How to start Matched Betting In The UK?

What is Matched Betting?

First of all you need to understand exactly what Matched Betting is and why it is such a popular way to make money online.

Matched Betting is a risk-free system that takes advantage of the offers and bonuses online bookmakers regularly send out to new & existing customers. The basic format of Matched Betting is to BACK and LAY a specific bet to guarantee a profit no matter the outcome.

How to find the bookmakers offers?

There are currently over 70 bookmakers currently operating in the UK and each of them offer a bonus for you to sign up.

If you are unaware of any bookmakers, then do not worry as you can find a list simply by searching on Google.

Here is an example:

Search for: A list of online bookmakers

Image showing Google search of online bookmakers

Here you will see a list of the bookmakers currently available in the UK

Image showing all of the avaliable online bookmakers

Oddshero has a full list of the bookmakers and their welcome offers easily available for our members!

Discover the Sign up bonuses

The Sign up bonuses are also known as Welcome Offers or a Deposit Bonus

Once you have found a list of the available bookmakers, it is time to find out how much they’re offering you to sign up to their platform. We need to individually search each bookmaker + ‘signup bonus’

Let’s use BET 365 as an example:

Google search showing bet365 signup bonus

As you can see BET 365 are willing to offer you £100 for you to sign up.

Bet365 offer new customers a £100 bonus

Now we know what BET 365 are prepared to offer, we need to make sure we understand the Terms & Conditions.

Bet365 requires new customers to bet £100 in order to receive the £100 bonus.

Once we have received the £100 Bet Credits, we have to wager them 1x again.

This totals £200 worth of bets in order to profit from this offer. This may sound like a lot and most people will definitely lose their money if they were to gamble the £200, but with Matched Betting we can guarantee ourselves at least £80 profit from this offer.

Let us show you how

BACK and LAY

In order to guarantee a profit and reduce all risks of ‘gambling’, we need to bet on all outcomes of a match. To do this we use BACK and LAY .

We use the two colours to differentiate between BACK and LAY because that is how they appear on the most popular exchange, Betfair.

As you can see below, the BACK bet is on the left in BLUE and the LAY bet on the right in PINK .

BACK bet is indicated in blue and LAY bet in pink

BACK ( BACK bet )

A BACK bet is a bet we place on the bookmaker for a particular event. If you place a bet on Arsenal to win using a bookmaker then you have placed a BACK bet.

LAY ( LAY bet )

LAY bet is a bet you place on a sport betting exchange to oppose the outcome of the BACK bet. If Arsenal lose or draw then our LAY bet would win.

What is a sport betting exchange?

A betting exchange is a peer-to-peer online betting platform that allows people to bet against other punters instead of a bookmaker. You can place both BACK and LAY bets on a exchange making it a more versatile platform to use. As you are betting against other people and not the bookmaker, they operate on a commision basis and will charge between 2% and 5% per bet. The two exchanges we advise you to use are Betfair and Matchbook

Betfair Exchange is by far the largest exchange available in the UK market, with millions of pounds flowing through the markets each day. Betfair operates on a 5% commision per trade.

Matchbook is a smaller betting exchange with less liquidity in the markets but this is balanced with a lower commision of 2% per trade.

We will recommend you to use Matchbook when starting out on the deposit bonuses due to their lower commission.

There is also an honourable mention to Smarkets and BETDAQ Exchanges.

Once you become a regular Matched Bettor you will start to utilise all 4 of these exchanges and realise they each bring their own value.

We will be using the betting exchanges to LAY our bet

RELOAD OFFERS

The reload offers are what will enable you to continuously earn once you have signed up to each bookmaker. After you have signed up, the bookmakers want to make sure you keep betting on their platform and will send you offers to encourage this.

A reload offer will be similar to the sign up bonuses and you again place BACK and LAY bets to profit.

An Example of a Reload Offer

Bet365 reguarly offfer huge bonuses for existing customers

BET 365 regularly send out a HUGE offer each round of Champions League fixtures and will offer you a matched bet up to £50. If you place a £50 bet they will give you a £50 FREE BET.

Using the same method we use when doing signup bonuses, we can expect to make around £40 profit from the £50 Free Bet

BE AWARE OF BIG SPORTING EVENTS!

Even though it isn’t a requirement to have a passion or knowledge in sports to start Matched Betting, you should be aware of the big sporting events that are on throughout the year. This is because the bookmakers tend to go big on their offers when these events are on.

The biggest event in a UK matched bettors calendar is the Cheltenham Festival. It has been known to give out hundreds of pounds worth of offers in a 5 day period. Many people even book a week off work so they can maximise their profit!

During the Cheltenham Festival bookmakers will normally send out Free Bets for every race at the festival!!

With 28 races held during the festival and 70 bookmakers all hoping you place your bets with them, it isn’t hard to imagine just how much you could earn.

Other big events include the FIFA World Cup, Euro’s and the Champions League.

If sport isn’t something you watch, then just do a simple google search at the start of each month to see what events are happening.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Understand the difference between a BACK Bet and LAY Bet.
  • Find a list of all the available Signup Bonuses.
  • Once completed, only then move onto the Reload Offers.
  • Be organised and be aware of the major events in the sporting calendar.

How to begin?

We have given you a few of the main tips needed to begin Matched Betting if you live in the UK.

If you wish to get started then join us here at Oddshero and we will help you start earning immediately!

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