Value betting involves placing bets that are more likely to win than suggested by the bookmaker’s odds.

Value betting is a betting strategy that gives you an edge over the bookmakers by finding odds that are higher than they should be.

It involves accurately working out how likely an outcome is, then using this information to find ‘overpriced’ bookmaker odds and betting on these.

Unlike with <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting"></a><a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a>, you won’t lock in a profit when placing a value bet.

But, if you can consistently find bets that have value to you – known as positive expected value (+EV) bets – you can make fantastic long-term profits from value betting.

Even better, value betting works with <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/top-tips-to-avoid-being-gubbed">gubbed accounts</a>.

In this article, you’ll find out about how bookmakers set their odds, different value betting techniques, and a range of value betting tools.

First, we’ll look at some key ideas that help us understand how to find value bets.

Fair odds accurately reflect how likely a bet is to win.

A bookmaker offering fair odds would have no edge and would pay out as much in winnings as they took in losing bets over time.

With a coin toss, the chance of either heads or tails is 50%.

A bookmaker offering fair odds on a coin toss would pay double your stake if you won and take your stake if you lost.

To work out the return on a winning bet, the bookmaker multiplies your stake by the decimal odds. You win double your stake on a winning bet at fair odds for a coin toss, so the return on a £10 stake is:

Return = Stake x Odds = £10 x 2.0 = £20

£10 of this is just you getting your stake back, so the profit is £10.

There’s a 50% chance your bet wins, so you’ll make £10 profit half the time and lose your £10 stake the other half. Over time, you’ll break even, and so will the bookmaker.

The bookmaker would then go out of business quickly, which is why they don’t offer fair odds.

Implied probability shows how likely an outcome is, as implied by the odds.

It’s a really important concept when it comes to value betting. Lower odds bets are more likely to win, and higher odds bets less likely.

To work out the implied probability of a bet, you divide 1 by the decimal odds. For the fair odds coin toss bet, this is:

Implied probability = 1 / 2.0 = 0.5 = 50%

We know the actual chance of either heads or tails is 50%. Since the implied probability of the bet is the same as the actual likelihood of it winning, we can see that the odds of 2.0 are fair.

In betting, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-expected-value">expected value</a> is the average profit you’ll make from placing a bet.

It takes into account the likelihood of the bet winning or losing, the profit you make if it wins, and the loss you take if it loses.

For a £10 bet on a coin toss at odds of 2.0, the expected value (EV) is:

EV = (0.5 x £10) + (0.5 x -£10) = £5 - £5 = £0

This is just a way of saying, with maths, that you win £10 half the time and lose £10 the other half. It also shows there’s no long-term value to this bet for either you or the bookmaker. We’ll look at how to find that value later.

Bookmakers set their odds to ensure they profit in the long run. They work out the fair odds for a bet, then set their odds lower than this to give themselves an edge.

For a coin toss, they might lower the odds from fair odds of 2.0 to 1.9. This bet will return £19 if it wins (a £9 profit), and you’ll lose £10 if it loses.

EV = (0.5 x £9) + (0.5 x -£10) = £4.50 - £5 = -£0.50

In the long-term, you’ll lose 50p on average for each £10 bet you place, meaning this is a negative expected value (-EV) bet.

The bookmaker, on the other hand, makes a 50p profit for every £10 staked. This is their edge, or margin, and is the key to how they make money from the bets they offer.

Bookmakers use betting analysts, sports traders, and quants (quantitative analysts) to assess, as accurately as possible, the likelihood of an outcome.

The odds can then be set accordingly, making sure to reduce the odds a bit to factor in that all-important margin.

Some bookmakers also take into account odds from betting exchanges or other bookmakers when setting their own odds.

When two football teams play each other, betting analysts look at data, including previous results, recent form, expected weather conditions, team selection, and injuries.

They use this to predict the likelihood of the outcomes of a wide range of bets.

A bookmaker setting match odds for Serbia v England might assess the chances of the three possible outcomes as:

These correspond to fair odds of 9.52 for a Serbia win, 4.65 for a draw, and 1.47 for an England win.

To factor in a margin, the bookmaker lowers these odds to set their actual odds. For this game, they might have odds of 8 for Serbia, 4.5 for the draw, and 1.44 for England.

These are Betfred’s actual odds for the game. The imagined fair odds are an estimate of what these might be.

An educated guess was made that Betfred reduced Serbia’s odds by a much bigger factor than England’s, to take account of the <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/betting-on-the-longshot/">favourite-long shot bias</a>.

It’s been observed many times that bettors tend to bet on ‘long shots’ or ‘underdogs’ more than they should, based on the odds, so bookmakers can reduce the odds of long shots by more than they do with favourites.

Bookmakers can be roughly divided into two types – sharp bookmakers and soft bookmakers.

Sharp bookmakers are aimed at professional bettors. They tend to have lower margins and adjust their odds very quickly, using sophisticated systems.

Sharp bookmakers set their own odds, using advanced systems and models.

Most of the process is automated, allowing them to react to events like player injuries quickly, often adjusting odds in a few seconds. They are also often the first bookmakers to create a particular betting market.

The initial odds offered by a bookmaker are called opening odds. They are often released late at night or early in the morning, so are also known as overnight lines.

Although they don’t operate in the UK, Pinnacle are often referred to as the sharpest bookmaker. They don’t offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">sign-up or reload bonuses</a>, so can afford to have smaller margins on their betting markets.

Pinnacle post opening odds with low betting limits of perhaps a few hundred pounds. ‘Sharp’ bettors – experienced, well-informed, and often professional bettors – are often the ones placing the first bets on these opening odds. Pinnacle then adjust their odds based on the betting activity of these sharp bettors, whose opinion they value.

Once Pinnacle have refined their odds from their opening odds, they can confidently increase their betting limits to as high as £50,000 or more for some markets.

Due to their sophisticated methods, sharp bookmakers have very efficient odds. This means that, once the margin has been removed from their odds, they tend to be an accurate indicator of fair odds.

Many Asian bookmakers, for example, Dafabet and 188Bet, are generally considered to be sharp bookmakers.

Soft bookmakers are aimed at casual bettors. They tend to have higher margins and adjust their odds relatively slowly, often in response to odds changes at sharp bookmakers or exchanges.

Most well-known bookmakers, like Bet365, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, and William Hill are soft bookmakers. They offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">sign-up and reload bonuses</a> and have bigger margins than sharp bookmakers.

Soft bookmakers don’t price their markets as efficiently as sharp bookmakers, so their odds tend to be a worse indicator of fair odds.

Despite their bigger margin, it can be easier to find overpriced odds with soft bookmakers, since their odds are more likely to be mispriced.

This can be exploited by value bettors, who can often bet on overpriced odds at soft bookmakers, extracting long-term value.

Exchange odds are set by bettors, and change as a result of supply and demand.

Betting exchanges use peer-to-peer betting, where bettors bet against each other, rather than taking bets offered by a bookmaker. Exchanges make money by charging a commission on winning bets, although you can get <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">0% commission with Matchbook</a> with <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed membership</a>.

Exchange odds arise differently to bookmaker odds. To form the market initially, individual bettors set their own odds. These odds then change as bets are placed. If more bets are placed on one outcome, these odds tend to drop, and the odds for the other outcomes in the same market increase.

As more bets are placed and more money enters the market, it becomes more ‘well formed’. The amount of money available to place bets (the liquidity) increases, and the gap between the back and lay odds (the spread) decreases.

New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki suggested a compelling idea in his book The Wisdom of Crowds.

He argued that “the many are smarter than the few”. In terms of betting exchanges, the suggestion is that a large number of people betting on a market, and causing the odds to change, often leads to odds that more accurately reflect the likelihood of the bet happening than bookmaker odds, set by experts.

Studies have shown a very close correlation between the implied probabilities of an outcome at betting exchanges and the likelihood of that outcome occurring.

A 3-year study by Franck, Verbeek and Nüesch, of all 5478 games played across the ‘Big Five’ football leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France), showed that exchange odds tend to be a better predictor of actual results than bookmaker odds.

Source: <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1503350">SSRN</a>

Another reason exchange odds are a better indicator of fair odds is that the odds aren’t reduced to create a margin, unlike at a bookmaker.

The idea of the wisdom of crowds isn’t perfect.

For example, if a bookmaker’s odds for Liverpool start to drop, just because lots of people decide to back Liverpool, this could lead to more people betting on them.

This would then cause the odds to drop further. Herd mentality could then ensue, with ‘fear of missing out’ leading to ever more bets placed on Liverpool.

Since there was no sound reason for the odds dropping, bets placed on Liverpool would have increasingly poor value the further the odds dropped.

Value betting is the placing of bets on betting markets that have been overvalued by bookmakers.

It’s clear that the odds are literally stacked against us when we bet at a bookmaker.

What Is Value Betting? Everything You Need To Know

At Outplayed you can choose from 3 membership levels - Platinum, Diamond and Pro.

We also have an exclusive Pro Plus membership which is only available at certain times.

Here, you’ll find out the difference between the memberships and learn exactly what’s included in each level so you know which is the right one for you to help you make the most out of&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a>.

What Is The Difference Between Platinum, Diamond, Pro and Pro Plus?

Our Platinum Membership is focused solely on teaching and helping you make profits through Matched Betting sport related offers and promotions from the bookies.

Our Diamond Membership takes this to a whole new level - and the profits you can make - by teaching and helping you how to take advantage of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.outplayed.com/news/make-money/matched-betting-casino-offers-explained-in-a-nutshell/">casino offers</a>&nbsp;as well as all the benefits included in the Platinum membership.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/pro-upgrade">Pro Membership</a>&nbsp;is suitable for experienced, serious Matched Bettors who want to unlock an additional £1000+ a month in potential profit using our advanced tools that enable you to take huge amounts of value. All the benefits from Platinum and Diamond memberships are included.

The Pro Plus Membership is our most advanced membership and is suitable for experienced <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-value-betting">value&nbsp;bettors</a> with a large bankroll looking to maximise their betting profits.&nbsp;Access is limited, and this membership is only open at select times throughout the year.

Perfect for you if: you’re just getting started with Matched Betting.

Outplayed Platinum membership has everything you need to be very successful and highly profitable Matched Betting sports offers:

Perfect for you if: you’ve completed a variety of sports offers and are ready to make more money using casino offers alongside sports offers.

Monthly rolling contract - £49.99/month

Annual rolling contract - £450.00/year (£37.50/month)

Outplayed Diamond membership includes everything available with our Platinum Membership level PLUS all of the following:

Perfect for you if: you’re an experienced Matched Bettor, you’ve built up a large bankroll and want to unlock an additional £1000+ a month in potential profit.

Monthly rolling contract - £150.00/month

Annual rolling contract - £995.00/year (£82.92/month)

<a href="https://outplayed.com/pro-upgrade">Outplayed Pro</a>&nbsp;membership includes everything available with our Platinum and Diamond Membership levels&nbsp;PLUS all of the following:

Perfect for you if: you’re an experienced value bettor and have built up a significant bankroll and want to unlock maximum potential profits with access to our powerful Golf Master and&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/profit-using-outplayed-steam-chaser-tool">Steam Chaser</a>&nbsp;tools.

Annual rolling contract - £1499/year&nbsp;(£124.92/month)

Outplayed Pro Plus membership includes everything available with our Platinum, Diamond and Pro levels PLUS access to the Golf Master and Steam Chaser.

The Golf Master and Steam Chaser tools are extremely powerful, which is why we limit access to them as we need to keep them exclusive, so the Pro Plus membership is&nbsp;only available for purchase for limited time periods.

Here's why you’ll love the Golf Master:

Here's why you'll love the Steam Chaser:

All our membership levels are exceptional value - and to be perfectly honest the profits you can make from the signup offers alone on each plan can more than cover the costs for an entire year - even if you choose to pay monthly!

If you’re brand new to Matched Betting it’s best to start with Platinum and focus on working through the 40+ signup offers where you can expect to make over £850.

Thereafter you can make £300 - £1000+ a month from reload offers for existing customers.

Once you’ve grown your bankroll and have got the hang of Matched Betting on sports and are making some super easy profits, you can then upgrade to Diamond or Pro when you’re ready. 

You can upgrade to Diamond or Pro anytime.

Still Not Sure Which Membership To Choose?

As an Outplayed member, you have access to experienced Matched Betting experts who are available to answer your questions and help you through your journey.

Our&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/news/matched-betting/how-to-get-matched-betting-support">support</a>&nbsp;team is open and ready to help you choose the right membership that suits you.

We’re open 7 days a week. You can use email, live chat, Facebook, or the forum so please <a href="https://outplayed.com/contact" target="_blank" title="">get in touch</a>&nbsp;and we can discuss the best membership for you.

Outplayed Membership Levels - Explained

To err is human. But still, we’d prefer not to.

And when you first <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">start Matched Betting</a>, you’ll probably be particularly worried about screwing up. One of the biggest advantages of Matched Betting is that it’s risk free, so long as you follow the instructions correctly. So what if you make a mistake?

In most cases, there are ways to correct an error, so there’s probably no need to panic! But the best option is simply not to make an error in the first place, and the best way to achieve that is to be aware of the potential pitfalls in advance.

We’ve compiled some of the most common Matched Betting mistakes and explained what they are, why they’re a problem, and how to make sure you avoid them.

The 14 Most Common Matched Betting Mistakes

1. Placing your lay bet before your back bet

New matched bettors often wonder why exactly this matters. You’re placing two bets designed to cancel each other out - aren’t they roughly equivalent?

Not really. As a general rule, you’re placing a fixed amount (say, £5 for a qualifying bet, or a £5 free bet) as your back bet, and your lay bet is calculated based on the odds to match it.

Odds can sometimes change quite quickly, however, and inevitably at some point you’ll find that the odds have changed between the placing of your first bet and your second.

If you’ve placed your back bet first, you can simply adjust the lay odds in the calculator and place your lay bet with the updated odds without any difficulties. If you’d placed your lay bet first, however, it would be far more difficult to adjust the back bet to avoid excess losses.

Solution: Don’t forget always to place your back bet first.

2. Forgetting to check the terms of an offer

Bookies will often place restrictions on the terms of an offer, and you need to know what they are before you go ahead and start placing bets.

The most common things to miss are the minimum odds and the number of selections for a bet builder or accumulator bet. You may also need to have made a deposit with a particular payment method (usually a debit card).

It sounds straightforward enough to check the terms and stick to them, but we’re all human, and capable of doing incredibly silly things from time to time. I once opted in to a snooker-based offer and, with great confidence, went on to place a qualifying bet on darts, then wondered why my free bet hadn’t been credited.

There can also be quite narrow restrictions for the promotion dates, or a requirement to place your qualifying (or free) bet on a particular event - but so long as you’ve paid attention, you’ll know exactly what you need to do.

Solution: Always double check the terms of an offer before you place your qualifying bet.

3. Mixing up the names of events/competitors (especially horses)

This may sound like too basic a mistake to make, but you should always double check both the event and the competitor you’re betting on, particularly with horse racing.

There are a number of races at each racecourse on race days, and it isn’t difficult to mix up a 15:45 and 17:45 race, or even to mix up similar courses like Newbury and Newmarket (that’s one I’m definitely guilty of on occasion).

And with the sheer number of race horses competing in races, sometimes their names will be similar enough to cause confusion.

Always check that both the name of the horse and the odds match up with what you’re expecting, and you shouldn’t ever end up placing a bet on the wrong one.

Solution: Double check the details of your bets before you place them.

4. Forgetting to change the calculator settings between Normal and Free Bet mode, or using the wrong calculator

Hopefully, you’d notice before actually placing your bets if the calculator was in the wrong mode - the qualifying loss/profit figures would look quite odd - but nonetheless, it’s best to double check.

When moving on to using the advanced calculators, you should always make sure you understand exactly what they’re designed to do before using them. Newer matched bettors should work through the easier offers to build their confidence before moving on to more challenging ones that require advanced calculators.

For example, the <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/racing-refund-calculator">Racing Refund</a>, <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/bonus-lockin-calculator">Bonus Lock-in</a> and <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/refund-if-calculator">Refund If</a> calculators all cover fairly similar situations, so it’s important you understand the differences between them. Each calculator has its own guide, which we strongly recommend reading in full before you begin.

Solution: Make a habit of selecting the calculator mode every time you use the calculator - even if the default ‘Normal’ mode is the right one - so you can’t forget to change it when you need to.

5. Forgetting to check the available liquidity in the exchange

When you find a really close match at great odds, it can be all too easy to get carried away and place your back bet before you’ve checked the availability in the exchange.

It’s such a disappointing moment when you attempt to place your lay bet only to discover that there’s a total of £2 available at those perfect odds, meaning you have to settle for worse odds and less profit, especially when it was so easily avoidable.

To avoid similar small tragedies, use the ‘Availability’ filter in the Oddsmatching tool, and set it to something comfortably higher than the rough amount you want to lay. There’s always a chance that the availability will decrease just as you’re trying to bet, especially on very popular events, but this is much less likely to happen with a healthy amount of liquidity in the market.

Solution: Use the ‘Availability’ filter whenever you use the Oddsmatcher, so that only matches with enough liquidity are shown.

6. Trying to bet with insufficient funds in your account

This one almost seems too obvious to mention, but nonetheless it does happen. Experienced matched bettors tend to keep significant sums in their exchange accounts, so it can be easy to forget that you might run out if you place several bets with large liabilities.

Given the speed at which odds can change on some events, you really don’t want to have to top up your exchange account having already placed your back bet, causing a potentially unprofitable delay. So, always do a quick check that you’ve got plenty of cash available in your exchange account - handily confirmed for you on the Outplayed Oddsmatcher if your accounts are linked - before you start placing your bets.

Solution: Keep track of your cash, and top up your exchange accounts if they get too low.

7. Placing an unmatched or partially matched bet

Placing an <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-are-unmatched-bets">unmatched or partially matched bet</a> can be a consequence of number 5 - there being insufficient liquidity in the exchange. An unmatched or partially matched bet occurs when you go ahead and place your lay bet at those odds regardless.

Your bet is unmatched because there isn’t currently anyone who’s placed a back bet at those odds to match your lay bet to. It’s possible that your bet will be matched as the event draws nearer, but it’s safer to cancel the unmatched portion of your bet and try again, placing the remainder at whatever odds have enough availability. Otherwise, you risk your bet remaining unmatched, which could result in an overall loss from the bet.

Solution: Ideally, use the ‘Availability’ filter to avoid placing an unmatched bet - but if you do end up with your bet not fully matched, our <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/fixabet-calculator">Fixabet</a> tool can help rectify the error.

Matched bettors aren’t too popular with bookies, funnily enough, and they use every tool at their disposal to detect behaviour indicative of Matched Betting.

So don’t make it easy for them! Focus on popular events that you’d expect genuine punters to be betting on. You may have found an incredibly close match on Swedish second division football, but the small amount of extra profit you might make on that particular game isn’t worth potentially losing your account.

For more tips on how to blend in, take a look at our guide to <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/top-tips-to-avoid-being-gubbed">avoiding being gubbed</a>.

Solution: Stick to major events as far as possible. If you don’t already support a particular football team, it’s not a bad idea to start supporting one - and placing bets on them every so often.

It may not sound very exciting, but it’s important to keep a record of all the bets you make, whether you use Outplayed’s handy <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-spreadsheet">Profit Tracker</a> or a spreadsheet of your own.

It’s easy to become confused if you’re betting frequently, and having detailed records ensures you never miss any free bets you’ve earned, or forget to check on the outcome of an event. Especially with horse racing, it’s important to have a record of your bet, so you can go back to the bookie and check the results.

If your horse ended up not running, for example, your bet would have been voided both at the bookie and the exchange - for a free bet, you’d usually need to place it again. Meanwhile, in the event of a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/rule-4-deductions-explained">Rule 4 deduction</a>, your profits may have been a little lower than expected - or in the case of <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/best-odds-guaranteed-in-matched-betting">Best Odds Guaranteed</a> being invoked, they could also be significantly higher.

Solution: Use either a Profit Tracker tool or your own spreadsheet to keep track of your betting activity.

Similarly, you need to know where your money is. Although it can be a pleasant surprise to find an unexpected tenner lurking in one of your little-used bookie accounts, it’s far more sensible to ensure you have a record of all your deposits.

As you become more experienced, you’ll probably end up maintaining a reasonable sum in all your most-used bookie accounts, to save yourself having to make constant deposits and withdrawals, but you’d be wise to keep a note of how much you have with each of them nonetheless. To make this easier, Outplayed include a balance sheet in your account to keep track of exactly where all your money is.

Solution: Use a spreadsheet or our handy <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-spreadsheet">balance sheet</a> to keep your records up to date

Winning too much can be a trigger for gubbing, so some matched bettors reason that the easiest way to avoid this is never to win your back bets. After all, if your matched bets always win on the exchange side, the bookie will only see that they’re making money from you, and consider you a good customer.

The problem with this is that it means you end up placing all your bets at very high odds, in order to reduce the likelihood of the back bet winning. But that doesn’t mean that the back bet never wins, and when it does win at high odds, a large chunk of your money has gone straight back to the bookie, leaving you at square one.

Although you should be careful about behaviours that might identify you as a matched bettor, you should bear in mind that real gamblers will win at least some of their bets, so you don’t always need to lose to blend in. You’re better off placing a few <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-mug-betting">mug bets</a>&nbsp;to divert bookie suspicion.

Solution: Place a mug bet, that isn’t tied to an offer, from time to time, to look more like a regular punter.

When you start seeing profits from your Matched Betting, it’s very tempting to spend them right away. However, it’s a much better strategy to build up your bankroll first. With a larger bankroll, you’re able to make the most of whatever offers come your way, which will add up to significantly higher profits in the long term.

It’s up to you to decide the point at which you feel you’ve got enough money built up to be worth withdrawing it and spending it on whatever you’ve been working towards - a holiday or a car perhaps, or just extra funds to tuck away for a rainy day - but whatever you decide, make sure you leave enough in your bankroll to make more profits in the meantime.

Solution: Set yourself a minimum threshold for your balances (for example, £300 in an exchange) and only withdraw when you’re over that balance. This will allow you to enjoy your profits without harming your ability to make more of them.

If you’re new to Matched Betting, the idea of becoming complacent is probably quite hard to imagine. When they first get started, most people double, triple, quadruple and quintuple check everything before they bet, just in case they missed something on the first four passes.

But as with anything, the more Matched Betting you do, the easier it gets. The vast majority of mistakes, including most of those listed in this article, stem from rushing, paying insufficient attention, or becoming complacent. No matter how experienced you become, it’s important to remain careful, and not to place bets when you’re distracted or in a hurry.

Solution: No matter how experienced you come, remind yourself regularly to be careful! And don’t carry out your Matched Betting when you don’t really have time for it.

This is perhaps the biggest potential danger, and the most important thing to avoid. Matched Betting is not gambling, but it does put you in touch with the gambling world, and for some people that can be a strong temptation.

If you’ve placed a back bet at high odds and it ends up winning, it’s easy to look at the comparatively small profit you’ve made from the matched bet and reflect that if you hadn’t matched it you’d have ended up much, much better off. But you’d be forgetting about all the high odds back bets that didn’t win, which is exactly the trap the bookies are hoping you’ll fall into.

Bookies make money because real gamblers pretty much always lose. If that weren’t the case, they wouldn’t be in business. As a matched bettor, you have to be disciplined to avoid becoming just another punter yourself.

If you’ve struggled with a gambling addiction in the past, we strongly advise against taking up Matched Betting. It may not be a form of gambling itself, but it’s close enough to be unsafe for anybody at risk of falling prey to a gambling addiction.

Solution: If you find that your Matched Betting is tipping into gambling for real, get help. <a href="https://www.gamstop.co.uk">GamStop</a> are a great place to start if you feel as though you’re losing control and need to get back on track.

2. If you’re a member of a Matched Betting site such as <a href="https://outplayed.com/">Outplayed</a>, follow the step-by-step instructions for an offer closely. They check all the terms such as minimum odds on your behalf, so if you follow along you won’t go wrong.

3. Don’t bet when you’re pushed for time

4. Double check the odds before placing a bet

5. Make use of the filters on the Oddsmatcher (especially Availability and Minimum Odds)

6. Keep track of your available funds

It does occasionally turn out that an error will work in your favour. For example, you might find that you’ve made an unlayable back bet that ends up winning, resulting in pure profit.

However, the likelihood is that a mistake will be to your detriment, not to your benefit. Even if you discover a mistake that’s resulted in a greater profit than expected, you should never rely on getting lucky. Just be glad that you escaped without losing any money, and take extra care not to let it happen again!

If you realise that you’ve made a mistake, don’t panic. A lot of mistakes are fixable, especially if you’ve followed our general guidelines.

Our <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/fixabet-calculator">Fixabet</a>&nbsp;calculator allows you to fix any mistakes with overlaid or partially matched lay bets, so in the majority of cases you’ll be able to salvage the situation. And if you find it tricky to work out what you need to do to fix your mistake, our expert <a href="https://outplayed.com/contact">customer support</a> agents are available every day to lend you a hand.

Now that you’re aware of the most common pitfalls when Matched Betting, you’ve got all the information you need to avoid them.

Of course, everybody makes a mistake from time to time, and even the most experienced Matched Bettors aren’t immune. The most important thing is always to pay attention to what you’re doing - and don’t forget that in most cases a small error isn’t the end of the world.

Stephanie Sorrell

14 Biggest Beginner Matched Betting Mistakes To Avoid

During 2024, Outplayed’s Pro and Pro Plus tools became more powerful than ever, and one member, Ellis11, has been making the most of it.

A long-time user of Outplayed and early tester of our new <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/golf-master">Golf Master tool</a>, Ellis11 has quietly built up over £52,000 in profit using a combination of Pro and Pro Plus tools.

Ellis has been kind enough to share their journey, from getting started as a student to now operating with a five-figure bankroll and betting around 30 hours per week.

Whether you’re new to <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-value-betting">value betting</a> or already using the <a href="https://outplayed.com/pro">Outplayed Pro</a> and Pro Plus tools yourself, there’s a lot to learn from Ellis’s approach.

From Student Side Hustle To Serious Profit

Ellis first discovered Matched Betting in early 2021 while studying at university and built up a bankroll from their profits before starting value betting with the Outplayed Pro tools last year.

“I started Matched betting through a friend of mine. I’ve now finished uni and work part-time, but I’ve been value betting since late 2024.”

Ellis has been an Outplayed member for over four and a half years now, steadily progressing from Matched Betting into more advanced strategies.

As of today, Ellis’s profit using the Pro Tools sits at over £52,000.

While Ellis uses most of the tools available through the Outplayed Pro membership, the main focus has been on:

Each plays a different role in the strategy, but the Steam Chaser is where most of the weekly turnover happens.

“I’ve made over £52,000 from the Pro Tools overall. The Steam Chaser is the one I use the most during the week.”

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