I’ve picked up on some rumblings on Twitter recently about “matched betting”. Admittedly, all the talk about “Risk Free Profit” sounded a bit scammy to me at first. I do a lot of research before parting with my money. The more I pondered it, the more I though that giving it a go wouldn’t be so bad, if only for the purposes of science. I got some back pay from work after an error made by payroll was corrected and thought that would be a perfect starting amount to invest in my experiment. My luck is already in!

WARNING Matched Betting isn’t for everyone. I should probably note that If you don’t agree with gambling or have had a problem with gambling in the past, this probably isn’t for you. There is money to be made here, but if you don’t trust yourself not to sway from the system, I’d steer clear.

I’ve never really been one for gambling,I don’t particularly follow sports and I don’t think I’ve ever placed a bet on a sporting event. I did have a foolish stint with online casinos playing (and ultimately losing) Blackjack in years gone by, but I soon learnt from my errors.  I’m far from an expert on gambling and odds, but I wanted to document this process for others to follow, or not as the case may be. But matched betting isn’t gambling.

What is Matched Betting?

Matched betting in my limited understanding is where you make use of free bets provided by online bookmakers used to encourage new gamblers.  Once you have placed a bet on a single outcome, you are at risk, but if you “lay”a bet (bet for the opposite outcome) on an online betting exchange, with the correct calculations of odds, you remove the aspect of risk. How about a quick and VERY simplified example?

Chelsea vs Liverpool

Taking the above fictitious match if you put (your free bet of) £10 down that Liverpool will win, there’s the possibility that Chelsea could win OR the match could end in a draw. You’d be at risk of losing.

To negate that risk, you go to another bookmaker and put your own money down (after calculating the odds) that Liverpool will not win. This means that in the case of a draw or Chelsea winning, you make your money and profit either way.

At least thats how I understand it!

MY PLAN OF ACTION FOR MATCHED BETTING

Setup a new Bank Account for Matched Betting

I am in the process of setting up a new current account to use with my matched betting experiment. Not only is this good to keep separate from your every day banking so you can keep a closer track on your winnings – all online gambling winnings in the UK are tax free – but it has been told that applications for loans or mortgages could be affected due to the number of transactions with bookmakers.

Set a Profit Target for Matched Betting

This is important to keep track of your winnings and work out if it’s worth your time in the long run. My initial deposit into my new bank account will be £200. That doesn’t mean £200 straight into a bookmaker though. The intention is make my £200 back, and then make at least that every month. Based on the time I have for this, I feel that’s a pretty modest target.

Create a Matched Betting Spreadsheet

More tracking here. I want to monitor every bet, record every bookmaker, calculate the odds, calculate my profits. Just to keep a full record of what I’m doing so that I can share with you all (and convince my girlfriend that I’m not actually gambling). I’ll more than likely be using Google Sheets for this because it’s free.

Sign up for Profit Accumulator

There are numerous online services that will hold your hand through matched betting. I’m going to need that! From what I’ve seen, Profit Accumulator is the only one that seems to offer a free trial and guarantees no risk. After this, the monthly subscription is £17.99. When People are reporting £1000+ a month from matched betting, £18 doesn’t seem so much. They have tools to help you find the best offers, tools to check the best odds and all the reviews I’ve seen appear to be positive.

Sign up for Bookmakers (through Quidco?)

It seems that the various offers that you use require you to use up your free bet within a certain amount of time. So it’s no good signing up for all of them at once. But for every bookmaker that I sign up to I’ll be sure to use Quidco. You already know what Quidco is, right? My plan is to make some Quidco cashback to help supplement my new found hobby. There’s a chance that this wont work as I know Quidco doesn’t always give cashback when used in conjunction with other offers, but free money is free money and it’s worth a try!

Make Matched Betting Happen

Everything above seems pretty straight forward to me. But the making bets part is where the nerves kick in. Never done it, not sure how to. I’m going to have to hope that Profit Accumulator really fulfils it’s promise and holds both hands through the coming weeks! Even with the supposed no risk involved, there is still going to be that niggle in the back of my mind!

Profit

Fingers crossed I will be sitting back and relaxing, sipping Margaritas on a beach in Barbados…. No, wait. I need to be realistic. Like I mentioned earlier, Making my initial deposit back and then making £200 a month would be pretty nice.

The last and final step is to rinse and repeat. I hope that this goes as smoothly and I make a profit. I’d really like to come back to you with some good news where you can potentially copy my plan and make a small investment yourself in the future.

See how I’m getting on 41 days down the line

What are your thoughts on matched betting? Have you tried it? Leave your comments below!