This article will answer 3 main questions:

1. What is Matched Betting?
2. How Does it Work to Place a Matched Bet?
3. How can you use Oddshero for Matched Betting?

PART 1 - HOW DOES MATCHED BETTING WORK?

Matched Betting is a way to turn free bets offered by bookmakers into real money.

Bookmakers offer customers signup bonus offers and free bets to get people to bet money with them. These bonuses are easy to beat and profit from. The signup bonuses have a requirement in terms of how much money you need to bet in total to clear the bonus and free up the money so that you can withdraw it. This is called the turnover requirement. Matched betting is the method we use to clear the bonuses in a risk free way.

MATCHED BETTING EXPLAINED IN 5 STEPS

STEP 1 - CREATING A BOOKMAKER ACCOUNT AND ACTIVATING THE SIGNUP BONUS

Step 1: You sign up for Bet 365, and get a signup bonus of €100 if you deposit €100. You deposit the €100 and activate the bonus. Next you need to turnover this bonus 1 time in order to “win” the bonus money. Or in other words you need to bet the bonus amount of €100 x 1 = €100. The turnover requirement varies depending on the bookmaker and your location. You can find it in the Terms and Conditions of the bonus at the bookmaker’s website (Read More in Part 2).

To meet the turnover requirement and win the bonus money, we place matched bets. The goal is to breakeven on the bets you place, making them risk free. But for every bet you place you get closer to meeting the turnover requirement of the bonus and thus win the bonus money.

There are 3 possible scenarios of what happens with a matched bet.

1. We make a Profit
2. We make a loss
3. We breakeven

Sometimes we place matched bets which are profitable regardless of the game outcome. Sometimes we accept taking a small loss on the game. And sometimes we just breakeven

This is totally fine, if the amount is negligible compared to the €100 bonus. E.g. We place 10 matched bets, we lose €1 on each bet, €10 in total, but we make €100 profit from the bonus. Then our net profit from clearing the bonus is €100 - €10 = €90.

Next, let’s use a football game in the Premier League as an example for how it works to place a matched bet. Liverpool are playing against Manchester United and we are going to bet on how many goals there will be in the game.

STEP 2 - PLACING THE BONUS BET AT THE BONUS BOOKMAKER

Step 2: You place a €10 bet at 2.00 in odds on there being over 2 goals in the game. This is called a Bonus Bet, because we place it with the bookmaker where we have the signup bonus.

STEP 3 - PLACING THE COVER BET AT THE COVER BOOKMAKER

Step 3: You place €10 at 2.00 in odds bet on there being under 2 goals in the game. This is called a Cover Bet, because we match our Bonus Bet by betting on the opposite result. Basically we are covering our losses and thus completing the matched bet, which is what we call the combination of the two bets.

STEP 4 - THE GAME ENDS AND WE MAKE €0 PROFIT ON THE MATCHED BET

Step 4: The game ends 2-2.

The Bonus Bet won, so you won 2 * €10 = €20 - your stake of €10 = €10 profit.

The Cover Bet lots, so you lost €10.

€10 - €10 = €0. Making your net profit on the 2 bets equal to €0.

The important thing to note is that regardless of whether the Bonus Bet or the Cover Bet won or lost: We would not have lost any money on the bets. So it was completely risk free.

However you bet a total of €10 at the Bonus Bookmaker. So you are now €10 closer to meeting the turnover requirement of the bonus and winning the €100 bonus money.

STEP 5 - KEEP PLACING MATCHED BETS UNTIL YOU HAVE CLEARED THE BONUS

Step 5: We simply repeat this process of placing matched bets until we have cleared the bonus requirement! Then we cash out the €100 bonus money!

In the next article we will cover how you set up your accounts with the bookmakers to help you get started with matched betting yourself!

Remember, you can try Oddshero for free today! Just create a user at our website.