, and BETDAQ.
Unlike a bookmaker, a betting exchange relies on its customers to provide the funds to both back and lay outcomes against one another and does not use its own funds to do so.
Because a betting exchange will let you wager the chances of a bet not occurring, also known as “laying” the outcome, they’re ideal when you’re matching the odds of your own bet. By using these services, you can assume the role of the bookmaker to reduce risk when betting.
The process of signing up and depositing funds is virtually identical to a bookmaker, and the interface of exchange websites look very similar, too. The main difference is the extra set of odds offered when placing a bet: you will see back odds, like a bookmaker, but you will also see the lay odds, which you will be using to match your bet.
Betting exchanges usually charge a small commission on winning bets, unlike bookmakers, so you’ll need to factor these into calculations when you’re trying to match your back betting.
Matched betting: a step-by-step example
Now you have an idea of what matched betting and what a betting exchange is, we can take a look at an example of the matched betting process to get a clearer idea of how it works:
Placing the qualifying bet
- Bookmaker X has a betting offer to encourage you to sign up to their service. Accounts are usually limited to one per person, so you can only get this offer once. Offers vary depending on the bookmaker, but let’s say you get a typical offer when you open an account: “bet £10, get a £10 free bet”.
- You open an account with Bookmaker X and place the £10 bet that’s required to unlock the £10 free bet. This is called the “qualifying bet”. Let’s imagine you place £10 on England to win. This is also going to be your back bet.
- Now, you need to match the back bet you’ve placed with a lay bet at a betting exchange, such as Betfair. So, if you bet £10 on England to win at Bookmaker X, you then need to place a lay bet on England not to win that matches your potential profit at a betting exchange— you can use a matched betting calculator for this.
- The England game takes place and they either win, lose or draw. If they win, your back bet wins. If they lose or draw, your lay bet wins. With either outcome, you should “win” with one bet what you “lost” with the other. You will have also unlocked your £10 free bet.
Using your free bets to make money
- Your newly unlocked free bet is where your matched betting profits will come from, and you can now repeat the matched betting process. Let’s say Arsenal are playing Chelsea a few days later and you choose to bet on it.
- You can now place a back bet on Arsenal to win, using your £10 free bet. You’ll usually get the chance to select this after you’ve added Arsenal to your betting slip.
- At the betting exchange, find the same game and place your lay bet. You’ll use your own money for this but, again, anything you “lose” at the exchange will be covered by anything you “win” at the bookmaker, and vice versa. Remember to use a matched betting calculator to balance your odds correctly.
- As before, you’ll win either way, but the profit margin is higher because you didn’t stake your own money on the back bet. This is where you profit! You’ve turned your free bet into real money. With matched betting, you should aim to keep between 60%–80% of the free bet amount. That means that from a £10 free bet, you should make around £6 to £8 profit.
Do I need to have any previous betting experience?
Not at all! Anyone can do matched betting, even if they’ve never placed a bet before. Experienced betters may have a head-start when it comes to knowing their way around a bookmaker’s website, but that’s something you can pick up quickly. We even have a matched betting glossary you can use to look up any betting terminology you haven’t heard of.
Plus, if you don’t have any previous betting experience, you probably don’t have any bookmakers’ accounts. This is great because it means that you’ll be able to take advantage of more betting offers. Plus, you can use our matched betting calculator and matched betting spreadsheets to calculate your profit and keep track of all your bets.
What if I don’t know anything about sports?
Knowing little about sports is not a problem. You don’t even have to like sports to do matched betting! Because matched betting is about maths, rather than luck, you don’t need to know which team is better or who is the best player. Remember: with matched betting, it doesn’t matter what the outcome of the event is because you’ve covered every possibility. Instead, choices are made based on things like odds and exchange liquidity — things you’ll get to grips with in no time when you start matched betting!
How much money can you make from matched betting? Can you make an income?
There isn’t a set amount that you can expect to make from matched betting. It depends on a few things, like the number of offers you complete, the type of offers you choose, the number of hours you put in, and the size of the pot you can allocate to matched betting.
Based on an average earning from each of the
Matched betting offers the most chances to make money in the early days when you’re taking advantage of these offers, but the opportunities don’t end there. Most bookies will continue to make offers to existing customers to ensure they keep betting with them, so there should be more free bets to take advantage of further down the line. Typically, dedicating around 40 minutes per day will net you £500–700 a month once welcome offers have been used and you’re relying on existing customer offers.
So, if you’re looking to make a regular income from matched betting, you can see that there is plenty of scope to continue profiting well into the future. Because matched betting is sustainable, you can use it to supplement your income or even as your main method of making money. However, it is worth mentioning again that how much you earn is dependent on the hours you put in, so if you want to make a living, you’ll have to dedicate more time.
Is matched betting worth it?
We would say yes, it certainly is! If you have the small amount of patience required to master the matched betting method and a few hours per week to dedicate to making your bets, it’s a very effective way of making extra money. And, with our welcome offer guides, spreadsheets, calculator, and glossary, it’s never been easier to get to grips with matched betting.
Remember: You don’t need to pay tax on winnings from matched betting, making it a totally tax-free way of earning money, too.
Risk, legalities, and your finances
Is matched betting legal?
Matched betting is a completely legal way to use the free bets and offers given out by bookmakers. The minimum legal age for betting and gambling in the UK is 18, which means that you’ll need to be aged 18 or over in order to open the necessary accounts with bookmakers. You may also need to be a UK resident in order to sign up to an online bookmaker and place bets, so please check the terms and conditions of individual bookies prior to signing up. As long as you make sure to meet these legal requirements, matched betting is a legal activity.
What are the risks of matched betting? Is it safe?
When you compare matched betting with traditional betting or gambling, it can be considered risk-free in principle, because you’re not relying on luck. The matched betting technique of placing two bets on the same event means that all outcomes are covered, and you will make a profit no matter what happens.
However, as with most things, there is always the potential for human error, so the process is not 100% risk-free. Mistakes can be costly, so you need to make sure you’re happy with your bets before you place them. You should also watch out for odds that change between placing your back and lay bets, as this will mean your bet is no longer matched.
Also, always check the terms and conditions of each bookmaker offer before you place any bets, just to make sure that you are meeting all of their requirements. If you take your time and double check things at every step, you can minimise the potential risks when matched betting.
Is matched betting gambling?
Matched betting and gambling share some common ground. You’ll need to follow a number of the steps you would in gambling, like placing bets with a bookmaker. They also share a few legalities, namely the fact you must be 18 or older and that you don’t pay tax on your winnings. However, this is where the similarities end.
When you gamble, you bet on one outcome and hope it happens for you with your money on the line. When you matched bet, you cover all potential outcomes and it doesn’t matter which one occurs, so your funds are safe. This is the essential difference between matched betting and gambling, which makes them different prospects altogether.
What is no-risk matched betting?
When someone talks about “no-risk” matched betting, they’re referring to a type of matched bet where the qualifying bet is, essentially, free. Typically, this only happens when taking advantage of one of the more generous offers, like “money back if your bet loses” deals or qualifying for a free spin at an online casino. Bookmakers and the like don’t offer these often, so it isn’t always possible to practise no-risk matched betting. We list a few no-risk matched betting offers among our betting offers, so it’s worth taking a look.
Does matched betting affect your credit score?
No, matched betting will not affect your credit rating. Though you will need to open a number of accounts with bookmakers, Experian, one of the leading credit agencies, has gone on record saying that they do not include gaming accounts on their credit reference radar (Guardian).
When you open a new account with a bookie, they may undertake a “soft search” on your credit history for identification purposes. However, these are not full credit checks, so they will not show on your report and they will not impact your rating.
The only way that matched betting could have a knock-on effect to your credit score is the same as any other scenario where money changes hands — using a credit card or loan to access funds, then failing to pay it back. Take care not to overstretch your means and you will be okay.
Will matched betting affect mortgages or other finance applications?
Because lenders scrutinise bank statements when assessing mortgage, loan or other financial applications, it can be a good idea to open a second bank account to deposit all of your matched betting earnings into. Alternatively, you could use an e-wallet, such as Skrill or PayPal. Not all banks and building societies will question betting activity, but it’s better to be cautious.
If you’re applying for finance or a loan that requires proof of your earnings, like a mortgage, it’s important to remember that matched betting profit doesn’t count as an official form of income, so you can’t list it in your application.
How to start matched betting
To help you get started, we’ve put together a quick checklist of essentials:
- A starting float of your own money
- New accounts with bookmakers
- A separate bank account
- An internet-connected device
How much of your own money do you need to start matched betting?
To get started with matched betting, you will need a starting amount of your own money, known as a float, pot, or bankroll. There is not a set minimum that you must have, and it will probably depend on your circumstances and how much cash you can put in.
Having said that, we’ve found that you can begin earning a decent amount with a starting float of at least £50 to make a few qualifying bets. As a general rule of thumb, the more you can contribute to your float, the more offers you can take advantage of at once. This reduces the need to wait for money to transfer between your account, bookie, and bet exchange.
What if you already have accounts with bookmakers?
That’s ok! You can still make money from matched betting, even if you’ve previously opened an account with a bookmaker. All it means is that you can’t open another account, so you won’t be eligible for their new customer offer. However, here at MatchedBetting.co.uk, we have betting offers from a wide range of bookmakers, so there’s bound to be an alternative.
You can also use your existing accounts to complete offers that bookmakers send out to their existing customers, which means that there’s still matched betting money to be made once you’ve completed all of the new customer offers.
Is it worth opening a second bank account for matched betting?
When you start to get into matched betting, you’ll probably have a lot of transactions going into and out of your account, which can be difficult to follow if you use your regular bank account.
By opening a second account dedicated to your betting activity, you can monitor comings and goings more easily, as well as check your profit levels at a glance. Also, by moving bookie transactions, which can vary in wait times, to a second account, you don’t need to worry about essential funds being taken out of your main account when you need to pay bills or direct debits.
In addition, as we mentioned earlier, a second account can be a good idea for anyone worried about betting activity showing up on their statements ahead of a mortgage or loan application.
What technology do you need to start matched betting?
Matched betting is done online so, technically, you can use any device that can connect to the internet. Your setup could consist of you sitting on your phone in your living room or you could be looking at multiple screens in your home office, wherever and however you’re comfy.
There are a couple of bases you need to cover when matched betting, however: you need a steady, reliable internet connection and the ability to move between tabs and windows quickly. This is because odds can change very quickly, so you need to be able to keep up without your device or internet slowing you down to lock in that profit.
Another top tip that we’d share is that it may be worth setting up a dedicated email account for your betting activities. Much like keeping your main bank account clear of multiple betting transactions, you can keep your personal email inbox free of any spam, while also being notified of all the latest offers in one place.
Can you do matched betting outside the UK?
If you’re situated outside of the UK, it’s worth bearing in mind that the advice here at MatchedBetting.co.uk is tailored towards those matched betting in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Having said that, it doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the betting offers we recommend, just please be sure to check the terms and conditions for each bookmaker to be certain that you can bet with them or use their deals.
Even if a particular offer is not available in your country, it’s worth checking similar bookies or regional subsidiaries of UK bookmakers to see if they have similar deals. While we don’t list them here, there’s nothing stopping you from using these offers in your matched betting strategy if you can still make a lay bet with an exchange.
Should you be a UK resident who’s planning on doing some matched betting while on holiday or travelling abroad, you still need to check the bookmaker’s terms and conditions, as they may come into effect when you leave the country.
Where can you find matched betting welcome offers?
Using betting sign-up offers is one of the best ways to get into matched betting and start making a profit quickly. Nearly all bookmakers have these deals, so, provided you don’t already have an account with them, they should be accessible for placing those qualifying bets.
It’s really worth visiting our matched betting offers section, where we list the best welcome deals from some of the biggest UK bookmakers. Our picks include “bet X get X” offers, risk-free bet offers, and multi-bet offers, with step-by-step instructions on how to sign up and take advantage.
You can then use our matched betting calculator to work out what your profit will be, as well as our matched betting spreadsheets to track your progress.
Which bookies are best for matched betting? What about matched betting exchanges?
As a starting point, you can open accounts with most of the top UK bookmakers, such as Betfred, Skybet, William Hill, Coral, and Ladbrokes. They offer competitive odds and offers for new customers, which is ideal when you’re trying to make a profit early on. And, we have step-by-step guides for the biggest bookies in our matched betting offers section to make life easier.
Additionally, there are many other bookmakers out there that are worth looking up and creating an account with. The majority of legitimate UK bookies will have a welcome offer for new customers, and when you’ve got a wide range of accounts set up, you’ll be in a better position to take advantage of any subsequent deals they introduce.
While you’ll be placing plenty of back bets to qualify for offers, you’ll need to place lay bets with a betting exchange to match them. The most well-known exchange out there is Betfair, which offers a huge range of lay bet options and markets. However, there are others out there, like Smarkets, so it pays to do some research into those too.
Hopefully this matched betting guide has given you a good introduction to the art of matched betting and how to get started. Now, you can make use of our matched betting offers, calculator, and spreadsheets to begin earning some extra money, or even move onto some of our more advanced matched betting guides.
If you have any questions about this guide, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the team here at MatchedBetting.co.uk. You can also check our blog for up to date information.
- Published in Getting Started
Betfair Exchange
Welcome to the Betfair Exchange Guide
We need a Betfair exchange account in order to do any matched betting so if you haven’t already opened an account with them this is the first step you should take on your matched betting journey. Click the button below to sign up. Using the link below gets you 30 days of 0% commission which typically saves you up to £50 over the 30 day period.[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_btn title=”CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP TO BETFAIR” color=”warning” size=”lg” align=”center” i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-arrow-circle-o-right” add_icon=”true” custom_onclick=”true” link=”url:%2Fgo%2Fbetfair|||” el_id=”betfairbutton” el_class=”betfairbutton” custom_onclick_code=”ga(‘send’, { hitType: ‘event’, eventCategory: ‘betfair’, eventAction: ‘click’, eventLabel: ‘betfairclick’ });”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_single_image image=”2019″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”custom_link” link=”/go/betfair”][vc_column_text]
- As matched bettors we need to lay our bets off at a betting exchange like Betfair so we are going to be using our Betfair account a lot. We will need it for every offer we do. Betfair charge 5% commission on winning bets, you don’t need to worry about that though as we have already taken it into account in our guides. The calculator on site will automatically default to 5%, although you can change it if you live in a country that charges more than 5%.
- As new customers at Betfair we can enjoy commission free bets for 30 days or up to £500 in savings. Although we are getting 0% we should leave the calculator at 5% for our bets and treat the extra money we get refunded from Betfair as extra profit. They will refund you any commission every Wednesday.
- Now that you have opened your Betfair account you are ready to start your first offer and start making some money!
- Published in Getting Started