Your Complete Guide to Matched Betting on Football

Imagine if someone walked up to you and told you that you can bet on sporting events and be guaranteed to land a profit. You would probably laugh in their face and tell them to get lost, right? We know that things that are too good to be true often turn out to be exactly that but, in this case, the person would be telling you the truth. This is called matched betting and a lot of people use it to earn extra money. But what is it, is it legal, and is it worth your time? We will answer all these questions in the following matched betting guide.

What Exactly is Matched Betting?

To explain it as simply as we can, matched betting is a way that you can bet on your favourite sporting events without taking risks. How is this? Well, it is because with matched betting you cover all the possible outcomes, meaning that you will end up with a positive return no matter the final result. Just so you know, matched betting is also sometimes called “bonus hunting” or “no-risk betting”.

Now, you might be sitting there thinking to yourself that this is not possible as it would mean that sports betting sites would lose a lot of money and would make sure that it was no possible, but it can be done thanks to free bet bonuses and other types of promotions. A great thing about matched betting is that it does not require you to have a lot of knowledge in a sport in order to be successful. Okay, you will definitely have a bit of an advantage if you are familiar with a sport and have experience betting on it, but it is not too hard to pick up some knowledge as you go along.

How Does Matched Betting Work?

As we just mentioned, matched betting works because it allows you to cover the different possible outcomes of sporting events that you would like to place bets on. Naturally, you cannot do matched betting via just betting sites because the odds that bookmakers set for a particular sport event will have a betting margin that ensures the bookie can make a profit. Thus, in order to partake in matched betting, you have to make use of a betting exchange.

Before we go and provide you with an example of matched betting to provide you with a better understanding, we thought it would be wise to explain what a betting exchange is. So, here it goes. A betting exchange is a site that allows bettors to place bets against their fellow bettors instead of the bookie. At a betting exchange, you offer odds to, or request odds from fellow punters. Traditional bookmakers go head-to-head with sports bettors on markets, but there is no risk for the operator of a betting exchange. Gamblers place bets against each other, and the betting exchange will take a small commission from whoever wins.

Betting exchanges are now popular because they offer bettors a much greater selection. Before there were such things as betting exchanges, if a bookie was not willing to offer the markets or odds that you were after, you had to miss out. However, now, thanks to betting exchanges, you only need to locate another gambler who is happy to take the risk on – they will lay your bet. One other reason why they are really popular is that they offer great value. Bookmakers, in order to ensure they make a profit, do not provide their customers with true odds – they always take a small fraction from the odds to ensure they make money. However, with a betting exchange, the market is not priced by a solitary person, but by hundreds of bets, which means there is more pressure on the layer to offer fair odds if they want their bets to be matched.

Matched Betting Example

Football is the most popular sport in the world, and the English Premier League is one of the most watched leagues in the world. Thus, we are going to use the Premier League in our example. Let us say that Manchester United are playing Tottenham Hotspur. If you bet on United to win the game, you would be backing them. However, if you believe that United will not win, you can lay Spurs to win. If Spurs did win or drew the match, laying United would be a successful wager.

With matched betting, you would head over to the bookie you have signed up with and back United to win. To cover the other outcomes, you would go to a betting exchange, such as Betfair, and lay United. If United go on and win, your back bet will be a winner. If the game ends in a draw or a Spurs win, you will win your lay bet. Either way, you will win some money.

We should stress that matched betting can only work when you are making use of free bets because this way you are not using your own money on both wagers. Do not let this put you off from matched betting though because bookmakers nowadays offer many free bets and promotions. There is so much competition within the gaming industry now that any bookie that does not offer regular bonuses will not find themselves on any best bookie list such commonly found at comparison and review website  www.betinireland.ie. Before you start using any bonuses, pleased remember to read the T&Cs carefully.

Is Matched Betting Legal?

Many sports bettors are not willing to give matched betting a go because they consider it to be shady, but you should not worry about this as it is 100% legal. Sports betting sites know that it happens, but they cannot do a lot about it. After all, if they carry on providing their players with bonuses, people will be happy to take advantage. Not only is matched betting legal, but it is often recommended as a brilliant way for punters to make tax-free money with little effort.

Is It Worth It?

It is not easy to put an exact figure on the amount of cash that you can make via matched betting. However, a lot of people who take up this type of betting strategy find that they can earn a full-time income doing so. Thus, the answer to whether it is worth it or not is that it is, so long as you make sure to follow the rules. We actually suggest that you use a spreadsheet as this will make it easier to keep track of your matched betting. You should set a monthly target to give you something to work towards.

Matched Betting Pros and Cons

To round up our article, we are going to look at the pros and cons of this type of betting.

Pros

One of the main pros of this type of betting is that you do not have to be a sports guru in order to profit from it. Thus, it is great for those people who live a busy lifestyle and want to make some extra money. For example, someone who stays at home and looks after their children can do a sport of matched betting to get some extra money for the family.

Another pro is that it does not count as gambling since there should be no chance of your losing an money. Additionally, there is a friendly and welcoming matched betting community and anyone who is new to matched betting can find plenty of experts who are happy to share some advice.

Cons

One of the major cons of this type of betting is that if you have opened accounts with lots of bookies then you might start finding it tricky to make money since new bookie account are important when matched betting because you have to use free bet bonuses. Additionally, you need a decent bankroll to start with, and this is something that could hinder those people who do not have an awful lot of money to spare.