Earn Extra Income: matched betting made simple

Welcome to the next post in my side hustle series, looking at tried and tested methods to earn extra income. There are so many ways to make extra cash when you need to. This week Adam from Money Savvy Daddy has written a post on matched betting made simple. No idea what that is? Read on!

Matched Betting Made Simple

When I saw that Jane from Shoestring Cottage was looking for posts on favourite ways to make extra money, I popped up with my suggestion of matched betting. She replied saying she had given it a try, but not been able to get her head around it. This is a not uncommon response. Hopefully this post will rectify that for Jane and any like-minded readers. 

My Side Hustle of Choice: Matched Betting Explained 

In this post, I will introduce you to the basics of matched betting so you can get an idea of what’s involved and whether it’s a potential side hustle for you. 

If you want to know more I’ve also written my own Matched Betting Guide With Profit Boosting Tips with more detailed explanations and illustrations of the basics, plus extra pointers to make more money from the start. 

If after reading there’s anything you are still not sure of, please do feel to ask me any questions. 

What Is Matched Betting and How does It Work? 

Matched Betting is a method of exploiting bookmakers’ promotions for profit.  It is not gambling.  You are taking specific actions to cover all outcomes and make yourself a profit. 

Primarily, when starting out, this is done by profiting from the many free bet sign up offers that are available.  Typically a sign up offer might be something like this. 

• Bet £10 get a £20 free bet. 

In very simple terms, what we have to do is place a back bet of £10 on a sporting event at the bookmakers. We can then cancel out that bet by placing what’s called a lay bet at a betting exchange. 

These qualifying bets will be on events where the odds at both the bookmaker and the exchange are nearly the same. To find these we use a simple tool called an OddsMatcher.  These two bets combined are our qualifying bets and will result in a small loss.  The further apart the odds are, the bigger our loss will be and we want to keep that as low as we can. 

Quick Note: In matched betting we use decimal odds instead of the more confusing fractional odds format.  So for example 5/4 would be 2.25 and something like 3/1 would be 4.0.    

Qualifying  Bet Example

Bet 1: Bet on England to win v Germany at odds 2.0 

Bet 2: Lay bet on England odds are 2.03 

Using a matched betting calculator it would tell us the qualifying loss after placing both bets would be 15p.

If England wins the match, the bookie bet wins and the lay bet at the exchange loses.   

If England doesn’t win, the back bet loses at the bookmaker and the lay bet wins.  The lay bet covers Germany winning and the result being a draw.  Whatever the outcome you still lose 15p.

Free Bet Example 

Once the above bets have completed, we have now qualified for a £20 free bet. 

We can do the same process again, using the OddsMatcher to find the most profitable bet matches and this time use the free bet option on the Matched Betting calculator. 

From a free bet we would be looking for a match that guarantees us a minimum of 75-80% of the value of the free bet.  So £15-£16 profit from the £20 free bet. 

Let’s say we use the free bet on a different game, this time on a correct score bet. 

Bet 1: Place the Free bet at the Bookmaker on  Liverpool to win 2.0 v Everton at odds of 10.0 

Bet 2: Lay Bet at the exchange Liverpool to win 2.0 at odds of 11.0 

Profit from the free bet would be (assuming 0% commission) £16.36. 

If Liverpool wins 2.0 the bookmaker bet will win and the lay bet will lose. 

If the score is any other scoreline, e.g  0.0, 1.0. 3.2 etc, then the lay bet wins.   So this is a great example to show you how 2 bets literally cover all outcomes. 

Whatever the score result you will end up in profit of £16.36 

Total Profit: We made £16.36 from the free bet profit minus our qualifying loss of 15p means we would have made a profit of £16.21 

The above in a nutshell is the basics of matched betting and we can repeat this process over and over again at multiple other bookies, many of which also have offers like this for existing customers which we can also do.  These promotions are called reloads. 

Free bets are just the start; in addition, there are many more different types of promotions or opportunities we can profit from.   

How To Get Started 

The best way to get started is to sign up to a matched betting site.   The two main ones are Profit Accumulator (Review) and Oddsmonkey, both of which offer totally free trials.   

Typically on the free trial, you complete 2 offers following the step by step instructions and should profit £40-£45.  It’s then up to you to decide whether you want to sign up as a member and continue making money from many more sign-ups and other offers and opportunities for profit. 

The memberships are monthly and you can cancel anytime. Typically the monthly fee is around £17.99, but you can make that back by successfully completing just one offer. 

The best matched betting sites act as teachers, mentoring you step by step through the process of every available offer and each matched betting tool. 

Once the Sign Ups Are Complete – What Next? 

A common misconception with matched betting is that it is only possible with the sign-up offers and once they are complete that’s it. However, the majority of long term matched betting profit comes from reload Offers.   These come in a vast range of completely different types.  

Here are just a few examples of the types of reload offers: 

• Bet and get free bet or free spins 
• Extra places (inc. horse racing, golf) 
• Refunds (inc horse racing, football) 
• Early pay out offers (possibly win both back and the exchange lay bets) 

In addition to the above, you could also do:  

• Casino sign ups  
• Bingo sign ups 

Again, both online casinos and bingo rooms will have reload offers. 

Casino bingo reloads 

• Free spins 

• Daily scratch card or daily spin with risk-free prizes 
• Wager £10 get 20 free spins 

Is Matched Betting Worth It? 

Whether matched betting is worth it or not depends on how much money you can make from it.  A good few hundred pounds can be made from sign-up offers alone.  You can take your time working through these at your own pace.  Occasionally the offers change, but there’s plenty to work through and new ones are added as they become available. 

How much you make from Reloads will in part depend on a few factors: 

• How much time you put in  
• Your bankroll 
• Commitment to learning new methods 

Typically I find it pretty easy to make £300+ every month.  Some months when busy on other projects that’s all I’ve aimed for.   

However, when I built my bank, helped in part to a month when I made over £4900+, I used the extra bankroll and put time towards using all the tools and forum threads available to make as much as possible. I found I could make over £1000-£2000+ (income reports on my blog). 

How Much Time Does It Take?

One of the best things about matched betting is that you can dedicate as much or as little time to it as you want. It is possible to do some type of offer pretty much 24/7. How much time it takes depends on various factors.  With experience you will get quicker at completing offers.  Also, you will learn which offers are more worth your while. 

With so many opportunities available, it’s possible you can matched bet for 5-8 hours a day and be doing completely different offers to someone else dedicating the same amount of time. 

Advantages of  Matched Betting as a Side Hustle 

There are a number of reasons why matched betting is my favourite side hustle. Here are some of the main advantages: 

• No prior knowledge required 
• Tax-Free profits 
• Can start straight away 
• Choose to do anytime 24/7 
• All you need is a laptop or mobile device 
• No stock or space taken up  
• Start with as little as £60-£100 
• Will make profit quickly 

My Matched Betting Tips 

My own Matched Betting guide is a good starting point for expanding your understanding further.  I share multiple in-depth income reports with full breakdowns of how I made my matched betting profits each month, with tips and links to forum threads so you can set up the same. 

Build your bank 

 If you can keep your profits, or at least some of each profit you make, it will be lot easier for you to keep making money on an ongoing basis. Also, the more you make and save to your pot, the more you will be able to take advantage of opportunities when they arise. 

Advantages of a bigger pot 

• Multiple offers on the go at the same time 

• No waiting for withdrawals  
• Able to place higher odds free bets  
• Spread money around  multiple exchanges to take advantage of lay odds  
• Could start low risk casino offers 
• Higher stake offers and opportunities 

The higher stake opportunities may not be around every week, but when they are they can be very lucrative.  In some cases, no amount of money is too much, so the more you have available the better. 

Where To Find Me 

If you want to, you can find me at my blog MoneySavvyDaddy where I have a few matched betting posts that will be of more use once you are on your journey.  I also  share my progress and  tips at MoneySavvyDaddy on Instragram, both in posts and more often in the Instagram Stories, so feel free to follow me, drop me a hello or ask a question. 

Hopefully my explanations on how to make money from matched betting have helped improve your understanding of what it is and how it works. Of course, if there’s anything you are not sure of or if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me in the comments or contact me direct. 

Thanks so much to Adam for shedding light on a side hustle I just couldn’t get my head round with this matched betting made simple guide. I actually understand it now! If you enjoyed this post, check out some of the others in my side hustle series here and here to find out how you can make extra income.