Matched betting is a fairly safe way of making money using bookmakers and betting exchanges by taking advantage of the many special offers, bonuses, and promotions that are available. The biggest profits are to be made as a new bettor by signing up with a bookmaker which will often give you a handsome bonus on your first deposit of money with them. They do this to encourage punters of course, but if you can resist temptation then you can just use the bonuses on offer for profit and then quit the bookie and move on to the next. There are a lot of online bookies and most give sign-up bonuses.
Assuming we all know what a back bet and a lay bet are then we can understand how we can use bookies free bets to profit without risk. You need to sign up with bookies sequentially to take advantage of their bonus offers for new customers and you need an exchange betting account to allow you to trade them off.
With matched betting you are simply removing the risk of a back bet at the bookies with a similar lay bet at the exchange; i.e. you are matching your bet. The clever bit is that you have not lost anything but you then receive a free bet as per the bonus offer! When you do this with your first bet it is called your qualifying bet, qualifying you for a promotional free bet.
You then use the free bet in a similar way by laying it off at the exchange to make a profit.
If you are going to do this regularly then you will need an online matched betting calculator which you can get for free. Some bonuses offered by bookies however require you to go through a series of bets and then it can become a little complicated. Fortunately there are online services like Oddsmonkey and Profit Accumulator, amongst others, that give a lot of helpful information and calculators to facilitate all of this.
You will though, eventually run out of new sign-up offers of course but there also quite a few “reload” offers with special promotions for existing customers by bookies and these can be exploited in a similar manner.
Your qualifying bet will cost you a small amount because an exchange will take a small commission when you place your lay bets. This most often 5% but could be as little as 2% at some exchanges. Remember, however, that at present anyhow, profits from betting are generally free from tax!
The only risk with matched betting is from making mistakes so it is necessary to have a clear head and not take on too many bets at the same time in my opinion.
Also you need patience because sometimes it can take a day or two before your free bet is actually released and visible there in your account. Some bookies are a bit slow. Once you get the hang of this system then matched betting is, however, a useful source of side income, the actual amount dependent of course on the size of your stakes and the size of stakes allowed.
You can easily find a list of bookmakers with sign-up bonuses on offer on the internet.
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