Matched betting is a term I’d heard a couple of times and from the outset I kind of understood what it was about; using free bets offered by bookmakers to offset and profit from cash bets placed on sports events.
I was of course sceptical. The old saying ‘if it seems too good to be true then it probably is’ rang in my head. However, I have a scientific mind and just a moment’s thought made me realise that yes, this really could work in the right circumstances. That means that the odds on the event must be favourable and any wins from free bets MUST exceed losses from cash bets.
Use a Matched Betting Service
That’s where a service from John who has a matched betting blog proved invaluable. More than half the challenge faced by someone wanting to play matched betting is knowing which events will offer the best returns and how to mitigate any possible losses on a reciprocal result.
John’s matched betting service takes a lot of the legwork out of the process. Using an online chat on his own website, we spent a few short sessions, under his instruction, getting started. The first part is signing up to new customer offers with some of the mainstream bookmakers. There are many to choose from, offering anything from £20 of free bets when you place your first £5 cash bet to £30 of free bets when you bet £10. I actually started with £30 from my own bank account and grew the ‘pot’ from there.
It’s NOT Gambling!
Our first session lasted just over an hour, which included 3 sign-ups, placing our first (qualifying) bets and then placing our next free bets. I can see how easy it would be to get dragged into the ‘gambling’ side of things, being bombarded with this offer and that being offered every time you change a page. However, matched betting is NOT gambling. It’s using free bets offered to you by gambling sites to turn into a guaranteed profit.
In total, I spent around 4-5 hours with John and it was much more of an instructional time than a tutorial time, but it suited me as it was simply a ‘betting-by-numbers’ exercise under his instructions. He tells you which sites to sign up for, which events to place bets on and how much to bet for the odds on that event at that time. It was all very straightforward and if there was any delay it was me trying to navigate my way around the betting sites and becoming familiar with how to place cash bets, how to place free bets and how much to bet in each situation.
Easy Profit
I’m pleased to say that our relatively short time working together resulted in a profit of £117, which is not to be sniffed at for just a few hours of following his instructions. As you can see, it’s not a get-rich-quick solution either. It has actually motivated me to study the subject further with a view to perhaps trying it myself soon. It’s not difficult, but the potential to make small mistakes is high. However, with good preparation and a better understanding of how the betting sites work I’m confident I could use it to make a few extra pounds here and there. I don’t think I would be able to make a living from it due to the limited number of free offers. But it could certainly be a ‘pocket money’ top-up to save for treats/holidays/ leisure activities.
