Matched Betting Guide
Hi folks, first and foremost thanks for stopping by our safe2bet site and welcome along.
My name is Jon and the purpose of our team and the site is to help educate those of you wanting to learn more about how to make some easy risk-free, tax-free cash using the principle strategies of matched betting. As well as all the sign-up offers we will take you through step-by-step, we also highly recommend sticking with us to take advantage of all the reload bets and bonuses on offer. In fact you can make much much more from the reloads than you can from just the sign-ups. This site is both for 'Newbies' and also for more seasoned Matched Betting enthusiasts, those that just want the convenience of all the reload bet offers in a single place and explained in a simple process via our daily blog.
Lets get started... Get comfy, grab a brew... each guide will take around 15/30 mins to read and digest but understanding the concepts will benefit you massively in the long run...
Have you ever heard the expression, 'knowledge is power'? Well safe2bet has evolved somewhat since we started the site over a decade ago. Our team have over 40 years experience between us and our breadth of knowledge and experience can help empower you to make THOUSANDS of £'s from matched betting.
Make yourself a brew and get comfy, as there is a fair amount to learn before you earn. Either that or read each section of our site in stages as and when you find the time in your busy schedule.
We'll cover the concept of matched betting, the difference between a traditional Bookmaker (Bookie) and the Betting Exchanges. After we've covered the basics we'll give you some 'real life' examples of the most common bet types, Qualifying Bets, Simple Free Bets, Risk Free Bets and the idea behind Mug/Smug Bets.
After you feel confident in the concept, you can then make a start to earn yourself some cash, by following our processes/examples of each of the free Bookie sign up offers (initially) earning yourself somewhere in the region of £1,000 - £1,500. Then, should you wish you can start to take advantage of our daily blog reload and bonus bets, this is where is gets really exciting as you can start to make some consistent regular income to top up your bank balance. Depending upon how much time you can put in, you should expect to make anywhere from £500 to £1000 extra each month.
MATCHED BETTING - WHAT IS ALL THE FUSS ABOUT?
Is it a new concept? No.
Is it a scam? Most certainly not!
In Lehman's terms, matched betting is a concept of safe betting (not gambling) that uses simple maths to extract risk-free, tax-free profits from Bookmakers Sign-Up Offers and Welcome Bonuses.
You'll need some funds to get started, but you can start with as little as £50. Ideally you can start with a bit more, somewhere between £250 and £500 is ideal. Why? Well, because basically if you've got more in the initial bankroll, you will be able to complete the offers in a quicker manner. The quicker you complete the offers, the more you make and the more you have sat in your bank account at the end of each month!
As the name suggests, matched betting, means you will need to place both BACK and LAY bets and get them matched/accepted (we'll touch more on BACK/LAY bets later on), so you will need a desktop, laptop, tablet or smart phone. Although in theory you can do this on a 3G/4G phone, we don't recommend it, at least not when your first starting out. Always try to use a solid internet connection and the bigger the screen the better, so desktops, laptops or tablets. You can move on to smart phones at a later date, once you are up to speed and feel more confident. It is just much easier to find the bets, calculate the bets and place the bets on the bigger screen devices.
We won't bore you to death with the complete history of matched betting, but most reports you'll see from the media date back to circa 2010, when the concept gained national exposure in many of the newspapers such as The Telegraph and The Guardian. Obviously these papers offer more credibility than the likes of The Daily Star or the Daily Sport!
Although they say 2010, matched betting has actually been around since around 2000. This is when Betfair (the primary betting exchange) was launched, thus providing a platform to entertain the idea of matched betting. From 2000, you could place a BACK bet at the Bookmaker and a LAY bet at the exchange. Matched betting was born.
Historically it didn't catch on immediately, as the internet speeds were still relatively slow and although there are 100's of online Bookies now, there were only a handful back in 2000. Bet365 coincidentally launched their 'online only' Bookmaker around the same time. Many of the traditional Bookmakers like William Hill and Ladbrokes were still known as bricks and mortar businesses on your local high street.
Once Bookies realised they could massively reduce their shop overheads running their betting shops and at the same time increase there online presence and 'reach' by focusing more online, they soon followed suit and over the next decade more and more people 'in the know' took up matched betting, us here at safe2bet included!
We refer back to the graph on our Homepage...
So you might ask why the sudden explosion in popularity over the last couple of years, as its a good question...
The short answer is 3G/4G smartphone capabilities really opened the door for a multitude of new customers' and with customer demand comes betting supply. Hundreds of online bookies want a piece of the lucrative betting pie and because there is now so much competition, each Bookie must offer better sign-up offers and better reload bets, to keep their customers' engaged and stop them from using other Bookies. Combine this with the fact that the internet is now super quick, it means you can comfortably, quickly and safely get your bets on.
This has meant the exponential rise of matched betting and its popularity continues to grow. There are now an estimated 40,000 matched bettors and the number is growing fast. What do the Bookies think about Matched Betting? Well they tolerate it, some more than others' I hasten to add! They accept its part of the betting culture, many of them are happy to offer reload bets and bonuses to matched bettors.
Before I waffle on about how good it used to be in the olden days (I'm only in my mid 30's!) the Matched Betting landscape has changed dramatically over the last decade.
Believe it or not but there never used to be ANY rollover requirements, even on the tasty £200 bet baskets as they were known. Bet365, Boylesports, Ladbrokes ALL used to offer £200 free sign up bets. This made it super super simple to make easy cash, as it didn't really matter if your BACK bet won, or your LAY bet lost, either way, you could make around 75% of each and every free bet sign up. Nowadays, many bets have rollovers and terms and conditions. That doesn't mean that they are not worth doing, far from it, it just means that more care and attention needs to be taken over the bets to ensure they are played correctly, for hassle free bets and maximum profits.
Why mention all of the above? Well that's where we come in, remember the statement 'knowledge is power'... well our knowledge is your power.
Simply put, we know all the best bookies and the worst bookies, we've tried them all. We know the best sign-up offers, we've completed them all. We know all the popular reload bets, as we find them all! We do the hard work, so you don't have to. We are passionate about sports and betting and because we love what we do, it doesn't feel like work :-)
What is BACK and LAY betting
We'll go into more detail during our extensive real life examples, both on the main site pages and also on our blog posts. However, a BACK bet is essentially when you bet on something TO HAPPEN.
For example, 'I think England will WIN the world cup' (it's perhaps an ambitious thought, but nonetheless it could be your opinion and you want to BACK that bet to happen).
On the flip side, you have the LAY bet, which is when you bet on something to NOT HAPPEN.
For example, 'I think England will NOT WIN the world cup' (perhaps a more sensible opinion having seen England performances of late!).
In traditional betting terms, you could walk into any betting shop on your local high street, or login to your online account these days and place a bet based on your assumption, 'I think England will WIN the world cup'... You would place a BACK bet in the hope that England WIN the world cup and you will WIN your bet.
The bookmaker will say, 'OK we accept your bet and we will give you odds of 10/1'. You are the BACKER of the BET and the Bookmaker is the LAYER of the BET.
If England go on to WIN the world cup, then you will WIN your bet. Lets say you placed a bet of £10, at 10/1. The bookmaker would pay you your winnings of £100 (or £110 in total as you get your stake back. £100 pure profit, £10 is your stake.
If England DO NOT WIN the world cup, then you lose your £10. The bookmaker makes a profit of £10 which was your stake.
So what is a Bookmaker?
Bookmakers or Bookies as they are commonly known, have been around since 1790 when Harry Ogden opened his doors for business (a quick fact for you if you ever need it in a pub quiz). Fast forward 200 odd years and in the 1990's you would commonly see some household names walking down your local high street, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Betfred to name a few...
Since the year 2000 and the rise of the www, the rise of online bookies has been pretty dramatic. From 2000 to 2008 there were around 20 online bookies, however, the sharp rise has been in the last 8 years and now there are over 100 online bookmakers and its still growing. We actually recommend less than 50 and with good reasons, as many are not worth touching with a barge pole.
My apologies if it feels like I am teaching you to suck eggs here. I am going back to basics as many newbies entertaining the thought of Matched Betting have indeed, never placed a bet before. So the basics are really to educate the newbies. Simply skip past any sections you already have a confident understanding of...
Back to Bookmakers. So, if you are serious about Matched Betting, you will need to use Bookmakers. Many offer welcome bonuses in order to attract new customers'.
For example, the offers are usually something like Bet £20 Get £20. Effectively they are 'matching' your initial deposit of £25 (its where the term matched betting derived from), with their own bookie money £25. So you sign up and deposit £25, but get £50 to bet with, of which £25 is the bookies money.
So, lets say for example, you've signed up to William Hill and you've deposited £25 of your own hard earned cash.
You will then place 2 BACK bets with the Bookmaker and 2 LAY bets with the Betting Exchange.
The first BACK bet is always called the QUALIFYING BET, this is using YOUR initial £25.
The second BACK bet is then either the SIMPLE FREE BET or a RISK FREE BET using the BOOKMAKERS £25 FREE OFFER.
When Matched Betting every BACK bet must have a counter LAY bet. So in total you will place 1 x BACK QUALIFYING BET and 1 x LAY QUALIFYING BET. Once this has been settled you will then place 1 x BACK FREE BET and 1 x LAY FREE BET.
We are always aiming to extract around 75% of the FREE BET as pure profit. So in the £25 example above, we would expect to make around £18.75(ish) as profit. Multiply this by 30+ Bookmaker offers and you will quickly rack up some SERIOUS profits.
We'll run through some more detailed examples in both our BET STRATEGY guides and also the Sign-Up Offer Challenge Blog Posts, where we take the stance of a Newbie and sign up to 31 Bookmakers in 31 days.
What is a Betting Exchange?
Well without betting exchanges Matched Betting would not be possible!
Betting exchanges are the platform that allow you to BACK or LAY bets. Traditional Bookmakers only allow you to place a BACK bet and they only make money when your BACK bet loses, as they profit from your stake amount. The betting exchanges on the other hand DO NOT make their profit as the BACKER or the LAYER. They provide the platform for you and I to place both BACK and LAY bets and when the bet is matched, they make a commission from the overall pot (which is made up of all the matched bets).
Lets think of a real life example, lets say I think Lewis Hamilton will win the British Grand Prix. So I log into my betting exchange account and place a BACK bet on Lewis Hamilton to WIN.
You on the other hand think that Nico Rosberg will WIN. So as you think my bet will LOSE you place a LAY bet against my BACK bet on Lewis Hamilton...
Me - Lewis Hamilton will WIN = BACK BET
You - Lewis Hamilton will NOT WIN = LAY BET
The odds might be 5.2 BACK and 5.0 LAY and we both agree we are happy at those odds, so we place the bets and they are matched, hey presto. I am the BACKER and you are the LAYER. You are effectively playing the role of the Bookmaker in this instance.
Fast forward to the end of the race and if Lewis Hamilton WINS, I win my BACK bet and you have to pay me my winnings, in this instance lets say I bet £10, 5.2 x £10 = £52... So, you pay me £42 (and I get my £10 stake back) so I make £42 profit (£52 including my stake back). The £42 is your LIABILITY on the bet when you LAY the bet.
If Lewis DOES NOT WIN the race, then your LAY bet has WON and you get to keep my stake of £10, just as a traditional Bookmaker would.
Make sense? We'll show you lots of real life examples, so you can learn by copying us. You'll find it much easier to understand once you've placed a few bets. If your still scratching your head, just drop us an email at hello@safe2bet.co.uk and we'll be happy to answer any further questions you may have.
So, tell me more about how it really works?
The sports betting industry is worth a small fortune in the UK. Well in excess of £1 BILLION just in sports betting, not including gaming, casinos and the lottery, which take the figure to a mind boggling £7 Billion... With over 100 online Bookmakers wanting a piece of the action its a super competitive environment, this is ultimately a good thing for us Matched Bettors...
Competition naturally drives better value for customers'. The value in this instance comes in the form of sign-up bonuses for new customers' and reload bonuses to keep current customers' betting and engaged.
Time for some examples. Lets start with a sign-up offer for a new customer, as it's where most of our newbies start...
Safe2bet Top Tip:
Its always worth doing the sign-up offers first. If you see a promotional offer like bet £50 get £50 in-play or a regular offer for 'current' customers', DO NOT accept it. Take the promotional welcome offer first, as once you've signed up, you will NOT qualify for the sign-up offer once you have registered and taken any other promotional offers. Once you've signed up and done the promotional free bet offer (check out our sign-up offer challenge - August 2016) only then you should you take advantage of the reload bets. Using this strategy will allow you to MAXIMISE your profits.
Lets keep it simple to begin with and use Ladbrokes as the example sign-up Bookmaker.
Ladbrokes offer new customers Bet £50 get £50 (using promo code F50). Some bookies will offer, Bet £10 get £30 or Bet £100 get 50% bonus. Don't worry we'll cover all of these bets in our sign-up offer challenge.
There are 3 simple steps to explain How It Works... but just before we run through the 3 steps, we need to advise about Decimal Odds.
Decimal Odds
Even if you've never placed a bet before, you will probably have heard of fractional odds, for example, Man United to WIN the Premiership at 10/1, or more famously Leicester to WIN the Premiership at 5000/1!
Due to the fact that we need to compare Matched Betting often at a glance when looking at BACK and LAY odds, we use Decimal odds instead, which makes it much easier.
The Betting Exchanges use decimal odds as standard, so its only the Bookmakers odds format that we will need to change.
Depending on the Bookie, some will allow you to change the odds format from the homepage, whilst others will allow the change in your 'settings'. As you can see from the examples above, Paddy Power on the left and Coral on the right, its simple to change the odds. Most bookies will have them set to Fractional as their default setting. So remember to change them over.
If for whatever reason you cannot change the settings, or they freeze (and it does happen very occasionally) don't panic, you can still easily work out the decimal odds using the equation below....
You just divide the first number by the second number and add 1.00 for your stake amount.
Example: If you want to change 5/2 into decimal odds, you would divide 5/2 which is 2.5 and add 1.00 (your stake) which gives you 3.5.
Think about it, its much easier to compare 3.5 and 3.75 than it is to compare 5/2 and 11/4. Especially when the Betting Exchange odds are always in decimal.
Remember when using decimal odds, your stake is always included, so 11.0 is actually 10/1.
For example, a £10 bet at the Betting Exchange at odds of 11.0 returns £110. £100 profit, £10 stake back.
The same £10 bet at the Bookie at odds of 10/1 returns, yep you guessed it £110. £100 profit, £10 stake back. The confusion when learning Matched Betting sometimes comes from the fractional vs decimal odds format. Over time, it will become second nature to know the difference.
So now we've covered Decimal Odds, we can go back to just how exactly this Matched Betting thing works and its as simple as A-B-C or 1.2.3...
We sign up to the chosen Bookmaker, in this example Ladbrokes. As the offer is Bet £50 get £50, we deposit £50 and we're ready to start Matched Betting!
Lets start Matched Betting then...
Step 1. We look for the bets
Step 2. We calculate the bets (using our S2B Matched Betting Calculator)
Step 3. We place the bets
Example - Place a BACK Bet of £50 on Arsenal to BEAT Sunderland at odds of 2.5
So, if Arsenal WIN we will make £75 profit (£25 profit and our £50 stake back)
We then need to place a LAY bet on Arsenal at the Betting Exchange
Place a LAY bet of £50 on Arsenal to BEAT Sunderland at odds of 2.5
So, If Arsenal LOSE we will lose £75 (our liability on this LAY bet)
Lets summarise:
If Arsenal WIN - Bookie +£75 - Exchange -£75 = £0
If Arsenal LOSE - Bookie -£50 - Exchange +50 = £0
So what's the point of Matched Betting you may think, we've just placed 2 bets and make nada, zilch, diddly squat... However, lets just recap:
If Arsenal WIN, we get £75 back at the Bookie but we lose that £75 at the Exchange = £0
If Arsenal DO NOT WIN (ie LOSE OR DRAW) we get back our £50 at the exchange but we lose that £50 at the Bookie = £0.
So regardless of the outcome we break even. We are basically covering both sides of the bet, this in a nutshell is MATCHED BETTING!
However, this is where the Matched Betting Magic comes in, as we have now qualified for our FREE £50 BET.
* For the purpose of this example, I have shown 0% commission at the Exchange, this will usually be either 5% or 2% depending upon which Exchange you use. However, we cover this all in our next S2B guide... *
We then repeat the process for the FREE BET using the very same Matched Betting Strategy (except choosing SIMPLE FREE BET option on our calculator, instead of QUALIFYING BET), to make around 75% of the FREE BET amount, in this instance around +£37.50 pure tax-free, risk-free profit.
Don't stress if this still seems confusing, us humans learn much better when we put the theory into practical and 'learn by doing'.. Practice makes perfect as the saying goes...
NEXT UP - THE BETTING EXCHANGES GUIDE
