How to Use Matched Betting to Your Advantage

You may have never heard of matched betting. Get rich quick schemes and other money making tutorials are all over the internet. There is no such thing as free money, but this form of betting is a legitimate way to earn money. Read on to learn how it all works.

Key Points

– While matched betting is a simple process, it is not a strategy that is profitable in the long run.

– Matched betting is only available in jurisdictions where betting exchanges exist.

What Is a Matched Bet

Very simply, matched betting involves placing bets at multiple sportsbooks in a way to ensure a win no matter the result all while using free bet offers.

By hedging against free bet offers at online sportsbooks at an online betting exchange, matched bets are a risk-free betting strategy that enables you to profit. Since you can predict the result with complete certainty and have eliminated chance from the equation, it really isn’t even gambling.

Because you always stake the same sum of money on all potential outcomes, matched betting doesn't require any prior knowledge of sports or betting. The objective is to make sure your free bet offer is successful rather than to "win" a bet in the conventional sense.

This is a form of hedging as you are only placing a bet on one of the two possible outcomes. Betting NFL futures, for example, doesn’t work here. You use a free bet from the sportsbook as insurance against your own funds.

Step-by-Step Matched Betting

Here is a very high-level summary of how to begin using this technique. You must stake your own funds on a qualifying bet before you can use the free bets offered by the majority of sportsbooks out there. Remember, books have a rollover requirement before you can access any winnings.

You won't lose the money you put down, so keep that in mind. Simply having the money on hand is all that is required to unlock the free bet.

Find a free bet promotion at an online sportsbook, then sign up there to access the deal. Choose a wager that will allow you to unlock your free bet by fulfilling the sportsbook's rollover requirements.

If the book demands a $100 wager in order to activate a $100 free bet, place the $100 wager on any line with just two possible outcomes. Avoid betting on horse racing, three-way moneylines, and championship futures. NBA point spreads, for example, work perfectly.

Find the same event on a betting exchange and place your wager on the other side of the bet at the same odds. In the end, one wager will be a winner and the other is a loser. You end up with $100 minus any fees levied by the betting exchange. You will lose a small portion on fees at an exchange, but you will effectively take a sportsbook’s money.

Place a Matched Bet for a Profit That Is Guaranteed

Bettors can repeat this process by placing the free bet at a sportsbook and laying down real cash at a betting exchange. You will win one side of the bet and can withdraw your winnings regardless of the outcome of the sporting event.

Matching bets can be an advantageous way to wager on long odds that would otherwise be too risky because there is no chance of losing your money. Betting NHL underdogs, for example, would be good bets to pursue.

Arbitrage Betting vs. Matched Betting

Similar to arbitrage betting, matched bets involve making equal bets on all potential outcomes of an event. The difference lies in your approach; arbitrage betting takes advantage of sizable disparities in the odds offered by various sportsbooks. This requires extensive line-scanning on the part of bettors in search of opportunities.

Matched betting is much easier, and you can use it to guarantee profit by placing bets on both sides of any wager. The wager must be available at an online betting exchange and is qualified for a free bet.

Is It Fraud?

This betting method is not a scam or some pyramid scheme. It has been heavily promoted on numerous betting websites. Using this strategy is not considered fraud just as betting NBA parlays is not fraud either.

Any sportsbook that permits online sports betting is legal for matched betting. The only restriction is that in order to effectively benefit from this strategy, you must have access to a betting exchange.

The most well-known online exchange, Betfair, is only accessible in Delaware, New Jersey, and Nevada. Despite being legal, matched bets are still out of reach for the majority of American gamblers for the time being.

Does It Make Sense?

When compared to traditional sports betting, matched betting is not the most effective or entertaining way to increase your income. Using matched bets doesn't pay more than minimum wage unless you are extremely productive.

Even if you used every initial free bet, you would probably end up with a few thousand dollars after hundreds of hours of work. Yes, it is risk-free, but that doesn’t mean that it is free. It takes time and some effort.

There are many other betting strategies that can bring in positive returns. Working on matched bets should be viewed as more of a hobby or something to do if you have the extra time. And don’t forget, this type of betting isn’t available in all states.

Sportsbooks Can Ban You for Matched Betting

Online and physical sportsbooks are always on the lookout for bettors trying to “pull one over” on them. Sportsbooks used shared security servers making it easy to identify high rollers attempting to use strategies like matched betting.

Almost all online wagering websites make it clear that they are only for "recreational bettors," but taking advantage of a free offer to make sure of winning money at a gambling website is hardly recreational.

Despite this, some business leaders have asserted that online sportsbooks aren't particularly interested in matched betting. The offers are ultimately too valuable in terms of bringing in new customers. The books don’t really restrict them, though they can put limitations on a bettor and even ban them for such activities.