The first question many people ask is quite simply, “What is matched betting?”

Well it may be best if I start with a quote from Wikipedia on this one:

“It is a betting technique used by individuals to profit from free bets and other incentives offered by bookmakers. It is generally considered risk-free as it is based on the application of a mathematical equation rather than chance.”

Simply put, matched betting is a low (often zero) risk form of gambling, usually on sporting events. By utilising free bets and offers and incentives, matched betting guarantees profits by having all outcomes of a match or an event covered.

Whilst people think that free bets are in limited supply, bookmakers will continue to serve punters offers in an effort to tempt them to part with their cash. With matched betting you can ensure continued profits by exploiting these so-called “reload offers” on a daily basis allowing it to become a sustained source of income:

How Does Matched Betting Work?

There are several different types of offers but they all revolve around the same general process of backing one event and then laying the opposite outcome at a betting exchange.

Let’s start with the basics:

The ‘Back’ Bet

The back bet is the most traditional form of bet, essentially you’re backing the outcome of an event to happen. For instance, if you think, “Manchester United will win this match” you would then place a bet at a bookmaker for Manchester United to win. If they then go on to win the match, you’ll win your bet (the amount you staked) plus the profit on top.

The ‘Lay’ Bet

A lay bet is something that wasn’t available until the arrival of betting exchanges such as Betfair. This is the exact opposite to a back bet, where you are now backing the outcome of an event not to happen. For instance, if you think, “Manchester United aren’t going to win this game” you would then place a lay bet on Manchester United to win. If they don’t win the match, you win your lay bet. If the result is a draw, you still win the lay bet because Manchester United didn’t win the game. Now you can understand how we can cover all outcomes of an event by backing one outcome and then laying the same outcome at the exchange.

Still confused? This video explanation from our partners over at should Oddsmonkey help:

Is Matched Betting Risk-Free?

Matched betting works by using lay bets to cancel out any risk that a back bet poses.You back and lay against the same result in order to remove all risk. You cannot lose your bet because you have every outcome covered.

In essence this is a very simple process, you back and lay an event once to “qualify” for the bookmaker’s free bet. You then repeat the process with the free bet to guarantee a conversion of at least 80% of the value of the free bet into money.

And no, the free bets don’t stop coming once you’ve completed all of the sign-up offers. With matched betting, you’ll find ways to constantly keep earning the free bets that will become your bread and butter side income.

Is Matched Betting Illegal?

A usually swift follow up question to “What is matched betting?” is “Isn’t this illegal Joe?!”

You are right to be cautious, I was too. I thought matched betting sounded too good to be true, guaranteed profits every time I placed bets, I thought someone was scamming all us and quietly making a fortune somewhere in the Bahamas or everyone was defrauding the bookies at the very least.

However, I did some further reading and found that it seemed that it was a bone fide way of making legitimate money. It is a 100% legal process and, what’s more, with the profits classed as gambling, they are 100% tax free! Bookies freely admit to having no problem with the matched betting concept Graham Sharpe, from William Hill, says the industry does not have a problem with matched betting. “There’s no illegal element,” he says. “It’s a free bet and you can do what you like.” (Source: Telegraph) Although they won’t be happy if you keep winning those free bets and will soon restrict your access to them!

Well respected news outlets such as the Telegraph and the Guardian have reported on the matched betting phenomenon (Telegraph article above, Guardian article here). There are even threads on Martin Lewis’s Money Saving Expert website dedicated to matched betting (found here). So go ahead and read those if you have any misgivings before getting started (and look how long ago they were published!). You will be left in no doubt that matched betting is a long-established and legitimate way to make a bit of extra cash every month and even a full-time income for some.

How Do I Start Matched Betting?

Now I’ve gone through the basics of matched betting you could head over to the matched betting section of this website where you will hopefully find answers to your (likely many) questions. By reading my blog posts you should start to get an understanding of key topics such as: how much money you’ll need to get started, how much money you can expect to make, which software you will need to subscribe to, which types of offers are the best, which offer are the ones to avoid, advanced techniques such as underlaying and overlaying and so much more. See you in there!