The matched betting strategy is a widely-used and straightforward technique that allows you to make a guaranteed profit. Sounds too good to be true, right?
However, by taking advantage of numerous bonus bets offered by sportsbooks, and following a relatively easy process, you’ll see that earning a profit is not only 100% fool-proof, but effortless too.
Matched betting, explained in more detail below, is an entirely legal and legitimate way to earn some extra cash.
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The Matched Betting Explained – How Does It Work?
In a nutshell, the matched betting strategy is a system of placing a “Back” Bet and a “Lay” Bet on both possible outcomes of a sporting event (Win and Lose) to cancel out the risk, and earn a profit.
This is done by taking advantage of the various free welcome bonuses or promotions offered by online sportsbooks. While the matched betting strategy can, in essence, be used at one sportsbook offering equal odds on a sporting event, it’s more commonly used by placing opposing bets at two different bookmakers.
You don’t need to have much knowledge about sports betting, or even about sports itself to use matched betting as explained here, successfully. Still, there are a few things you’ll need to understand first.
What is a Back Bet?
A Back Bet is a common type of bet used when you’re betting for a specific outcome to come true. With this bet, you’re essentially “backing” a team, a horse, or a player to win a game or race.
With a Back bet, you’re saying, “I bet that Team A wins.” If you place a Backing Bet and Team A indeed wins – you win the bet and receive your winnings.
If Team A loses or draws instead, then you lose your wager.
What is a Lay Bet?
A Lay bet, on the other hand, is precisely the opposite of a Back Bet, because you’re betting against the same outcome to come true. You’re saying, “I bet that Team A doesn’t win” or, in other words, “I bet that Team “B” wins.”
If the teams draw, or if Team “A” does in fact lose, then you win your Lay Bet, and you’ll receive your winnings.
As you can see, Back and Lay Bets are used to bet on both outcomes of an event occuring – Team A winning a match (“Back Bet”) and the same Team “A” losing the same game (“Lay Bet”).
This forms a vital part of the matched betting strategy because you’re cancelling out the risk – whatever the outcome.
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Before we get into the nitty-gritty of using bonus bets and promotions, we quickly need to cover another vital aspect of the matched betting strategy – looking at and comparing the odds.
Don’t worry, because you don’t have to know how the entire odds system works to use this strategy successfully. All you’ll need is a fundamental understanding of what odds are.
Equal or Similar Odds – Rule of Thumb
As mentioned earlier, while it’s entirely possible to stick with one sportsbook and place two bets on both ‘Win’ and ‘Lose’ outcomes of a game, you’re still somewhat limited as you’ll need to find a sporting event that offers more or less equal odds to make the matched betting strategy work.
For example, both Team A and Team B should have around 2.00 odds (or +100 American odds) on a game. Of course, there’s a little wiggle room, but not much. The more the odds vary, the more your payout will vary.
If the odds differ too much, the risk is reignited, and you could end up losing money.
That being said, if you do find a game with equal odds for both teams, this system can still work beautifully.
Sportsbooks offer varying odds, but this shouldn’t be too worrisome as you’ll find that sportsbooks in general offer very similar, competitive odds on the same event.
Try picking a match or game with odds that are very close together on both sportsbooks, because, as mentioned, a huge disparity in odds will negatively impact on your payout and increase the risk factor.
Betting Markets
A betting market is a term used for the different kinds of bets available on various sports offered by a sportsbook or betting site. For the matched betting strategy, it’s best to bet on games that have a lower amount of outcomes (like Win or Lose), and therefore, fewer variables which enables you to cover the risk factor by betting on each outcome.
That’s why the most popular sports used for matched betting strategy include Football, Tennis, Basketball, Baseball, Horse Racing and Hockey. If you’re going to be using this strategy a lot, it’s also better to bet on more popular sports as opposed to niche sports like handball or chess.
This is because sportsbooks generally offer you better value odds for popular sports than for niche sports. Usually, sportsbooks also tend to provide more promotions around major sporting events.
Signing Up and Placing Your Bets
Now that you know what type of bets you’ll be placing as part of the matched betting strategy, how do you actually place them? Well, firstly, you should have your chosen betting site accounts opened first. You can find a list of top-notch sportsbooks offering the best free welcome bonuses on our site.
Once you’ve opened your respective playing accounts, you’ll have to deposit an amount to wager, as with most sportsbooks, your bonus bet or welcome bonus is only accessible once you’ve deposited and wagered a certain amount.
That’s okay because if you use this Matched Betting System correctly, you’ll soon recover your initial wager, as well as some profit, a bit later on. Just remember that most, if not all, bookmakers have certain wagering requirements, and terms and conditions, so be sure to always read up on those first.
Your Qualifying Bet
Your first bet called a ‘qualifying bet’ is what’ll get you qualified to access your bonus bet. You won’t make any profit, but you won’t make a loss either, or if you do, it’ll be minimal.
This is the bet you’ll use to place your “Back” Bet and, depending on which you prefer, you can either use another sportsbook or betting site to place your second “Lay” Bet, or you can use the same sportsbook – provided you find a sporting event with equal odds on which you can bet both outcomes.
Okay, so you’ve placed your bets, and your Team A wins or loses. Remember, you wouldn’t have made a profit because the two bets have cancelled each other out. This is where the matched betting strategy starts paying off.
Reaping the Rewards
You’ve now unlocked your bonus bet or welcome bonus, which you can use to generate profits by repeating the betting process.
This time though, you aren’t using a single cent of your own money. This means that you’re still cancelling out the risk on a new bet (on both outcomes) without using a dime, and you get to keep your winnings.
Matched betting, as explained, removes all the risk and guarantees a profit, regardless of the sporting event you’ve wagered on.
What’s more, sportsbooks usually offer their customers new and exciting promotional offers on a fairly regular basis so you’ll have more ways to keep turning a profit.
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Step By Step Guide
Now that you know all you need to about using the matched betting strategy, let’s go through it step-by-step:
First, find one or more sportsbooks offering free welcome bonuses, and check the T’s and C’s to make sure it’s doable for you. These offers are in abundance. You can have a look right here to see what welcome bonus offers are currently available.
Now, open an account with two sportsbooks (or just one if you prefer). For example, let’s say one is offering a free $30 bet when depositing $10. This is your Qualifying Bet needed to access the bonus bet later on. So you deposit $10 of your own money.
Next, find a match with equal or similar odds for your Qualifying Bet. You can do this by checking what major games are coming up, or by using specialized tools or software, but this isn’t necessary. Place your first “Back” Bet, and a corresponding “Lay” Bet. By cancelling out the risk with these two bets, it’s virtually cost you nothing to unlock your bonus bet.
Now use your bonus bet to repeat Step 3. This time, you’ve cancelled out the risk without using any of your own money, and so you’ll make a profit. Effectively, you’re converting your bonus bets into cash. On average, you can expect around 80% of the bonus bet value as pure profit.
As you can see, matched betting is a piece of cake when done correctly. Always remember to check the T’s and C’s of sign up offers, and the odds when placing your bets, to avoid making mistakes with this strategy.
What Other Betting/Casino Guides & Strategies Are Available?
Matched betting strategy is just one of the countless strategies used by expert and beginner bettors and gamblers alike. Want to brush up on your skills and knowledge? Take a look at our Guides Section, where we have various strategies and guides for both sports betting and gambling, thoroughly explained, user-friendly, and easy to apply to your own game.
While matched betting strategy seems too good to be true, this isn’t the case at all. You can turn a decent profit, with very little or no risk using matched betting as explained here, correctly.
For it to work, remember that you’ll need to bet on a game or match with equal or similar odds, wagering on both outcomes to cancel out the risk factor.
After you’ve done this, your free welcome or sign-up bets will be unlocked, allowing you to earn around 80% profit when repeating the betting process.
You’ll then be able to accumulate and cash out your winnings – all 100% legally and legitimately.
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