Matched Betting in 2023: FREE Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners
This post will become your go-to guide if you want to make high profits with matched betting.
We will teach you the basics of making money from home using free bets and promo offers and dive into some real examples from online bettors making thousands of dollars.
We’ll cover promoting tips for best practices to beat the bookmakers, gambling techniques, how matched betting turns free bet offers into cash, and how to find the best-matched betting platforms in the UK for you.
We’ll also provide a matched betting guide to the whole process, so you’ll earn matched betting in no time.
Let’s dive in and start matched betting together!
What is Matched Betting?
Matched betting (back and lay bet matching, double betting, or arb betting) is a popular technique that allows people to make a tax-free betting profit and use matched betting to make some money online from bookmakers’ free bet promotions. As you may already know, matched betting is a low-risk form of gambling (usually sports betting).
By using free bets and other promotional offers, matched bettors guarantee profits by covering all outcomes of a match or an event.
As you’ll see, almost all online bookmakers offer matched betting to provoke new customers to place free bets with them.
Matched betting offers are for more than just new players. Bookmakers also provide free bets, bonuses, promotions, and incentives for existing customers. In the matched betting community, these offers are called reload offers. As so many bookmakers in the UK are competing for their customer’s attention, there are reloaded offers for us to profit daily.
The first matched betting exchange was made in 1999. Previously the matched betting technique was used by savvy betting traders only. Still, now it is a popular way to make money online, and it’s accessible to anyone who wants to make a profit.
How Does Matched Betting Work?
Matched betting can get pretty tricky, even for those well-versed in the gambling world. Fortunately, you can get started with matched betting without knowing all the details.
Here’s a quick guide to matched betting:
Have you ever asked yourself why there’re so many free bet offers? The answer is simple. Online bookmakers need more and more new customers, and they need to find a way to track their attention to signing up. For example, an excellent sign-up offer would be like that – “bet £10, get £10 in free bets”.
Usually, when you sign up for a bookmaker’s offer, you place a bet and get your profit from the free bets. But there’s no guarantee that any of your bets will win.
With Matched betting, you can place multiple bets and cover every outcome. You need to take advantage of those free bets. Placing two bets instead of one eliminates the risk associated with traditional betting. Every time you place a bet (for something), you put a lay bet (an opposing bet against the same outcome). This matched betting technique allows you to make a matched betting profit on free bets. Typically, you will end up with approximately 80% of the free bet amount, so a £30 free bet turns into around £24 profit.
Back and Lay Bets
Back Bet
Back betting means putting money on something to happen – a horse, a team, or a player to win, for instance. You are betting FOR something. If you bet 10 Euros on Liverpool, you win the number of your stake times the betting odds.
There’s one slight difference between a regular sports bet and a back bet. When you use back betting, your bet is not against the bookmakers. It’s against another user (who has bet on a different outcome of the game in question).
Lay Bet
When placing a lay bet, you are betting on something not happening.
A Lay bet is a bet where you don’t bet on a specific game outcome, but you bet AGAINST it. In this scenario, you will hold the position of a bookmaker. If you’re not happy with the odds offered, you can propose a bet to other users and decide at what odds you want to do so.
How to Start with Matched Betting – Step-by-Step Guide
In this section of our matched betting free guide, we’ll show you the key points you need to understand if you want to start with matched betting.
Step 1: Find a free bet offer and open an account
Before placing any bets, you’ll need to open a betting exchange account. Try finding the best welcome offer, which lets you maximize your profits. Even if it’s not the most significant welcome offer, it’s always best to start small on your way up when you’re a newly matched bettor.
Step 2: Switch to decimal odds
This is an essential process for comparing odds at a glance.
Even if you’ve never gambled before, you’re probably aware of the odds, such as evens or 100/1. But the trick to matched betting is using decimals instead, as it is far easier to make comparisons and means you can make more money.
Betting exchanges use decimal odds by default, but most bookmakers display traditional fractional odds. You can usually switch to decimal odds via the top of the page, the sidebar, or your account settings.
Step 3: Make your first bet
First, find a market where the odds are as close a match as possible on the exchange and the bookie. Remember that as the odds are closer together, you lose less money. Always look for the key terms of your welcome offer.
Your first bet here is known as a ‘qualifying bet.’ It would be easier to match your bets if you bet on popular events. Football games are usually the perfect option.
Step 4: Place the lay bet
Make sure you place your bets as close together as you can. Odds can and will change, sometimes quite drastically, over a short period. If you delay, you risk losing (or making) money. You can only place a lay bet at a betting exchange.
Step 5: Using your free bet
Now, it’s time to use your free bet. When you receive it, the bonus depends on the bookmaker. Using the free bet is almost the same way as the bet above. Note that your free bet is SNR – stake not returned.
Try to bet on popular markets, such as the English Premier League. Although you may find a great match on the Estonian reserve league and make slightly more money, your account will be flagged up quicker to the bookie. This increases the likelihood of your account being ‘gubbed’ and losing access to free bets.
Step 6: Withdraw your winnings
Can you lose money on matched betting?
If you make mistakes when placing your bets or don’t comply with the small print on offers, it will eat into any winnings, and you could genuinely lose money. If you’re doing it correctly, you will never lose any money, but you need to take your time and be careful to avoid any mistakes.
Matched betting is a way to earn an additional income online. It’s not the fastest way to make money, but it’s the safest. There is virtually no risk attached to matched betting, apart from the small risk of losing a bet, but even that is minimal.
How much money can you make from matched betting?
For each matched bet, you can expect to extract between 50& and 80% of the free bet as profit. You can make £500-600 per month doing matched betting for 4 hours per week. However, the profit you make depends on the time you spend doing it.
Is matched betting legal?
Matched betting is completely legal in the UK – it’s up to an online betting platform if they want to give free bets after all. Matched betting is a tax-free profit from bookmaker free bets.
The best matched betting services and UK sites
Finding the best-matched betting site in the UK will allow you to make free money from the comfort of your home.
We evaluate all the matched betting sites in the UK by opening accounts with all available gambling platforms, including the most recent best new UK betting sites. We then place bets and use the platform as any other consumer would.
The MrBetting.co crew comprises seasoned gamblers who regularly bet on sports such as football, tennis, and horse racing. As a result, we’re in an excellent position to review platforms based on our personal experiences. Here are some of the factors we use to evaluate each site.
Choosing an online matched betting platform to bet with depends on many factors. Today, we’re giving you the most important reasons to consider when gambling online: reputation, welcome offer, trustworthiness, payouts, and more.
- Security & Licensing
- Welcome Offers for New Customers
- Current Promotions
- Experience with Mobile Devices
- Variety of Betting Markets
- Competitive Odds
- Payment Methods and Payout Time
- Customer Service
- Sign-up Simplicity
- Reputation in the Industry
FAQ’s
Where to find a matched betting calculator?
Most betting platforms offer a free matched betting calculator players can use to work out odds and see how much they need to bet.
How much can I make from matched betting?
For each matched bet, you can extract between 50% and 80% of the free bet amount as profit. That’s because betting exchanges usually charge a commission on winnings.
How much money do you need to start matched betting?
It’s about how much you can set aside to get started. For some people, this can be as little as £100.
How do I place a bet on matched betting?
The procedure is the same as betting on a sporting event, and odds are always accepted. Finding matched betting markets is as simple as adding the wager to your bet slip, selecting the stake amount, and placing your matched bet.
Will matched betting affect my credit rating?
No, it won’t. Bookmakers tend to refrain from performing credit checks.
