How To Make Money From Matched Betting
UPDATE: We have now added our own online Bookmaker odds-finding program, completely free for you to use!
Step By Step Guide To Matched Betting
Join the Betfair betting exchange and fund your account with around £100. This money is used as your liability on bets layed.
Select an online bookmaker which is offering a free bet and open an account with them, funding it with the money required to qualify for the free bet.
Use the free program below and select your bookmaker from the dropdown list. You will be supplied with an up-to-date list displaying the closest odds available between the betting exchange (Betfair by default) and your chosen bookmaker on various football matches.
Click on the match with the best (closest) odds, which should be listed at the top of the program.
Click on the link to your chosen bookmaker and proceed to make your qualifying bet.
Once your bet has been completed your free bet should appear in your account with your chosen bookmaker.
Repeat steps 3 - 5 using your free bet!
To gain the maximum amount of profit from the available free bet, find odds at the bookmaker that are as high as possible to back, and then make sure the odds to lay at the exchange are also high (and hopefully the same). This is because the free-bet is usually not stake-returned, so it is best to bet at high odds so that if you win the bet you will still receive a large amount of profit at the bookmakers, and that if you lose the bet you will still receive a large amount of profit from the betting exchange.
Important: Make sure that before you start placing bets you should have a read of our matched betting guide. Remember that you can potentially lose a lot of money if you mess up your bets, especially when laying bets on the betting exchange. Remember that sometimes odds at bookmakers can change, and that odds (and money available) at betting exchanges can change instantly. Check the odds before you place the bets at the bookmakers, and make sure that the odds are still available to lay at the exchange, and that there is enough money available for you to perform your lay.
What Happens After I've Used My Free Bet?
After you have joined a bookmaker, placed a qualifying bet, and then used your free bet, you will be ready for the next step - find another bookmaker to join!
Visit our Free Bets page and select a bookmaker to join which is offering a free bet to all new customers. Then come back here and complete the process again and again until you've opened account with every online bookmaker!
Don't forget, when you've finished with matched betting you can always move on to arbitrage betting ! 