Below is a simplified matched betting example. Don’t worry, the detail will be filled in later in an example bet, I just want you to see it working!
Bookmaker offer: Bet £40, Get £40 Free
Here we must ‘risk’ £40 in order to get our reward of a £40 free bet. Of course with matched betting there is no risk.
So how is this done?
Take a coin toss as my favourite way of explaining the process.
We refer to the ‘Bet £40’ as the Qualifier Bet. The bet we must place to qualify for our free bet.
Coin Toss Example
Qualifier Bet
Bet 1 (with the bookmaker): Heads - £40
Bet 2 (with a separate bookmaker/betting exchange): Tails - £40
Whatever the outcome our stake is returned and we are neither in pocket, or out of pocket. We have gained nothing from our qualifier bet, but most importantly, we have lost nothing. We now have a £40 free bet to use and haven’t risked a penny! We have effectively tricked the bookmaker into believing we have met their criteria and the free bet gets credited.
The next part of the bet is the Free Bet. The bet we get credited after our qualifier requirements have been met. This is where the profit is generated!
Free Bet
Bet 1 (with the bookmaker): Heads - £40 Free Bet
Bet 2 (with a separate bookmaker/betting exchange): Tails - £20 of our own money.
Outcomes:
Coin lands on Heads: £40 up from the free bet winnings, £20 down from our lost bet on tails leaving us £20 up overall
Coin lands on Tails: Our free bet lost, but it didn’t cost us anything so no loss there. Our £20 bet on tails won however leaving us £20 up overall.
As you can see, whatever the result, we profit £20 without risk! Now simply swap the coin toss example for a sporting example a bookmaker will accept bets on and you now have a basic understanding of matched betting!
Seen enough or want to learn more?
