Are you looking for an easy way to make money online?
I’ve profited from gambling sites every month since September 2019 by matched betting.
It’s 100% legal, tax-free, and anyone can do it.
We’ll cover what matched betting is, how it works, and how to get started.
What is Matched Betting?
Matched betting is a way to profit from bookmaker offers, without gambling.
Let’s say a bookmaker is offering you a £50 free bet (a wager you can make without using your money) when you sign up and bet £10 on a football match.
A gambler would chuck £10 on their favourite team to win, and do the same with their £50 free bet – usually losing their money.
However, we can unlock and profit from the free bet without gambling.
We do this by placing two bets (instead of one):
- A £10 bet on a team to win with the bookmaker (called a back bet).
- A bet on the same team not to win using a betting exchange (called a lay bet).
Because we use a calculator to tell us how much to bet against the same team, our bets cancel eachother out.
This means we unlock the free bet without risking our own money.
After the event, we get our £10 back (minus a few pence – called a qualifying loss) and receive a £50 free bet.
We can then repeat the process with the free bet to lock in a profit.
As long as we back and lay the same thing, matched betting is risk-free because one of our bets must win.
How Does Matched Betting Work?
Let’s walk through a real offer together to show you how matched betting works, step-by-step.
Find an Offer.
Rather than finding the offers yourself, it’s easier to use a matched betting platform like Outplayed to show you all the offers in one place.
For this example, we’ve found that Ladbrokes are offering £20 in free bets when you sign up and bet £5.
It’s important to read the terms to make sure we qualify for our free bets.
- You must be from the UK or Ireland,
- You must be 18+,
- And you must deposit & bet £5 at odds of ½ (or 1.5) or above.
If we meet this criteria, we will unlock four £5 free bets and make around £14 in risk-free profit by following Outplayed’s step-by-step guide.
Create your Account.
First, open an account with Ladbrokes and enter your details.
You may also need to complete KYC, which means sending over copies of:
- Photo ID (passport, driving licence etc),
- And proof of address (bank statement, utility bill etc).
Once you’re signed in, we need to convert from fractional to decimal odds (as it’s easier).
To do this, go to My Account → Settings → Betting Settings → Decimal.
Now click on ‘deposit’, enter your card details, and deposit £5.
We also need to sign up with a betting exchange like Matchbook.
(If you’re an Outplayed member, you will get 0% commission).
With a betting exchange, you bet against other people (rather than against a bookmaker). This is where we place our lay bet (a bet on something not to happen).
Once you’re signed up, click ‘deposit’, enter your card details, and deposit £50.
This is to make sure you can cover the liability – the amount you need in your betting exchange to cover if your back bet wins.
Find a Qualifying Bet.
A qualifying bet is the bet we need to place to unlock our free bets.
To unlock our free bets with Ladbrokes, we need to place a £5 back bet at odds of 1.5 or higher (and a lay bet with Matchbook to ensure we cover all outcomes).
Outplayed’s oddsmatcher tool finds these bets for you.
Go to Tools → Oddsmatcher → Filters → Ladbrokes Qualifying Bet, or you can use the integrated oddsmatcher in their offer guide:
Find a qualifying bet on a high profile event (such as Premier League football) that has back and lay odds that are close together. This means that we can claim our free bet with only a small qualifying loss.
Place a Qualifying Bet.
For this example, we will be placing our qualifying bet on the Premier League football match between Fulham and Wolves.
By placing both a £5 back bet with Ladbrokes, and a corresponding lay bet with Matchbook – we will only lose 9p and qualify for our £20 in free bets.
First, click the ‘select’ button on the match to open up more bet information.
Outplayed tells us to go to Ladbrokes and place a £5 bet on FULHAM at odds of 1.7.
Next, ensure your Matchbook account is linked to your Outplayed membership.
To do this, go to Matchbook → Account → Integrations → Outplayed, and make sure it’s ticked.
The calculator tells us we need to place a lay bet of £4.91 at odds of 1.73 against Fulham.
We need at least £3.58 in Matchbook to place our lay bet. This is to cover the liability (the amount we will win with Ladbrokes if our back bet wins).
Before we place the lay bet, we should go to Matchbook and check the lay odds are correct (shown in the pink ‘lay’ box for Fulham).
To place our lay bet automatically, we can go back to Outplayed and simply press the ‘click here’ button:
You will get a confirmation that your lay bet has been placed, and you will see it in your betslip on Matchbook.
Note: You can also place your lay bets manually. To do this, go to the oddsmatcher page, click on the 
With this qualifying bet placed, we will lose 9p as a qualifying loss, but unlock four £5 free bets with Ladbrokes.
Our back bet covers Fulham to win, whilst our lay bet covers Wolves to win and a draw.
The integrated calculator shows how our back and lay bets cancel eachother out:
If Fulham wins, we will make £3.50 with Ladbrokes but lose £3.58 (our liability) on Matchbook (meaning an 8p qualifying loss).
If Fulham does not win, we will lose our £5 stake on Ladbrokes, but win £4.91 with the exchange. This is because our lay stake of £4.91 wins and the liability of £3.58 is returned to us (meaning a 9p qualifying loss).
With this qualifying bet placed, we will lose 8 or 9p, but unlock four £5 free bets with Ladbrokes.
Use the Free Bet(s).
After you place your qualifying bet on Ladbrokes, four £5 free bets will be credited to your account (which expire in 7 days).
Each of the £5 free bets needs to be used on different events, so we will be backing and laying them one at a time.
Simply repeat the process we used for the qualifying bet – finding and placing a back bet and corresponding lay bet, to lock-in your profit.
Click on ‘free bets’ in Outplayed’s guide to bring up the integrated oddsmatcher, and find events to use our free bets on.
With free bets, you should use higher odds (ideally between 4 and 10), to extract the most profit (usually 70-80% of the free bets value).
Remember – the higher the odds the more you need in Matchbook to cover the liability.
If you are searching for the bets using the Oddsmatcher page, make sure the oddsmatcher and calculator is set to ‘Free Bet SNR’ – because free bets are usually ‘stake not returned’.
Once you’ve found a good match for your free bet, click ‘select’ to open up the bet details.
This Premier League match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest looks good:
Outplayed tells us to go to Ladbrokes and place a £5 FREE BET on Arsenal and Nottingham Forest to DRAW at odds of 5 (tick to use your free bet in the betslip).
Next, we need to ensure we have over £16.38 in Matchbook to cover our liability, and check that the lay odds are correct (5.5):
Finally, press the ‘click here’ button to automatically place a LAY BET of £3.64 AGAINST the DRAW on Matchbook.
Whether Arsenal and Nottingham Forest draw the match or not, we will lock in £3.64 in profit from our free bet.
Now we repeat this process with the three remaining £5 free bets, using them on different events.
Calculate Your Profit.
To calculate our profit, we add up our free bet winnings and deduct our qualifying loss.
If we make around £3.50 per £5 free bet, we would total £14 in profit from the £20 in free bets, minus our 9p qualifying loss:
£14 – £0.09 = £13.91 (profit)
This might seem complicated right now, but once you get started it becomes much quicker and simpler!
There are currently 60+ sign up offers (worth over £1000) listed on Outplayed.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg for matched betting!
How Much Can You Make from Matched Betting?
Most Outplayed members make £300 → £1000 per month (some make much more).
But this depends on your bankroll, how many healthy (ungubbed) accounts you have, and if you do more advanced offers as well.
Aside from sign up offers, bookmakers also have reload offers : promotions that get existing customers to keep betting.
As I’m writing this post, there are £678.82 worth of reload offers to do today!
However, not all offers are worth doing, or you might be gubbed (meaning that the bookmaker no longer gives you access to their promotions).
There are many different types of offers, but my favourites are – price boosts, refunds, and casino offers (which you can read about in my guide).
Overall, matched betting is a great risk-free (and tax free!) way to make money online, and you can start with less than £50 and an hour per day.
Matched Betting FAQs:
I know you have some anxiety and unanswered questions.
Let me answer them for you, and dispel the misinformation.
Is Matched Betting Legal?
Yes, matched betting is legal.
If you are over 18 and you are not using the account on behalf of someone else, you are not breaking any laws.
However, bookmakers sometimes remove promotions (called ‘gubbing’) or close your account, quoting their terms and conditions.
If a bookmaker closes your account, they will return your money to you. If they don’t you can appeal this with the gambling regulator.
Any profits you make from matched betting are also classed as gambling winnings, so it’s currently tax-free in the UK!
Is Matched Betting Risk-Free?
Yes, matched betting is risk-free as long as you don’t make a mistake.
If you back and lay the right market, you shouldn’t lose money.
For example, if you bet on Leicester to win against Chelsea with Ladbrokes, but you accidentally lay Chelsea with Matchbook, both bets could lose.
If you do make a mistake, you can simply cancel (or ‘cash out’) your lay bet, and place the correct one.
For further information on the risks involved with matched betting and how to correct mistakes, check out my guide.
If you have a history of gambling addiction, I’d suggest avoiding matched betting.
Does Matched Betting Affect My Credit Score or Mortgage?
Matched betting does not affect your credit score.
Some bookmakers run ‘soft’ credit checks when you open an account, but these don’t show on your credit report.
Matched betting might affect your mortgage application.
Banks view all deposits to bookmakers as ‘gambling activity’ – and don’t know (or care) that you are matched betting.
You could still be approved for a mortgage, but you might be given less favourable terms (such as a higher interest rate).
This is not financial advice; you should consult a mortgage advisor and/or solicitor for guidance on your circumstances.
How Long Does Matched Betting Take?
Matched betting is a flexible way to make money online that fits around your schedule.
I usually spend 1-2 hours per day on matched betting, and make a good income from it.
When starting out, go slow and steady whilst you learn the ropes.
Can You Do Matched Betting Outside the UK?
Yes, you can matched bet outside the UK.
The principles of matched betting stay the same regardless of your country.However, currently Outplayed only operates in the UK, so if you are overseas you’ll need a different matched betting platform.
What if I Already Have Bookmaker Accounts?
Outplayed has guides for 60+ bookmaker signup offers currently, with more added all the time – so you can still make good profits from sign-up offers.
You can also exploit the reload offers given out by the bookmakers you already hold accounts with; this is where most of your matched betting profits will come from anyways!
For more FAQ’s, please check out my Outplayed Review.
How to Start Matched Betting.
Getting started with matched betting is easy.
You’ll need:
- A laptop or smartphone,
- At least £50 to get started (ideally in a new bank account to help track profits),
- An email address, and
- Proof of ID and address (and be over 18).
A matched betting platform is essential. I’ve been using Outplayed since September 2019.
Outplayed provides everything you need to get started and maximise your profits, as well as a thriving community of other matched bettors.
If you’re still on the fence, check out my in-depth Outplayed Review.
Ready to get started? Sign up for a free trial TODAY and start earning £300 → £1000 per month online risk-free with matched betting!
