There’s another big day of racing at Cheltenham on Saturday and it’s time for another Sky Bet First Race Special! If our horse finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th in the 13:55 at Cheltenham, Sky Bet will refund our stake as a free bet, up to a maximum of £20.00. Translated into matched betting terms, this gives us a potential profit of £14.54 and here’s how…
Key Terms:
- This offer applies to our first bet on the 13:55 at Cheltenham.
- Qualifying bets must be placed between 14:00 on Friday 14th December 2018 and 13:55 (race-off) on Saturday 15th December 2018.
- If fewer than fourteen runners come under starters orders, Sky Bet may withdraw the offer.
- If our horse finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th, Sky Bet will refund our stake as a free bet, up to £20.00.
Qualifying Bet:
If you’re unsure about how to place qualifying bets, check out my Qualifying Bet Strategy page for a walk-through guide on how they should be done.
It’s entirely up to you which horse you go for, but it would make sense to select a horse with fairly short odds in the hope of a 2nd, 3rd or 4th place finish.
At the time of writing, the lay odds aren’t quite tight enough, so I’ll use fictional odds for Rather Be in the following example and I’ll update the bottom of the post with an actual selection after the race.
At the time of writing, laying our bet with Smarkets is likely to give us the smallest qualifying loss.
We can calculate our lay stake using my matched betting calculator…
As you can see, the calculator tells us that our lay stake should be £18.92…
Place £20.00 on Rather Be @ 4.333 = Potential profit of £66.66
Lay £18.92 on Rather Be @ 4.60 = Potential liability of £68.11
Outcomes:
Let’s have a look at our potential profit/loss for the possible outcomes…
| Outcome | Bookie | Exchange | Extracted | Profit/Loss |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rather Be wins | +£66.66 | -£68.11 | £1.45 loss | |
| Rather Be finishes 2nd 3rd or 4th | -£20.00 | +£18.54 | +£16.00 | £14.54 profit |
| Rather Be finishes outside top 4 | -£20.00 | +£18.54 | £1.46 loss |
So, we’ll make a nice profit of £14.54 if Rather Be finishes 2nd, 3rd or 4th and we stand to lose a maximum of £1.46 on any other outcome. Risking £1.46 to make a profit of £14.54 gives us effective odds of 10.96, which I’m sure you’ll agree, makes this a profitable offer in the long run.
If eligible, free bets will be credited within 24 hours and will be valid for 3 days. Free bet stakes are not included in any returns.
If you’re unsure how to extract £16.00 cash (80%) from the £20.00 free bet, check out my Free Bet Strategy page for a walk-through guide on how it should be done.
* See my Horse Racing Offers page for a full list of money back offers available today! *
* Cepage was available at back odds of 13.00 and lay odds of 13.50 (Betfair). Cepage finished 2nd, resulting in a profit of £14.36 on this Sky Bet offer. *
More reload offers – Make £300+ per month
With detailed walkthroughs for all the best offers as they’re released, you’ll be bagging recurring profits in no time.
More reload offers
Got a question?
Leave me a comment below…
I usually respond within 24 hours.
Matt Kirman – Matched Betting Blogger
Since 2014, I’ve blogged over £85,000 worth of profit, and made it my mission to make matched betting accessible to everyone.