We'll look of course at how this is possible later but...
As a general rule of thumb, through matched betting you can expect to profit around 75%+ of the amount of each free bet you receive from a bookmaker.
To put this in to context:
You will make around £7.50 from each £10 free bet, £18.75 from each £25 free bet and £37.50 from each £50 free bet.
Sure this isn’t the hundreds of pounds you MIGHT win if you back that crazy odds horse and it somehow manages to romp home…
But, let's be realistic here - how often do these bets win?
Instead - with matched betting - we are talking about GUARANTEED, locked-in, consistent wins.
You will actually know how much you’ve ‘won’ before an event has even started!
The vast number of bookmakers online offering sign up bonuses to new customers and free bet reload bonuses to existing customers means that matched betting can be extremely lucrative.
So what's actually involved here?
Let's break the mechanics down a little further:
Matched betting is the process of backing a selection at a bookmaker whilst laying that same selection off at a betting exchange in order to cover all possibilities and eliminate the risk.
Read that sentence over again a couple more times...
... But don't panic just yet if you're still a little confused!
Next up we're going to look at a hypothetical set of bets to anchor our understanding.
How Matched Betting Works
When you place a bet at a bookmaker you are betting at a stake of your choosing on a specific outcome occurring in an event.
Let’s look at a football game by way of example:
BET £10 on Man United to beat Liverpool at odds of 2/1 (3.0).
If this bet were to win you would receive £30 back (£20 winnings + £10 stake).
If this bet lost you would lose £10.
Now let’s flip this bet round and imagine it from the point of view of the bookmaker.
If this bet were to lose the bookmaker would make £10.
If this bet were to win then the bookmaker would lose £20.
This is what is known as LAYING A BET and is the principle idea behind a betting exchange.
If we are able to BET on a selection whilst also placing a LAY on the same selection we create a scenario whereby our wagers cancel each other out.
See what I mean here... How our profit and losses balance each other out regardless of the outcome:
Man United WIN the match.
The bet wins £20.
The lay loses £20.
Total Profit: £20 – £20 = £0.
Man United DRAW the match.
The bet loses £10.
The lay wins £10.
Total Profit: £10 – £10 = £0.
Man United LOSE the match.
The bet loses £10.
The lay wins £10.
Total Profit: £10 – £10 = £0.
It’s clear to see that if we play the role of Punter AND Bookmaker we will struggle to make money.
Most importantly though – we won’t lose money either!
At face value I wouldn’t blame you for concluding that matched betting seems pretty useless...
Where it comes into its own however is through its ability to allow you to qualify for bookmaker promotions without risking your own money!