Is Matched Betting Easy?
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If you’ve recently joined the wave of online sports bettors, you may have come across the term “matched betting”. It’s often talked about as a risk-free way to earn a guaranteed profit, but just how easy is it? Should you take the time to figure out matched betting, is it a viable betting strategy? Is matched betting easy?
Matched betting isn’t as difficult as it may initially appear, but it doesn’t take long to figure out. By maximising free betting bonuses, you can mathematically offset the risk of a bet and, what’s more than that, actually walk away with winnings. However, be careful when you first take up matched betting not to mess up, follow some helpful guidance, or you could lose some cash due to avoidable errors.
Is matched betting easy? This guide will briefly explain how to place matched bets and discuss how easy it really is. Use this information to win big and start on your journey to earning consistent profits through matched betting.
What is No-Risk Matched Betting?
Matched betting is a way to guarantee wins by covering all possible outcomes. We profit by using simple mathematic equations that offset risk and generate a small but consistent profit stream.
We place matched qualifying bets to receive free bets, and then when we profitably repeat the same process with these free bets.
How Does Matched Betting Work?
When you sign up with a bookmaker (also known as an online sportsbook), you’ll usually unlock a free or risk-free bet. You can use this bonus to place a free stake without actually investing any of your own money.
Matched betting uses formulas and these bonuses to offset any potential risk and guarantee you walk away with winnings every time you repeat this process.
When we match bets, we place standard bets with these bookies on sporting events and then lay off these bets (bet against) at a betting exchange (see below).
We use matched betting sites such as Profit Accumulator or OddsMonkey to find the best deals offered by bookmakers (known as welcome offers) to turn the most profit possible (they also provide the calculators and other essential tools we need).
We have a guide to all in the ins and outs of matched betting (including all about back and lay bets) in much more detail here.
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What is a Betting Exchange?
Unlike traditional bookkeepers, betting exchanges let you place bets on a broader range of outcomes.
After all, real-life sporting events can have more than two outcomes. For example, there could be a draw. Betting exchanges let you bet on other odds, such as a team not winning.
When you bet at an exchange that a team will not win, we have covered all sporting event outcomes; this is what matched betting is all about. Regardless of what happens, you’re sure to either have a near-neutral result (or slight qualifying loss) – what we do when placing qualifying bets, or receive a nice profit – what happens when we place bets without using our own money (free bets).
Unlike a traditional bookmaker, when you bet at a betting exchange, you’re betting against our people. Essentially, you are the bookmaker as you’re the one betting against something happening. If they win, you pay them out a profit. If you win, they pay you.
The potential profit you have to pay is called the ‘liability’. However, you’re also placing a bet at the traditional bookie to offset this risk, ensuring that you’re covered on all sides.
To make matched betting easy, Profit Accumulator and OddsMonkey offer an excellent choice of matched betting services.
See our guide to the best matched betting sites if you want to compare every paid and free service that is currently on offer.
Is Matched Betting Gambling?
We’ve asked is matched betting easy? and we know it is fully legal, but is it gambling? No! Despite having the word ‘betting’ in the name and again, despite us utilising bookmakers and placing lots and lots of bets, it is not gambling*.
As we have explained, when we cover all outcomes of a sporting event and earn money no matter the result, we remove the ‘game of chance’ and cannot be considered gambling. This is why you will hear matched betting referred to as ‘no risk betting’.
The debate is endless as to whether matched betting can be seen as ‘no risk’ (mainly because you can make mistakes; there is always that risk in anything financial), but the procedures we follow, if done correctly, mean that you cannot lose.
*The only slight caveat is that some advanced matched betting (beyond welcome offers) involve variance; however, even with these offers, you always know how much your qualifying or accepted loss is against your expected earnings long term.
Is Matched Betting Easy? - Final Thoughts
Matched betting is often marketed as an easy way to earn some profit; this is because it really is!
Once you pick it up and get your head around the back and lay bets, you can repeat the qualifying and free bet process quickly and it becomes second nature.
With a little bit of research and patience, you will be earning consistent profit in no time. With the tons of free guidance we have for you, there is nothing to stop you from picking up matched betting fast.