Matched betting- the penny has finally dropped

bobbadog

I printed off all the matched betting info I could find a while ago, and read it when i'm on the train and can't find a metro. It's slowly sinking in. I know it's in principle absolutely free money, but i must admit i'm scared of using betting sites incase I get a bit stupid.

mrslawrence2003

saraht wrote:

You've given me hope Mrs S! I feel so thick everytime I read the threads as I just can't get it, bit I will persevere!

sarah

well i have read them and have no hope of it so have asked my (intelligent) husband to have a go and he STILL doesn't get it and is convinced it doesnt work!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :mad:

Dan29

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

find something to be on.( to win ).. go via cashback site...

The best way is to find a bookie doing a free bet offer (see the board on this site for loads of examples). Then sign up, and THEN start looking for something do bet on where the odds are similar at Betfair.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

so when the results come in...you win with one.. which ever way the out come...is...

Yes. You might not quite win all your money back, but if the odds are close you won't lose much - and of course you have the free bet still to come.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

so you keep going to betfair for the one bet... and you find new sites for the other bet....

Yep. Betfair is the constant. The bookies, you use and abuse

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

but this is the confusing bit for me..... the free bet...

do i use the free bet as another....bet...on something totally diff...( another bet all together..and the do opp bet with betfair)

Yes. Normally the first thing (e.g. football match) you bet on will have finished before the bookie gives you your free bet, so that's all over and done with by the time you start looking for odds to use the free bet.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

also how much do you spend on one set of bets if that is right way of sayng it..

Most people start with Coral which is a £50 free bet. This requires a deposit of £50 into Coral and about £10 into Betfair. You can start with a smaller free bet if you don't want to put £50 in initially. The advantage of doing Coral first is that you should then have at least £45 profit which you can continue to use for matched betting - i.e. you don't necessarily have to keep using your own money once you've done that first bet, just reinvesting your profits

COOLTRIKERCHICK

thanks dan 29... its slowly making sense....

just to clarify... one point again (sorry) say football teams..... bet at one site.. for team x to win...
then bet at betfair for team x to lose.....

but make sure the odds are roughly the same

and bet the same amount at each betting site..

so you gain with the cash back and free bet....which with the free bet you do the same.... and then the free bet becomes the money...( if you win with the free bet..)

have i got it is that right...

Markyt

mrslawrence2003 wrote:

well i have read them and have no hope of it so have asked my (intelligent) husband to have a go and he STILL doesn't get it and is convinced it doesnt work!!!!!!!! ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH :mad:

It works alright

Might help to think of it slightly differently.

If you open a bank account with A&L via Quidco, you can get £50 sign up bonus. That has cost you nothing, and you have gained £50. That's not a gamble - you are given the money, and there is no risk to your own funds.

If you open an account with Totesport, for example, you also get a sign up bonus. Unlike the bank account, however, you can't withdraw it until you have used it to bet with.

This is where the matched betting trick comes in - it lets you free the money up so you can withdraw it, regardless of the result of the bet.

Put as simply as I can, you use the bonus money to put a bet on Team A to win.

At the same time, you've been given a sign up bonus for a betting exchange, such as Betfair. You use this money to bet on Team A to lose.

Now, whether Team A wins or loses, you have released the bonus money so it becomes withdrawable. It is either in the form of winnings at totesport, if your team won, or it is in your Betfair account, if your team lost. Either way, you can withdraw the money.


For anyone more experienced reading this, I know you need qualifying bets etc, but I'm trying to get the principle across as that is the same!

all_hours

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

just to clarify... one point again (sorry) say football teams..... bet at one site.. for team x to win...
then bet at betfair for team x to lose.....

Wait until one of the others confirms this because I'm just getting my head around it myself. You bet that they win at the bet site, then lay the same bet at the betting exchange. So if you bet that England win, you would choose England win at the bet exchange but pick the lay option.

Fill_7

all_hours wrote:

Wait until one of the others confirms this because I'm just getting my head around it myself. You bet that they win at the bet site, then lay the same bet at the betting exchange. So if you bet that England win, you would choose England win at the bet exchange but pick the lay option.

thats correct :T

leon103

Dan29 wrote:

Bookie = Coral, Ladbrokes, Tote etc. Betting exchange = Betfair. Here's an example, to extract the cash from a £10 free bet at the bookie Coral:

- Deposit £10 of your own money in Coral

- Bet £10 on something to happen (e.g. Italy v France - a Draw)

- Go to Betfair, a betting exchange where you act as the bookie

- TAKE A BET of £10 on the SAME thing to happen (Italy v France - a Draw)

- Either way, you get a guaranteed amount of money back, probably about £9.50 so you're 50p down at this point. But:

- Coral give you your free £10 bet

- Use it as above, getting another guaranteed £9.50 or so

- You're £9 up, plus any sign-up bonuses from Quidco etc

Thanks for this.

Have nearly got my head around this many of times, but never get there. But seeing it in front of me, makes it all make sense.

One question though. Do companies like Carol etc only give you free bet ie. Dep £10, £10 free, when you sign up or is it every bet?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

all_hours wrote:

Wait until one of the others confirms this because I'm just getting my head around it myself. You bet that they win at the bet site, then lay the same bet at the betting exchange. So if you bet that England win, you would choose England win at the bet exchange but pick the lay option.

so i have to bet that team x is going to win at both sites..is that what you mean . if thats the case if the lose..i lose at both sites
what does lay mean ..

Dan29

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

just to clarify... one point again (sorry) say football teams..... bet at one site.. for team x to win...
then bet at betfair for team x to lose.....

Yes (at Betfair you're acting as a bookie and actually TAKING a bet from a punter who wants to bet on that team to win, but the effect is the same - if the team loses, you win money at Betfair).

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

and bet the same amount at each betting site..

There's a spreadsheet you can download to tell you what stake to take at Betfair.

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote:

so you gain with the cash back and free bet....which with the free bet you do the same.... and then the free bet becomes the money...( if you win with the free bet..)

have i got it is that right...

I think so. With the free bet you also lay it at Betfair as you did with your first bet, so whatever you bet the free bet on doesn't have to win for you to convert the free bet amount into cash. If you win at the bookie you have withdrawable cash in your bookie account, if you win at Betfair you have withdrawable cash there