Ben Adams

If you’re already placing lay bets, why not get rewarded for it?

BetConnect’s ‘You Lay, We Pay’ offer gives you the chance to earn up to £30 in cash just for placing your usual lay bets through the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/betconnect-integration-outplayed">Betconnect integration</a>.

Whether you're a seasoned matched bettor or just starting out, this is an easy way to add extra value to your betting.

From 1st August 2025 to 31st Augusty 2025, you can earn £5 cash for every £1,000 in lay stakes placed, up to a maximum of £30 (for £6,000 in lay stakes).

The more you bet, the more you earn!

There are plenty of reasons to take advantage of this generous offer:

How To Take Part In ‘You Lay, We Pay’

You can get started today with this offer by following these simple steps:

Why Take Advantage Of ‘You Lay, We Pay’?

If you're already laying bets, this is essentially free money!

It’s a simple way to boost your betting profits without any extra effort.

Don’t miss out - opt in and start earning cash back on your lay bets!

Be sure to read the <a href="https://info.betconnect.com/terms-conditions-outplayed-you-lay-we-pay/">full terms and conditions for the offer here</a>.

Get Paid For Laying Bets With BetConnect

Paul Trevor

An Each Way (E/W) bet consists of two bets combined into one. You’re splitting your bet for your chosen selection to “win” or to “place” (in the number of places predetermined by the bookmakers).

This gives you a higher chance of winning if your selection fails to win but finishes in the places offered by the bookies.

Each Way (E/W) betting has become a very popular <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">way of betting</a> and is most commonly used in Horse Racing betting but is also used in other sporting events too.

In this article, you’ll learn how an each way bet works, how to place them and how you can use them to make a profit.

To place an each way bet you first need to choose a total stake you would like to bet on your selection.

With each way bets, the two bet elements are calculated differently due to the fractions the bookies use on the place part. You can use an <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/each-way-bet-calculator">each way calculator</a> to work your bets our accurately.

As an example, let’s say you placed a £10 E/W bet on Liverpool to win the Premier League at odds of 8.0 (7/1) and the E/W terms are 1/3 for 2 places. If Liverpool won the league:

Win Part - This is as calculated as a normal win bet &amp; you would multiply the stake by the odds. £10 x 8 means you would get £80 returned.

Place Part - This calculation differs in that you have to deduct 1 from the original odds and then divide that by the fractions for the place part and then add one back on.

8-1 equals 7, then 7 divided by 3 equals 2.33 and then you add one back on for 3.33.

You then multiply you stake by these odds so £10 x 3.33 = £33.33.

Your total returns would be £80 + £33.33 = £113.33.

If Liverpool finished 2nd then you would only use the above Place Part element and your returns would be £33.33.

A punter decides they quite fancy the chances of Amerjeet winning or being close in the 3pm at <a href="https://www.lingfieldpark.co.uk/">Lingfield Races</a>.

Because they aren’t certain it will definitely win, they decide to back it each way at Bet365. Not wanting to go mad, they decide to back £10 each way at decimal odds of 11 (10/1 in fractional odds).

The win odds here are 10/1 but Bet365 are offering 1/5 of the win odds on the top three places.

The below image shows how the bet looks:

So the total bet is £20 (£10 to win and £10 to place in the top three)

You’ll see the possible outcomes of your bet once the race has finished.

Outcome One: The horse wins

Outcome Two: The horse finishes second or third

Outcome Three: The horse doesn’t win or place

As can be seen, placing each way bets gives customers a slightly better edge to win some money. However, the returns aren’t as great as just betting on the win only.

People usually do each way bets to provide them with a bit of protection if they back something that might have a chance of winning but is by no means guaranteed.

Ideally, you’ll back something that has at least a small chance of winning but this is easier said than done when it comes to backing horses.

As with our previous example, it’s more suitable to avoid short odds bets and do each way bets with longer odds (usually 5/1 or above).

This is because you have a better chance of at least breaking even, if not making a small profit. Betting each way on shorter priced selections will offer little value unless you are value betting or using free bet credits.

What Are The Advantages Of Each Way Betting?

What Are The Disadvantages Of Each Way Betting?

Placing Each Way Bets On Different Sports

Whilst horse racing is considered to be the main market for each way betting, there are other sports that offer it as an option including Football, Golf and Cricket.

Let’s take a look at some examples of how each way bets work for different sports.

As mentioned, Horse Racing is undoubtedly the biggest market for each way betting.

Placing the each way bet is quite straight forward. Click on the odds next to the horse of your choice, enter your chosen each way stake (remember, the total stake will be double the amount that you enter), tick the E/W option and then place your bet.

The below example is a horse called Tideways Hero that is running in the 4.28 at Wexford. The win odds are 21 (20/1) and the place odds are 1/5 of the total odds. Therefore, you’re placing £10 at 21 (20/1) for the win and £10 at 5 (4/1) for it to place.

Should Tideways Hero win, you would get £260 returned (£10 x 20/1 = £200 for the win part) &amp; (£10 x 4/1 = £40). Once you remove the original stake, your profit is £240.

Placing each way bets on Football is mostly done for outcomes that are in the future such as winners of the Premier League, FA Cup Winners and Teams to be Relegated. There are other markets such as Top Goal Scorer which offer 4 places on each way bets.

Always remember to check the E/W (Each Way) terms when placing an E/W bet as the place fractions can differ depending on the markets you are betting on. As an example, the place fractions for the Premier League are 1/3 for 2 places and the Top Goal Scorer is 1/4 for 4 places.

How Does An Each Way Bet Work?

Horse racing refunds are extremely worthwhile if you’re looking to enhance your long-term <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting/">Matched Betting profits</a>.

They are super simple, quick to do and available through the week. On certain days such as Saturdays, there are more opportunities available for horse races shown live on ITV.

These races typically have a lot of free bet incentives associated with them as different bookmakers compete for your custom.

In this article, you’ll learn what horse racing refunds are, how to find them and how you can add them to your routine to maximise your returns.

A horse racing refund is when a bookmaker offers to refund your bet stake as cash or a free bet if your horse meets certain criteria, typically if your horse wins or finishes in a specified position.

There are different racing refunds available each day, here are a few examples of the types of variations you’ll see:

Horse Racing Refund Matched Betting Example

A common horse racing refund you can take advantage of is a refund if your horse finishes in a certain position, typically anywhere from 2nd to 4th.

Sky Bet frequently run the best “cash back” version of this offer. Here is a horse racing refund offer they have stating they’ll give you money back as cash if your horse finishes 2nd or 3rd.

The simplest way to complete this offer when Matched Betting is to do a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">normal qualifying bet</a> on any horse which will give you the smallest qualifying loss - if your horse finishes in 2nd or 3rd position in this instance, you’ll get £10 cash.

For this offer, close to the start of the race there was a good opportunity available on the horse “Le Cameleon”, that gave a qualifying loss of around 30p for using a £10 back stake.

As a general rule - aiming for a qualifying loss of around 50p per £10 stake is suitable so this cheap 30p qualifying loss is ideal.

This is the simple way to complete horse racing refund offers, take a small qualifying loss and move to the next offer.

If the horse “Le Cameleon” finishes 2nd or 3rd, you’ll get £10 cash leaving you with around £9.70 profit (£10 cash minus the qualifying loss). If “Le Cameleon” finishes in any other position, you’ll make the small 30p loss.

The key aspect to these horse racing refund offers is keeping the qualifying loss to a minimum and to remember it’s a long-term strategy. One winner will cover many of yoru small qualifying losses and over time you’ll be handsomely in profit.

How To Lock In A Profit From Horse Racing Refunds

Most Matched Bettors will use the method explained above and simply place a back and lay bet on a horse to take a small qualifying loss and move to the next offer - it’s efficient and effective.

However, it’s possible to lock in a small profit from some horse racing refund offers.

The alternative way to complete these offers is to use a “<a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/racing-refund-calculator">racing refund calculator</a>” and extract a profit regardless if your horse comes in the correct position or not.

Here’s an example of how the racing refund calculator works on the same offer as above:

The first step would be to choose the type of refund offer you’re doing which in this case, you’ll get cashback if your horse finishes in 2nd or 3rd place.

The next step is to input the back and lay odds of the selected horse as you would for any qualifying bet.

As Sky Bet are giving you £10 cashback. The bonus amount is therefore 10, and the retention is 100% (you get to keep all of the £10 amount as it is full stake cashback and not a free bet).

If the offer had been for a £10 free bet, you cna change the bonus retention amount here to 80%, as you know that you can extract around £8 (80%) profit from any £10 free bet you receive.

Finally, you need to input the lay odds for your selected horse in the “3 Place” market as shown on the racing refund calculator.

The racing refund calculator then tells you what lay stake amounts you need to use at the exchange (<a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">Matchbook in this instance – as you can claim 0% commission</a>).

The key thing to note is that you’re placing one back bet on the horse to win at the bookmaker (Sky Bet in our example), then two lay bets at the exchange.

One lay is against the horse to win, and one lay bet against the same horse in the “3 Place” market.

Once you place these bets you can expect to make a profit of £1.70 no matter if “Le Cameleon” finishes in 2nd or 3rd or not.

This is typically quite a high profit to be able to lock in from this particular offerso the choice is yours if you prefer to lock in small amounts for slightly more effort or take the more efficient long term apporcah of simple back, lay and move on to the next offer to enable you to take more volume.

Most bookmakers promote any horse racing refund offers on their promotion page or as a banner on the top of their site.

You can also use a Matched Betting service such as Outplayed where all the best horse racing refund offers available each day are listed for you.

Each offer listed has a guide showing the key terms of the promotion and explains how you can complete the offer.

How To Find Suitable Bets For Horse Racing Refund Offers

There are a number of ways in which you can find suitable horse racing bets for refund offers when Matched Betting.

You can use a free odds comparison site such as <a href="https://www.oddschecker.com/">Oddschecker</a> to compare odds between different websites.

If you spot any odds that are close between the bookmaker that has a horse racing refund offer and a betting exchange you can use that horse to lock in a small qualifying loss.

The downside to this method is that odds comparison sites are often slow to update live odds and you’ll find by the time you get to the bookmaker site or betting exchange, the odds will have changed and the opportunity will have gone.

A more efficient and accurate way to find suitable horse racing refung bets is using odds matching software.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/products/oddsmatcher">Odds matching software</a> will automatically compare the odds between bookmakers and the betting exchanges to help you quickly see the best available bets at any given bookmaker.

You can use the filters to help you find specific bets for any bookmaker running a refund offer.

In this example, we’ve filtered the sport to horse racing, the bookmaker to Sky Bet and entered “16:10” in the search bar so the odds matching software only displayed bets for that specific race at Sky Bet.

This will help you find the best qualifying bets for any race using any bookmaker.

The Match Catcher is available with an Outplayed membership and is specifically designed to help maximise profits from horse racing refunds.

Match Catcher is similar to odds matching software but only shows results from bookmakers that currently have horse racing refunds available to help save time and keeping qualifying losses as low as possible.

Instead of searching through odds manually, up-to-date prices are available in one place and the optimal lay stake is included when you open the integrated calculator, so a separate Matched Betting calculator is not needed.

You can also use the bookmaker and exchange links on the calculator to go directly to the horse racing market with the associated refund offer.

Horse racing refund offers are a great introduction to horse racing betting as well as being easy to do and profitable.

When you've mastered them and built your bankroll you'll be ready to begin learning about a more <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/extra-place-offers">advanced horse racing offers</a>.

Horse Racing Refunds: Simple Regular Profits

Lynsey Thompson

If you’re looking to start a new side hustle, then there are three main questions you need to ask.

One of the biggest advantages of Matched Betting is that it can take as much or as little time as you want.

Most importantly, though, you can fit it around your other commitments and it doesn’t require a lot of time to be profitable.

Here, we’ll take you through Matched Betting timings, look at some of the most common bets, explore how much time a bet takes, and give you an insight into a day in the life of a <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Bettor</a>.

There are no set times for Matched Betting.

You can do it early in the morning, late in the evening, over lunchtime, during the day, on weekdays and/or weekends.

Matched Betting opportunities happen all day, every day, so it is highly flexible with timings.

There are, of course, some specific offers that have time restrictions or are linked to specific games or tournaments, but generally you can pick and choose what offers you do and when.

Naturally there are times when it pays to do more matched betting than others.

Big football weekends, major horse racing meets, golf or tennis majors and big sports tournaments all come with increased Matched Betting opportunities. There is obviously no pressure to do more at these times, but it can be highly profitable to do so.

Many Matched Betting offers take only a few minutes to complete.

More complicated sports offers can take up to fifteen minutes, while some <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-casino-offers-explained-in-a-nutshell">casino offers</a> take longer. However, the more you do, the quicker you get.

It's then up to you to decide how many offers you want to do and what type of offers you want to do to fit around your own schedule.

You will also develop a preference for certain offers over others. You may decide to spend your time on bets that take a bit longer to do but bring the most profit.

Alternatively, you may prefer to do lots of simpler matched bets that are quicker and bring in lots of small wins. The choice is yours.

Companies such as <a href="https://outplayed.com/">Outplayed</a> make Matched Betting as time efficient as possible by providing you with all of the tools and guides you need.

There is no need to scroll through all the bookmakers looking for offers. A daily list is provided for you. There is no need to scour the internet for the best odds. Outplayed provides <a href="https://outplayed.com/products/oddsmatcher">oddsmatching software</a>&nbsp;with handy search and filter tools so you can find bets quickly and easily.

There's also no need to spend ages trying to work out what offers are the most profitable, as all the work is done for you. Plus, there are designated calculators for all types of bets to make it as simple and efficient as possible. All you have to do is follow the guides and make use of the tools provided.

There are several types of matched bets you can choose from. Some are completely <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/is-matched-betting-risk-free">risk-free</a> and give a guaranteed profit. Meanwhile, some matched bets involve a limited risk giving a low qualifying loss if unsuccessful, but potentially good profits if successful.

Below we’ll take a look at a couple of common offers - one risk-free and one limited risk matched bet. We'll look through the process and show how long it takes to complete them.

In these examples, it's assumed that you already have an account with the bookmaker, the exchange and Outplayed.

An example of a basic sports ‘Bet and Get’ offer can be ‘Bet £10 and receive a £10 Free Bet’.

This requires the following Matched Betting activity to guarantee profit:

1. 	Find the Qualifying Bet - Go to the <a href="https://outplayed.com/products/oddsmatcher">Outplayed Oddsmatcher tool</a> and either select the exact offer from the drop-down menu or select the relevant bookmaker and chosen exchange, and then choose a bet from the list provided (2-3 mins)

2. 	Make the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">Qualifying Place Bet</a> – go to the bookie site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the bet (1 - 2 min)

3. 	Make the Qualifying Lay Bet - go to the exchange site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the lay bet (1 - 2 min)

The Free Bet will either be granted immediately or once the qualifying bet has settled. When it does:

4. Find the Free Bet - Go to the Outplayed Oddsmatcher tool and either select the exact free bet offer from the drop-down menu or select the relevant bookmaker and chosen exchange and select SnR. Then choose a bet from the list provided (2 - 3 mins)

5. 	Make the Free Place Bet – go to the bookie site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the bet (1 - 2 min)

6. 	Make the Lay Bet - go to the exchange site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the lay bet (1 - 2 min)

A simple Bet and Get offer on average will take between 6 – 12 minutes depending on how much experience you have as a Matched Bettor.

This can be even more efficient by using the direct links on the Oddsmatcher tool. The bookie link will take you straight to the relevant market and if you link your exchange account you can place your lay bet with just one click.

In the example offer above, it should return around £8 in profit which works out at around £1 a minute.

This bet gives money back or a free bet if your chosen horse finishes in a specific position in a race. In some cases it can be 2nd place only, some offer 2nd and 3rd place while some offer 2nd, 3rd or 4th place.

With some bookmakers the offer is applicable on a specific race or set of races, while at others it is any race with a minimum number of runners. This process is as follows:

1. Find the Bet – open up the Outplayed Match Catcher tool and use the filters to find the relevant bookmaker, exchange and appropriate race or track. Then just look for an eligible bet with the lowest qualifying loss. (4 mins)

2. Make the Place bet - go to the bookie site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the bet (1 – 2 min)

3. Make the Lay Bet - go to the exchange site, ensure the odds are the same as the Oddsmatcher and place the lay bet (1 - 2 min)

Horse racing refunds should take 5 – 10 minutes depending on your Matched Betting experience. It may take a little longer if you have to source the odds yourself directly with the sites, but this should only add another minute or two.

If your horse doesn’t place where you want it to, then you'll lose the minimal qualifying loss. However, if your horse places as required, you will also receive a refund or free bet in order to lock in profit.

On a £10 horse refund, you would hope to have no more than a 70p qualifying loss but can make up to £8 profit and there are plenty of them to do every week.

Every day bookmakers offer a variety of bonus offers and promotions for customers. While this gives us lots of opportunities to make profits, it also means we can be selective when choosing the most profitable and time efficient ones to do.

Luckily, if you join Outplayed, they do this job for you, so you don’t have to.

Offers are divided into three main types – Sign-Up Offers, Reload Offers and Ongoing Offers.

Sign-Up Offers are usually the easiest to do and can return great profits. In the case of simple Bet and Gets as discussed above, they can be done quickly. However, in the case of casino sign-up offers, they sometimes require some time if they involve large wagering requirements.

Reload Offers are promotions given to existing customers and can include things like Horse Racing Refunds and Extra Places. Because of the useful tools available on Outplayed, these can often be done extremely easily and quickly especially as you become more used to them.

Ongoing Offers are bonuses that are given either daily or weekly like free daily games or bet clubs. These tend to be the bread and butter of a matched bettor and become part of a daily routine, which can be completed in a matter of minutes.

When registered with a company such as Outplayed, they provide you with not only a list of daily bonus offers, but also an expected value for each. This means that if you’re pushed for time you can immediately prioritise the most valuable bonuses and only do the others if you have time.

You can sort offers by profit and filter types of offers to find the best available offers at any time.

It is a really handy way of making Matched Betting as time efficient and effective as possible. It also means that you can make £10 - £20 a day just by doing a small number of offers.

Every Matched Bettor has their own routine, both in terms of what offers they do and when they do them.

The amount of time each person allocates to Matched Betting differs greatly from around 30 minutes to three hours a day, while some prefer to only do Matched Betting on weekends.

It's therefore impossible to give you a standard example of what most Matched Bettors do.

However, as I’ve been doing Matched Betting for around three years, I thought it might be useful to share my daily routine to give you an idea of timings.

My usual day would involve around 30 – 60 minutes of Matched Betting activity in the morning, followed by 15 minutes in the evening. Depending on other commitments or available offers I may add additional time as and when I feel like it is worthwhile.

My Matched Betting routine is as follows:

8.30am - Log into Outplayed and browse both the Sports and Casino Reload Offers to see what’s available and decide my plan of action.

8.35am - If there are any good Price Boost offers I will do them immediately as the odds can worsen on these as the day goes on and it is an easy way to lock in quick guaranteed profit.

8.40am – Log into some of my key accounts (Coral, Ladbrokes, Betfred, Paddy Power, BetVictor etc) and place any available Bet and Get offers, Horse Racing Refunds, play the Daily Games and do ongoing offers such as Ladbrokes Only Spins and Horses and Betfred Mystery Spins.

9.10am – Check out the Lucky 15 Finder Tool and Extra Place Master Tool and place a handful of bets with a valuable positive expected value.

9.20am – Refer back to the reload lists and do the most valuable offers depending on what time I have available.

9.30am – By 9.30am I usually finish Matched Betting for the morning and often for the day. Occasionally if I have time, I will check the Lucky 15 Finder and Extra Place Master sporadically.

Evening – at some point in the evening I will spend 15 minutes checking the results of my bets and totting up my profits for the day.

If there are any good casino offers on, I will normally do them while relaxing on an evening. Also, sometimes there are in-play bets available for live evening matches so I will do them as well.

On average I do between 10 – 20 bets a day which works out at around 3 – 5 minutes per bet, plus I do some daily spins and offers.

Some days I don’t do Matched Betting at all if I don’t have the time, I just fit it around my other commitments.

The simplest way to find out how long Matched Betting takes is to try it yourself. Outplayed offers a <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register#1">free trial</a> to all new customers to introduce you to the principles of Matched Betting and see if it’s something you enjoy.

The trial gives you access to over 40 signup offers with step-by-step guides to get started. It takes you through creating a bookmaker account and an exchange account, claiming the bonus offers, how to find appropriate betting markets, and then placing and laying the bets.

Detailed step-by-step instructions are given throughout the process to ensure that all customers who take part in the trial make a guaranteed profit providing they follow the instructions correctly.

If you’re anything like me, then the trial will take you a while.

When I did it, I was completely new to Matched Betting and I read and reread everything about ten times to make sure I was doing it correctly.

I also wanted to understand what I was doing and why I was doing it at every stage of the process.

So, while you cannot take the trial as a good example of how long Matched Betting takes, it does give you an insight into the process.

Once you have completed your free trial, you get quicker with each offer.

Soon enough what may have taken you 25 minutes the first time only takes you 5 minutes to complete once you have more experience.

How Long Does Matched Betting Take?

Golf is one of the most popular sports worldwide, for playing, spectating and <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">betting</a>.

As one of the oldest sports in the world it has a rich history full of tradition and iconic tournaments. Its popularity means the sport attracts large television audiences, huge sponsorship deals and substantial prize money.

Tournaments take place all year round on a global scale and include both individual events and team events too. Many of them take place over several days, there is, therefore, a vast range of betting opportunities and varied betting markets too.

New tools such as the&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/golf-master">Golf Master</a>&nbsp;have made finding high value golf bets much easier.

Before we take a closer look at golf betting markets, tournaments, and what you need to consider when golf betting, we’ll give a brief summary of golf rules and scoring.

Golf is a club and ball sport played on a large grassed area called a golf course.

Every golf course is different, there's no standard size or layout, and this is deliberate to provide a series of varying challenges for players. However, professional events are usually played on an 18-hole golf course.

Each hole has a start point (teeing ground or the tee) and a finish point which is the cup hole and this sits on a short-grassed area known as the green or putting green.

In between the teeing ground and the hole is the ‘fairway’ which is a large stretch of grass that players aim to land their ball on while travelling to the hole. However, there is also hazardous terrain that the players have to navigate including sand bunkers, lakes, rocks, trees and long grass known as the ‘rough’.

The aim of the game is to get the ball from the tee-off area into the hole in as fewest strokes as possible. Every hole is played independently, but a full round of golf is all 18 holes, and so overall the aim is to make the smallest number of strokes over the full round.

Golf matches can be played with two, three or four players in opposition to each other or in teams depending on the event and the format and betting markets vary for each.

There are two different formats for golf scoring – stroke play and match play. Stroke play is the most common form of scoring in elite events.

Stroke play is basically how many strokes a player takes to get around a full 18-hole golf course and this is where par comes in.

‘Par’ is the expected amount of strokes that it takes to complete a golf hole or a golf course.

If a hole is expected to be completed in four strokes, then it is said to be a par 4. Likewise, less challenging holes will be a par 3 and more challenging holes will be par 5.

The par of a hole is determined by the length between the teeing ground and the hole, as well as things such as altitude, terrain and obstacles.

Golf scoring is completely centred around the par of a golf course. All players start on zero and they pick up and lose points based on whether they are playing on par, below par, or above par.

For example, if the first hole on a golf course is par 3 and a golfer completes the hole in three strokes, then their score will remain as zero. If the player completes it in two strokes, the score would be -1. If the player completed it in four strokes, then their score is +1.

A typical 18-hole golf course will have a total par around 72, although this can differ. This means that proficient golfers are expected to get around the full course in 72 strokes of the golf club.

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