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I’ll be honest, when I first heard about matched betting I was a bit dubious.
After spending years trying to make money from home on various business ideas (from T-shirt printing and Jamberry Nails to pet chicken subscription boxes!) I thought matched betting just sounded a bit too good to be true.
But as my new year’s resolution was to work on my money blocks and embrace the idea that making money doesn’t have to be so difficult I decided to do some research and give it a go.
If it worked then I would have some extra money to pay off my debts or go toward my holidays, and if it didn’t then I would only lose my starting amount of £85, which if I’m honest is less than I’ve spent on pizza in a month before!
After spending a few hours learning the ropes I made just over £450 in my first month and you can imagine the happy dance I was doing around the living room!
So, what is Matched Betting?
Don’t let the name throw you off, matched betting is a great way to make some extra money each month by turning free bets, welcome offers, and incentives such as ‘bet £10 get £10 free’ from the bookies into real money.
Jargon Buster
BACK BET: Betting something will happen
LAY BET: Betting something will NOT happen
BOOKIES: Where you place your BACK BETS e.g. William Hill, Ladbrokes, Coral, Betfred
EXCHANGE: Where you place your LAY BETS e.g. Betfair, BetDaq, Smarkets, Matchbook
How does Matched Betting work?
Matched betting works by covering all the outcomes of an event so you make a profit regardless of the outcome.
For Example:
Say there is a football match between Team A and Team B.
Usually, you would place a single bet on one team, let’s say Team A, and hope they win.
If they win you get paid your winnings, but if they lose you would lose the money you’ve bet.
In matched betting, you would place 2 bets.
A bet on Team A to WIN called a BACK BET, and a bet on Team A to NOT WIN (to lose or draw) called a LAY BET.
Now, if Team A wins you collect your winnings from the bookie where you placed your BACK BET, and if Team A doesn’t win (they lose or draw) you collect your winnings from the exchange where you placed your LAY BET.
This way regardless of if Team A wins, loses, or draws, you will have won.
How do I do Matched Betting?
To begin, I would recommend signing up for Profit Accumulators free trial which has videos and calculators to make matched betting as easy as possible (no maths involved) and shows you step by step how to make your first profits (around £35-£40!)
I’ve popped an example below to show you how your first matched betting offer should work:
Completing your first Matched Betting offer (example)
Let’s say that ABC-Bookies have a welcome offer promising you a £20 Free Bet when you deposit £5.
You sign up and deposit the £5 using a debit card.
***Tip: It’s a good idea to set up a separate bank account for your matched betting so everything is more organised and easier to keep track of ***
Now you go back to Profit Accumulator and use the oddsmatcher to find a suitable bet with close odds.
*** Don’t worry, the oddsmatcher finds the bets for you so you don’t need to have any sporting knowledge, something I am eternally grateful for as sports really isn’t my thing! ***
Now, let’s say the oddsmatcher tells us that Newcastle has BACK ODDS (the blue numbers) of 2.68 to win against Everton, and LAY ODDS (the pink numbers) of 2.72 to NOT win against Everton (to lose or draw).
We would place our BACK BET of £5 (the deposit amount needed for this offer) on Newcastle to WIN.
Then we would go to an exchange (we’ll use Betfair in this example) and place a LAY BET on Newcastle to NOT WIN by selecting the odds in the pink lay column.
*** Don’t worry about the other numbers for now as you will learn about them later ***
To find out how much you need for your LAY BET, Profit Accumulator has a calculator which will work out the exact amount you need, all you have to do is click the calculator icon for the event in the oddsmatcher…
… and the calculator will pop up with all the numbers already figured out for you!
In this example, the calculator is showing that we need to place a LAY BET of £5.02 in the exchange (Betfair), and our LIABILITY will be £8.63, this means we need to have at least £8.63 in our exchange account so we can afford to place our LAY BET.
The calculator also shows the 2 possible outcomes:
If Newcastle wins, your BACK BET (the bookmaker bet) with ABC-Bookies wins. This means you will win £8.40 from the Bookmaker and lose £8.63 from the Exchange.
If Newcastle loses, your LAY BET (the exchange bet) with Betfair wins. This means you would win £4.77 from the exchange and lose £5 from ABC-Bookies.
No matter the outcome, in your first bet you will lose the small amount of 23p.
This is called a QUALIFYING LOSS and is completely normal and expected so try not to worry.
You are losing this small amount on purpose to get the £20 Free Bet!
Using your Free Bet
Once the £20 free bet has been credited to your account you are now going to repeat the process again but this time you will use the oddsmatcher to find a bet with higher odds, as the higher the odds the more profit you can make.
Now, let’s say the oddsmatcher shows us a match for Birmingham with BACK ODDS (Birmingham to win) at 4.4 and LAY ODDS (Birmingham to NOT WIN) at 4.3.
We open the calculator for the event and type 20 into the blue box to represent the £20 Free Bet we just got from ABC-Bookie for completing the welcome offer, and the calculator will work out how much our LAY BET and our LIABILITY should be.
Here the calculator is showing that we need to place a LAY BET of £16, and our LIABILITY will be £52.80, so as before we will need to make sure we have at least £52.80 in our exchange account so we can afford to place our LAY BET.
*** You will get your liability back either at the exchange or as part of your winnings at the bookie, but if you don’t feel comfortable with the LIABILITY at £52.80 you can choose a different match with lower odds, however this will also mean you get lower profits too.
Always do what feels best for you ***
We now use the £20 Free Bet we just got from ABC-Bookie for the BACK BET on Birmingham to WIN and place our £16 LAY BET on Birmingham to NOT WIN at the exchange.
The calculator again tells us the 2 possible outcomes:
If Birmingham wins, your BACK BET (the bookmaker bet) with ABC-Bookies wins. This means you will win £68 from the Bookmaker and lose £52.80 from the Exchange.
If Birmingham loses or draws, your LAY BET (the exchange bet) with Betfair wins. This means you would win £15.20 from the exchange and lose your Free bet from ABC-Bookies.
This time no matter the outcome, you will win £15.20 in profit which you can now withdraw to spend on whatever you like!
While £15 might not sound like a lot, once you get the hang of matched betting it should only take a few minutes to place your bets and as your matched betting pot gets bigger you can use it to place multiple bets at the same time!
I personally like to pop on my laptop first thing in the morning and set my qualifying bets for the day on matches that will finish around 2 pm, then I check back in at around 2:30 pm and spend a few minutes placing my free bets for the matches happening later on that same day.
This way I’m only spending maybe 20-30 minutes on matched betting each day and can spend the rest of my time focusing on what I want to do, whether that’s working on my business, visiting family, or enjoying an ice cream at the beach.
How do I get started with Matched Betting?
To get started, sign up for Profit Accumulators’ free trial here.
They’ll show you step by step how to make £35-£40 from your first 2 offers so you can make money while you learn what to do, there’s no obligation to buy and they don’t even need your card details unless you decide to sign up later!
You will need a starting amount of around £80-£100. You can start with less (some people start with £50-£60) but by having a larger starting amount you can place LAY BETS with a larger LIABILITY which will result in bigger profits for you. *Remember, you get your liability back*
If after you’ve finished your first 2 offers you decide you like using Profit Accumulator and want to carry on you can sign up for their Platinum membership for £29.99 per month where they have loads more offers, tutorials, super helpful staff, and a forum full of friendly members.
If you decide it’s not for you there’s no obligation to buy, they don’t have your card details so you don’t need to remember to cancel or send any awkward emails, you just walk away £35-£40 better off!
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to start Matched Betting?
You will need a starting amount of around £80-£100. You can start with less (some people start with £50-£60) but by having a larger starting amount you can place LAY BETS with a larger LIABILITY which will result in more profits for you.
Why is the bookie asking for ID to verify my account?
Some bookies may ask you for proof of ID, proof of address, or proof of funds, to comply with their KYC (know your customer) checks. While this can feel a bit intrusive to begin with, this is completely normal and is part of the UK Gambling Commission regulations to keep vulnerable adults and under 18s safe.
I don’t know anything about sports, can I still do Matched Betting?
Absolutely! I don’t really know anything about sports either as it’s just not my thing.
Before I started matched betting the only time I had ever laid a bet was on the grand national where I picked horses based on who had the saddest story or the best name, so if there was a horse called Dream Chaser who’d just recovered from a twisted ankle, guess who I was picking!
Thankfully the oddsmatcher on Profit Accumulator will find all the best bets for you, so you don’t have to worry.
How easy is Matched Betting?
Profit Accumulator makes matched betting really easy, I’d say the only difficult part I experienced, is that it is so easy it can trigger a lot of money blocks and resistance when you first get started because we have generally been taught that if something is too easy there must be a catch, or we start thinking we’re doing it wrong!
But as long as you watch the videos and follow the step-by-step instructions you’ll be making money before you know it!
Plus, if you get stuck, have any questions, or just feel a bit unsure, profit accumulator has a great support team ready to help you via live chat, phone, email, or via their Facebook group, they’re really friendly so feel free to pop them a message if you need anything.
Is Matched betting a scam?
Firstly, let me reassure you, matched betting is NOT a scam!
I’ll be honest, when I first heard about matched betting it took a few months for me to get started as I was so worried that it sounded too good to be true or there must be some sort of catch!
But after researching everything I could and joining several different Facebook groups to talk to other people who had tried it and made a good amount of money I finally decided to give it a go.
Now I just wish I’d taken the leap sooner as once I kicked my money blocks to the curb I managed to make just over £450 in my first month!
The way it works is that by betting on all outcomes of your chosen event you win every time. No matter what happens you will have bet on that outcome.
When the bookie gives you a free bet, you can use that free bet instead of your own money to cover one outcome of your chosen event, and as you have the mathematical advantage you are able to ensure a profit!
Plus, by using the calculator in Profit Accumulator, you can see how much profit you will make from an event straight away before the event has even begun!
Is Matched betting the same as Gambling?
No, in gambling you choose one outcome of an event and you win or lose depending on that outcome.
With Matched Betting, you are betting on all outcomes of an event so no matter what happens you will win.
Is Matched Betting legal?
Don’t worry, matched betting is 100% legal, it’s been featured in newspapers such as The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/money/2010/jul/24/free-bets-bookies) and the Telegraph, and is recognised as one of the most effective ways to make money online!
In fact, Graham Sharpe from the bookie William Hill has even been in the news saying:
“There’s no illegal element (to matched betting). It’s a free bet and you can do what you like.”
I’m Self Employed, do I need to declare my Matched Betting Income?
Good news, because HMRC doesn’t separate Matched Betting from Gambling, any income you have from matched betting is completely tax free!
I would definitely recommend setting up a separate bank account for your Matched Betting activity though, as it will keep everything more organised and make doing your accounts at the end of the year much easier.
Is Matched Betting Risk Free?
When done correctly matched betting is effectively risk-free as it is based on mathematical advantage, but I recommend making sure you are fully awake and able to focus when you are placing bets as mistakes can happen due to human error.
I nearly lost £6 one day because I started placing bets before my morning coffee had had a chance to kick in!
Luckily I realised what I’d done, quickly jumped on the live chat with the Profit Accumulators support team and they talked me through what I needed to do to fix it within a few minutes.
Now I make sure I am definitely awake before placing my bets!
Do I need a separate bank account for Matched Betting?
While you could use your personal bank account for matched betting, I would recommend setting up a separate account instead.
This will keep your matched betting transactions more organised, and help you keep a track of your profits.
Will Matched betting affect my Credit Score?
No, you may see a soft search on your credit report where the bookie has done an ID check when you signed up but only you can see this and your credit score should NOT be affected.
To put your mind at ease I’ve checked my credit report and while my report shows several soft searches from bookies my credit score still shows as ‘Soaring high’ on ClearScore.
Will Matched Betting affect me getting a mortgage?
Unfortunately, when applying for a mortgage banks don’t differentiate between gambling and matched betting, they just see frequent transactions going in and out of bookies and presume the worst.
While you can still get a mortgage with these transactions it could affect the interest rate or mortgage amount you are offered.
However, banks will usually only ask for 2-3 months of recent bank statements for any accounts holding funds you will use for your deposit or to show income.
Because of this, it’s best to keep all your matched betting in a separate account and if you have a mortgage application or renewal coming up soon I would give matched betting a break for 3-6 months before your application just to be on the safe side, then start again after your mortgage has gone through.
How much can I make matched betting?
The amount you can make each month will depend on how much time you have.
If you are able to spend a few minutes each day watching the videos and building your confidence, you should be able to make around £300 to £500 in your first month fairly easily.
Once you’ve got the hang of it you can choose to either keep making £300 – £500 per month by popping on for a few minutes each day or if you have more time you can aim for £1000 to £2000 per month!
The more time you have available, the more you can make.
This might all seem like a lot to begin with, but once you’ve watched a few videos and placed a few bets you’ll get the hang of it in no time!
So, what are you waiting for? Head over to Profit Accumulator and start your free trial, this time next month you’ll be wishing you’d started sooner!
And if you need help with anything please feel free to pop me an email, I’m happy to help and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can 😊
Have fun and happy money-making!
Miss Money Savvy ❤️