Matched betting (also known as back or lay bet matching, arb betting, or double betting) is a betting technique used by individuals to profit from the free bets and incentives offered by bookmakers. It is generally considered a risk-free bet as it is based on the application of a mathematical equation rather than chance.
While with run of the mill betting your pockets can seem as leaky as a Frank Lampard back four, matched betting allows gamers to turn a reasonable profit without the hand wringing that comes with failed accumulator after failed accumulator. Put simply: it’s maths, not magic.
- The most popular betting exchange is Betfair which has over 4 million customers worldwide. You make your profit in matched betting by using your free bets. There are two steps when extracting a profit from a free bet. These are your ‘qualifying bet’ and your ‘free bet’.
- Matched betting is a way of exploiting the bookies’ free bet offers to make profit. You use two different betting sites to cover all possible outcomes of a bet, then you can extract profit from the free bet offers.
If you’re serious about matched betting, it’s worth familiarising yourself with the best services out there which can help you maximise your profits. Here, we’ll walk you through the top five matched betting facilities.
1. Profit Accumulator
Profits accumulator is perhaps the most well-known and reputable matched betting service out there. Whether you’re a young gunslinger or an old pro in this data-driven wild west, Profit Accumulator is an incredibly useful and tactile tool.
For beginners, it does a superb job of walking players through the entire process. With numbers flashing before your eyes like a space shuttle’s dashboard, the whole matched betting process can seem a little daunting. But Profit Accumulator explains the system step by step through detailed but easy to follow tutorials.
One of Profit Accumulator’s greatest strength is the numbers of offers they find, display, and perpetually update. It’s a system which allows players to squeeze every last drop of juice from the matched betting fruit.
They offer a free 7-day trial, which allows players to get to grips with the software. After that, Profit Accumulator charges members £19.99/month, or £150/year. But with a 30-day money-back promise and clear signposts telling you in no uncertain terms how much you are guaranteed to earn, the monthly rate is well worth it.
2. OddsMonkey
OddsMonkey was there at the genesis of matched betting, describing themselves as the “original automated odds matching software.” Similar copycat sites have begun to pop up at the same rate as brassy, virus-riddle adverts on a dodgy live stream. But in OddsMonkey, you’ve got a truly trustworthy old-timer with well over half a decade’s experience.
Their website is one of the easiest to navigate, with a clean and comprehensible interface. They offer a week-long free trial which guarantees up to £56 profit. Their premium service costs £19.99/month, or £150/year.
The OddsMonkey community is perhaps the most active out there. There’s always someone on hand to answer a query or discuss the nuances of matched betting with. One of the site’s best features is being able to link your Betfair and OddsMonkey accounts, which makes for a seamless matched betting experience without needing to jump from app to app.
3. Profit Maximiser
Profit Maximiser is one of the progenitors of matched betting. They’ve been around since 2013, practically the Stone Age when it comes to this area of gambling innovation. There’s certainly nothing neanderthal about their methods, however.
While other matched betting services tend to focus on sportsbook offers, Profit Maximiser sets its sights primarily on casinos – though it does offer conventional matched betting services on sports too. It’s fertile ground for growing your profits. With this strategy, your money might stack up a little slower, but Profit Maximiser treats matched betting as a marathon, not a sprint. It’s a philosophy which has seen its customers turn over crazy profits in due time.
Its oddsmatcher and offer calendar tools are top notch, while the tutorials grease the wheels for your money-making enterprise. It’s one of the more affordable match betting services too. They offer a £1, week-long trial, after that you have the option of paying £97 for a year’s access. The inexpensive price is reflected somewhat in the website’s interface, however, which is not the most aesthetically pleasing.
4. Profit Squad
There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there is such a thing as a loophole which gives you access to a veritable buffet of betting delights. As well as standard matched betting services, Profit Squad prides itself on being the first to identify such loopholes, giving its members the opportunity to take advantage of them before they’re shut down for good.
Another of Profit Squad’s best features is its live chat community. There, users can converse with one another, exchange matched betting advice and highlight special offers – essentially, it’s a place where the Profit Squad can share the wealth.
They suggest a £1 trial which provides access to their facilities for two weeks. Beyond that, membership costs 19.99/month, or £169.00/year. The annual subscription is the top-tier on offer, providing access to premium sections of the platform.
5. MatchedBets
It’s not the most creative of names for this sort of thing, but MatchedBets does exactly what it says on the tin – or should that be a treasure chest?
MatchedBets offers users a £1 two-week trial and promises they can make a good profit investing as little time as 30 minutes a day. Should you wish to continue, they charge £18/month or £99/year.
Their customer service is among the best on the market, with a devoted forum in which members can discuss all things matched betting alongside an email supports system and dedicated Discord community.
Their oddsmatcher tool is integrated into the software as opposed to being a separate application, which streamlines the whole process. A sophisticated matched betting calculator does the leg work for you, with easily intelligible training videos there to help out should you run into any problems.
Matched betting is a legal way of guaranteeing a profit on a bet. Yep, there are no games here. That statement is 100% accurate.
How Does Matched Betting Work?
The days of wandering into your local high street bookmaker are gone. It’s all about the online bookies now. There are tens, hundreds, hell, even thousands of bookies trying to make a go of it online. As a result they’re all coming up with offers to tempt punters in. Many of them come in the shape of free bets.
Most people see a bookie offering a freebie and scroll past, some take the free bet and do one of two things – win and run or lose and leave. Then there are matched bettors. Matched betting utilises free bets to guarantee a profit. This is achieved by placing a free bet on one outcome and then using a betting exchange to ‘lay’ against the said selection.
The betting exchange side of things can confuse people but the best way to explain it is that you’re acting as the bookie against other punters. This means your ‘lay’ bet comes with what is known as ‘liability’. This is you covering the potential winnings of the other persons bet. Let’s simplify all of this with an example.
A Real Life Example
Man City face Arsenal at the weekend. Coral, who have free bet opportunities to the value of £20, have the draw priced at 5.00 (matched betting is always calculated in decimal odds). The Betfair Exchange offers you the option to ‘lay’ the draw i.e. betting either team will win at odds of 5.40.
Your ‘back’ stake is decided for you as it is whatever is the value of the free bet so your bet in this instance looks as below:
£20 on Manchester City to draw with Arsenal at odds of 5.00 with Coral = £80 return (free bet stake is excluded).
You then ‘lay’ the draw stating the match will not be a draw at 5.40 on the Betfair Exchange. The stake associated to the bet will be £14.95 (because of how betting exchanges work, this is actually your potential winnings – more on these calculations later) giving you a liability or amount ‘at risk’ of £65.78. Don’t worry though because, come kick off, you’re laughing:
If the game ends in a draw, you lose your liability on Betfair (£65.78) but win £80 from Coral. A £14.22 profit.
If either team wins the game, you’ve lost nothing with Coral because your stake was a freebie but you’ve won your bet on the betting exchange. Your liability is returned along with your £14.95 winnings. Exchange winnings are usually subject to a commission (5% on Betfair) meaning your overall profit is £14.20.
Free Matched Betting Sites Free
It’s two bets that take less than five minutes work and you’re guaranteed to make over £14.
Is it Really that Simple?
Sort of, yes. The example we’ve walked through above is the matched bet and it does give you a positive return regardless of the result but there are a few more components to consider.
Firstly, most free football bets are only awarded if you make a bet with real cash first. This is called your qualifying bet. The approach to your qualifying bet is exactly the same as your matched bet. Place your ‘back’ bet with the bookie i.e. “I bet team X will beat team Y” and then ‘lay’ off your selection on a betting exchange i.e. “I bet team X will not beat team Y”. This initial bet is placed with real money. For that reason, it is possible that you’ll lose a small amount (usually pence).
The second part of matched betting that you need to understand is how to identify an appropriate opportunity. Not all fixtures are suitable for matched betting because it’s reliant on the odds falling in a certain range.
Now, a lot of people are scared off by the fact you need to find specific games for matched betting to work. Don’t be, there are tools out there that are created with this betting strategy in mind.
Top Matching Betting Sites
There are two main companies that operate matched betting services. Profit Accumulator, who have been going since 2014, are the name that has been helping punters make money through this method the longest. Their service does come at a cost (£20 a month) but they offer a free trial and you can cancel any time. Their offering is decent too with alerts taking you to the best free bet offers, software that allows you to find the games that are matched bet opportunities by bookmaker.
Now, remember earlier when we spoke of the complicated ‘lay’ stakes? Well, to top it all off, their service also includes a bet calculator. This will give you the stakes you need to wager for a guaranteed profit for your matched and qualifying bet.
The other major name in the market for matched betting services is OddsMonkey. To be honest, their platform is very closely aligned to that of Profit Accumulator to the point where even the pricing is the same. The main difference is the fact they claim their free trial will yield you greater profit (£62 instead of £40). If you go the whole hog with matched betting that £22 extra will become insignificant with hundreds of pounds quickly racking up. I’d suggest you check both out with the free trials and opt for the service that you find more user friendly – everyone is different after all.
Best Bookies for Matched Betting?
On the surface of things, no. Any bookmakers with a free bet offering can be exploited for profit. That said, all of these offers come with extensive terms and conditions. It is in these terms that certain bookies make themselves more appealing to matched bettors.
Some of the big boys like William Hill, SkyBet and Ladbrokes will not limit a household to one single use of a free bet offer. This means that if you share wi-fi with someone you don’t need to worry about not being credited with an offer or, if you live with a partner or friends, you can all club together for multiple matched betting wins. Happy days.
Some bookies though do restrict their offers to one person per house and/or wi-fi network. You can still use them for matched betting but just make sure someone else in your network hasn’t taken the offer already.
Just a quick caveat to stress that the terms and conditions do change regularly so either check them out at the time of betting, ask the company directly or hit up one of the forums operated by the two resources mentioned earlier.
Does Matched Betting Still Work in 2020?
The internet is a phenomenal tool but, boy, do you read some nonsense. There are plenty of people out there who claim that you’ve missed the boat on matched betting. It’s simply not true. Bookies will always offer free bets and whilst that remains the case, you’ll be able to make money from laying of your back bet.
The only risk to consistent matched betting is getting your account ‘gubbed’. This is where the bookie spots you’re winning too much money and limits your stake to the point of insignificance. There are easy ways to avoid this though. Continue your matched betting but avoid staking large amounts on really obscure leagues (this is a red flag to the bookies that you’re covering your bet) and, on occasion, throw on a small stake accumulator. This is a random piece of advice but to the watchful eye of bookmaker systems it will help your account resemble the behaviour of a regular punter.
Is it Possible to Lose Money When Matched Betting?
After reading all this, you’re probably fully on board. Before you take the plunge understanding the risks is an important thing to close on.
Matched betting is a guaranteed way of making money. That doesn’t mean it’s completely risk free though. The reason for that is two-fold. The first is that odds can change in an instant. It’s not that common for dramatic shifts to occur (it’s not happened to me in several years of matched betting) but it’s important to acknowledge it could happen. If you get caught by this, simply crack on as planned and know that your loss will be limited. You’ll soon make it back with the next bet as you won’t get caught out every time.
Free Matched Betting Sites Against
The other thing that can catch you out is human error. This is in your control – take your time when using the calculators from Profit Accumulator or OddsMonkey and double check things before you hit ‘place bet’.
It’s like that old saying ‘measure twice, cut once, win often’.
Matched Betting Us
There you have it, your guide to matched betting.