Bolger

When most people place a bet they will stake a set amount on a particular outcome, e.g. that Team A will beat Team B, but in order to make any money they are going to have to either get lucky or have some kind of insider knowledge! The technique of matched betting on the other hand, involves not just placing a bet as a punter, but also laying a bet as a bookmaker would, which the advent of betting exchanges has allowed any average Joe to do. Properly used, matched betting can be used to eliminate the element of luck and make guaranteed no risk returns.

The Technique

When you place a bet you "back" the outcome you have chosen. For example, you might back Team A with 10 (* Any currency works the same, GBP is used for the purposes of this article) to beat Team B at odds of 3 to 1. If Team A does indeed beat Team B, you would receive 30 winnings and the return of your 10 stake (total 40). If you lose because Team A does not beat Team B then the bookmaker will keep you 10 stake.

Consider for a moment, however, what would your position be if you were the bookmaker? If Team A beat Team B you would have to pay out 30 in winnings and return the 10 stake. But, if Team A did not beat Team B then you would be entitled to keep the 10 stake for a 10 profit. The process of offering a bet to someone, just as a bookmaker does, is know as 'laying' a bet.

Acting as both the punter and bookmaker leads to a rather strange conclusion. Some of you may have already spotted this, but whatever the outcome, the back bet and the lay bet cancel each other out. In each case the net result is 0.

Situation 1

If Team A beats Team B you as the punter gain 30 (winnings) and you as bookmaker lose 30. The net gain is 0.

If Team A doesn't beat Team B you as the bookmaker gain 10 (the punters stake) and you as the punter lose 10. The net gain is 0.

How do I make profits?

Great, you may be thinking. "If whatever I win is always cancelled out by whatever I lose how am I going to make any money?" Don't worry. Matched betting is not used by itself, but in conjunction with the free bets and bonuses offered to new and existing customers by bookmakers to make the guaranteed no risk returns. Referring back to our Situation 1 of Team A and Team B, lets assume now that you are not backing Team A to beat Team B with your own 10, but are instead using a 10 free bet given to you by the bookmaker. You should now be able to see that irrespective of whether Team A do in fact beat Team B you will make a profit of 10 (the free bet amount).

Situation 2

If Team A beats Team B you as the punter gain 40 (30 winnings plus the 10 stake returned which was not yours in the first place) and you as the bookmaker lose 30 (winnings paid out). The net gain is 10.

If Team A does not beat Team B you as the bookmaker gain 10 (the stake) and you as the punter lose 0 (the stake was free). The net gain is 10.

Expected Profits

Does this sound to good to be true? Well it is and it isn't. There are a couple of minor points worth bearing in mind. The neat examples used to illustrate the technique of matched betting do not reflect reality 100%. For example, you will need to use betting exchanges to lay bets that charge commission of between 1 and 5 percent, and sometimes may struggle to find identical odds. Nevertheless, it is possible to use Matched Betting to gain a guaranteed profit of between 95 to 75 percent of the value of the free bet you receive. There are hundreds of free bet offers out there so the possibility is there for substantial profits.