What is matched betting?

Beat the Bookmakers with Outplayed

Bookmakers give away huge cash sums as free bets as a way to attract new customers and to keep them betting. Matched Betting exploits these offers and turns them into cash by using a little math to place multiple bets that cover all possible outcomes.

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How Does Matched Betting Turn Free Bets to Cash?

Bookmakers give money away in the form of bonuses and free bets. Matched Betting can be used to extract 60-85% of the total bonus or free bet amount as cash. This cash can be extracted no matter what happens at the end of the game, race, or match that is being bet on. As long as Matched Betting is done properly, win, lose or draw the cash can be extracted.

Here’s a brief outline of how Matched Betting on a free bet works:

The free back bet is placed at the bookmaker (e.g. for Team A to win). Immediately after that, one lay bet is placed at a betting exchange. This lay bet must be a bet that is directly against, or directly opposite to, the result that was just bet on at the bookmaker (e.g. it must be on Team A to NOT win). The stake (or amount) of the lay bet required at the betting exchange is always determined using a Matched Betting calculator. By laying the bookmaker's free bet off correctly at the betting exchange, it is possible to unlock the value of the free bet as cash, regardless of the outcome of the event.

A typical cash extraction on a free Matched Bet where the stake is returned is 85%+ of the free bet amount. For a free Matched Bet where the stake is not returned, the cash extraction is around 70%-80%.

This means if a bookmaker is giving away a £10 free bet - on average, using the written tutorials, video guides, community, calculators and other tools Outplayed provide, you will be able to ‘unlock’ approximately £7-£8 of that free bet as cash profit.

As another example, let's say a bookmaker is giving away £10 if you bet £10 on tennis. If the odds are right, it would be possible to bet on Player A to win and bet against (or lay) on Player A not to win at a betting exchange. Doing this would mean your original £10 is returned (as you have all outcomes covered) and you also get your £10 bonus from bookmaker. You then repeat the matching process (one bet at the bookmaker, and equivalent but opposite lay bet at the betting exchange) with your free bet amount to extract a profit.

It’s worth knowing that not all bookmaker free bets, offers, incentives and promotions are made equal. With over 50 bookmakers in the UK handing out incentives every day it can get overwhelming to work out which offers are best to do.

This is where Outplayed comes in.

Our expert team finds every profitable Matched Betting offer for you do, then list and categorize them for you too. If all that wasn’t enough - they also provide step-by-step guides, frequently with videos for you to follow. All this means is that you just login, pick the best offers for you, follow the guides and profit.

On top of all that Outplayed also provides you with all sorts of Matched Betting tools to help make the back and lay betting as efficient and effective as possible. Trying to do Matched Betting without everything Outplayed has to offer would become extremely time consuming.

You might have seen that some of the bonuses and free bets offered by bookies are for new customers only. Matched Betting works well beyond these initial signup offers though as the bookmakers also provide incentives, promotions, bonuses and free bets for their existing customers. In the Matched Betting community these offers are known as reload offers. As there are so many bookmakers in the UK all competing for their customers attention - there end up being reloads offers for us to profit on pretty much every day.

Is Matched Betting Legal?

Yes, Matched Betting is perfectly legal.

It can be done by anyone who is eligible to open an online betting account in the UK and Ireland (i.e. Over 18’s only!). As profits made with Matched Betting are classed as betting winnings, it's also tax-free.

Matched Betting is still relatively new, which is one of the reasons many still don't know about it or trust it. In recent years it's been growing in popularity as people realise the potential. Outplayed, for example, has had over 150,000 paying members use our service.

It is true that if bookmakers suspect you are Matched Betting they will no longer provide you with free bet promotions or restrict how much you can stake on a bet. This isn’t to worry about as there are so many legitimate methods to keep under the bookies radars. Our Matched Betting community share advice and tips on this very matter to help members keep their accounts thriving.

How Much Can You Make From Matched Betting?

Results with Matched Betting vary widely and mainly depend on how much time you can dedicate to it.

We have 1000’s of active members, many of who do really well only just doing 2-3 hours when they can over the course of a week (i.e. 20-30 minutes a day). Matched Betting is super flexible and can fit in around even very busy schedules.

For those who can put more time in, such as 2-3 hours a day, the results can be very rewarding as you can complete more of the available offers.

Outplayed does not recommend Matched Betting as a replacement for any form of employment.

Will I need to learn about sports or betting?

At Outplayed we teach you everything you need to be successful at Matched Betting. Our training guides and videos walk you through how to place both back bets at the bookmakers and lay bets at the betting exchanges. The guides also clearly explain that the process of Matched Betting always involves the placement of both a back bet and a lay bet. These two types of bet are always done so that all possible outcomes are covered.

Learn More About Matched Betting

There's a host of matched betting guides and other resources free to access for those who want to find out more.

Here's some suggested articles:

• Myths about matched betting
• Lay betting - an introduction to laying bets
• Organise your matched betting approach
• Matched betting spreadsheet to track profits
• Arbitrage betting explained
• Gubbed accounts and how to avoid it
• Dutching - introduction to the betting system
• Hedge betting - how it works

Match Betting Tips

What is Match Betting? It is a system that allows you to profit from betting on both sides of a sporting event. It is also called Matched Betting, lay bet matching or double betting. Math combined with the use of lay betting at a betting exchange enable Match Betting to work successfully.

Keep it simple

Start with the sign-up offers and only do the offers you understand. As your experience grows, as will your confidence and this is important before attempting some of the more advanced and complex offers. Remember, Matched Betting is not a get-rich-quick scheme. You do have to learn the process and devote time to completing the offers - but it is worth it!

Monitor your money

Keeping track of your cash is vital. Your money will be spread across several bookmaker and betting exchange accounts and it's easy to lose track of what's where. We recommend using our integrated Profit Tracker Tool to keep track or one of our recommended Matched Betting spreadsheets.

Stay secure

Keep a list of usernames of passwords using something like LastPass. This will save you time and keep your details secure when logging into all your bookmaker accounts. We also recommend using two-factor authentication on your Outplayed and betting exchange accounts.

Ask for help

Don't be afraid to ask questions or get help from our amazing team and communities. They all remember when they first started Matched Betting and love to help beginners. Our customer support is truly superb and they are available by phone, email and website live chat seven days a week.

Jargon buster

When you start matched betting, you're likely to run into a few unfamiliar words and phrases, especially if you use the forum.

Here's some of the most common terms with definitions:

Football specific:

Horse Racing specific:

Bookies (To name a few):