What is Matched Betting?

Q: Do I need betting experience or sports knowledge?

Matched betting is available to everyone , regardless of your betting experience or sports knowledge. It’s a simple process where you cover all possible outcomes to make guaranteed profits, no matter what happens. Having no betting experience can actually be good thing, as it means you’ll be able to take advantage of more sign up offers, which means more money in your back pocket. For more in-depth information, please see my ‘ How Much Can You Make From Matched Betting? ‘ article.

Matched betting is the process of covering all outcomes of an event in order to qualify for free bets and bonuses for next to nothing. You can then use the same process to turn those free bets and bonuses into cash.

Matched betting isn’t about insider sports knowledge or taking risks. You use simple maths that’s easy to learn, and make a predictable profit from every offer you claim.

Read the Full Guide

Profit no matter the outcome of your bets

Matched betting has been featured in:

Logos of media outlets that have featured matched betting, including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Sun, Financial Times and Huffpost.

An ideal second income
Save for a holiday, house deposit, or just have some extra money for the weekends.

Predictable profits
With matched betting, you can tell exactly what your overall profit will be before placing any bets.

No sports or maths knowledge needed
Anyone can learn matched betting. Simple maths, not punts, determine your profits.

100% legal and tax-free profits
Matched betting is a natural side effect for bookmakers, of running promotional offers.

A Simple Example

Step 1. Select a bookmaker offer

With over 50 UK bookmakers, there are stacks of offers every week. In this example let’s say the bookmaker is offering a free £10 bet, when you place a bet of £10.

Graphic showing whatever the outcome of an event, we break even and qualify for our free bet.

Step 2. Cover all outcomes

For simplicity, let’s take a coin toss as the event you need to bet on. If you place a £10 bet on heads, and another £10 bet on tails, your two bets will cancel out. You won’t have won any money, but you will have met the requirements to claim your £10 free bet – without taking any risks.

Step 3. Use your free bet

You can use your free bet however you like, but to guarantee a profit, you simply repeat the same process again by covering all outcomes of another event.

Walk Through a Real Offer

An Ideal Second Income that Fits Around You

People often start matched betting with a goal in mind. That could be a holiday, a big event or just some extra money for the weekend.

If you’re able to put in 30 minutes each day, it’s possible to make around £500 profit each month. With around 50 bookmakers in the UK, the only limiting factor is how much time you want to put in.

When you do matched betting is up to you to. While sporting events take place at specific times, you can place your bets in advance. It’s perfect for your lunch break, commute or lounging on your sofa.

Explore How Much You Can Make

£600+

profit to be made from welcome offers alone

+£500

approx. per month from reload offers

Frequently Asked Questions

It takes around an hour to get started and then 15 minutes to complete each offer. The more offers you do, the quicker you’ll find yourself completing each one.

If you’re looking to earn around £500 each month, you’ll need to spend around one hour each day matched betting.

For more in-depth information, please see my ‘How Long Does Matched Betting Take?‘ article.

Matched betting is available to everyone, regardless of your betting experience or sports knowledge. It’s a simple process where you cover all possible outcomes to make guaranteed profits, no matter what happens.

Having no betting experience can actually be good thing, as it means you’ll be able to take advantage of more sign up offers, which means more money in your back pocket.

For more in-depth information, please see my ‘How Much Can You Make From Matched Betting?‘ article.

Matched betting is a perfectly legal and legitimate way to make money online.

It’s a simple betting strategy that enables you to turn bookmaker’s free bets and bonuses into cash.

For more in-depth information, please see my ‘Is Matched Betting Legal?‘ article.

You can start matched betting with as little as £50. Your starting bankroll doesn’t limit how much you can make, only how quickly you’re able to progress. It’s perfectly fine to start with a small amount, you’ll just need to focus on the smaller offers initially while you build your bankroll up.

For more in-depth information, please see my ‘How Much Money Do You Need for Matched Betting?‘ article.

Yes, you certainly can! You won’t be able to do their sign up offers but those are just a starting point. You’ll still be able to take advantage of their reload offers for existing customers.

Not only that, there are over 50 bookmaker sign up offers listed on my New Customer Offers page, so chances are there are still plenty for you to take advantage of!

For more in-depth information, please see my ‘How Much Can You Make From Matched Betting?‘ article.

View More FAQs

Matt Kirman
Matched betting blogger since 2014

Start Your Matched Betting Adventure with Me

Learn Matched Betting

Make £15 from your first offer

Join 1,000s Who’ve Already Profited

“Matched betting was my first endeavour into making money online. It’s the perfect way to make an extra few hundred quid a month, and allowed me to save enough to backpack around South America.”

Read Bradley’s Story

“Been following for a number of years now. Started with saving for beer money as a student, now bigger things such as holidays.”

Dave – Manchester

“I was a little sceptical at first but with the help of Matt and the clear guides that he posts each day, I have managed to turn £100 into £7,000. I can’t recommend highly enough.”

Leigh – Leeds

“Matched Betting Blog is a must for matched bettors of any level. It has helped me earn over £4,000 in the last year by following the existing customer offers posted daily.”

Tom – Essex

Leading Tools, Without Paying a Penny

My tools tell you exactly how much to stake, and where; making profiting from each offer a breeze.
And since I believe everyone should get the chance to learn matched betting, they’re all completely free.

What are you waiting for?
Learn the fundaments and make £15 in the process.

Learn Matched Betting

100% Free. No Subscriptions. No Trials.

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 £70,000 worth of profit, and made it my mission to make matched betting accessible to everyone.

Steven Taberham
Guest user

Wow…. my friends slowly introducing me into this getting me to put bets on while he lays them… i am slowly getting my head around it and look forward to getting confident enough to go alone so all the profit goes to me (not split with my mate lol). I am currently with Ladbrookes, bet365, paddypower, betway, bet victor, corals and william hill. Can you tell me which other sites offer the most free bets/qualifying bets please. Thanks in advance and keep up the great work. SO EXCITED !!!!

+1
Reply March 17, 2017 at 8:09 am
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Hi Steven. It’s great to hear you’re getting to grips with things. Just take your time and your confidence will build with each bet you place. Have a look at my Profit Log as that should give you a good idea of which bookmakers run regular reload offers.
  
  +1
  Reply March 19, 2017 at 12:06 am
arobbo70
4

Really glad I bumped into your site I’ve already made a few quid and really looking forward to getting stuck in to your site for all that free cash your a star best of all it all free information keep up the good work thanks andy

+4
Reply March 28, 2017 at 9:40 am
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Welcome aboard Andy, will do mate!
  
  +2
  Reply March 28, 2017 at 10:08 am
peter alderton
Guest user

Hi Matt,

WOW what a month found your site and signed up with OddsMonkey, just cleared £550 in month 1 with loads of the sign up offers a few arbs but haven’t tried each way arbing yet but looks a good one as loads of 3rds.

I love the thrill of it knowing i am going to win more than i lose in a week. I think to maximise matched betting you need a bit float at the exchange, you can easily have several hundred pounds tied up and on a busy Saturday you may have 7 or 8 bets on the go and so need the best part of a grand to play the markets.

+1
Reply April 30, 2017 at 8:40 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  It’s great to hear you’re enjoying the blog Peter and making money! Each way arbing is an advanced method so my advice would be to continue with the welcome offers and the general offers that I post on the homepage.
  
  It’s important that you take your time and not rush into things. Once you feel you’re ready you can then move onto the more advanced stuff such as horse racing refunds, each way arbing, extra place offers and acca offers. That’s where we can really ramp up our profits!
  
  +0
  Reply May 1, 2017 at 8:40 am
Nik
Guest user

Hi Matt,
Firstly, I really love the blog. As a newbie it is very helpful.
I am keen to start match betting, however I live in South Africa. Will I be able to bet from my country?
Thanks

+1
Reply May 8, 2017 at 2:15 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Thanks Nik, pleased to hear you’re finding it useful.
  
  Unfortunately, South Africa is on the list of countries prohibited by Smarkets…
  
  ‘2.2 Persons who are residents of; or persons who are located in countries where betting with Smarkets is prohibited (including, but not necessarily limited to Australia, France, Hong Kong, Switzerland, China, South Africa, Denmark, Czech Republic, Belgium, Turkey, the United States, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan); cannot register as account holders with Smarkets. United States residents cannot register an account with Smarkets, even if they are located in another jurisdiction. Smarkets may refuse access to its services from any particular jurisdiction at any time.’
  
  You would therefore need to check the terms of each bookmaker and betting exchange to see if they accept customers from your country of residence.
  
  +2
  Reply May 8, 2017 at 4:40 pm
Lottoboy
Guest user

If you spend £50 and lose £50 and get a free £50 bet, how can that be £40 profit? I reckon that’s £10 loss.
Please explain

+2
Reply July 9, 2017 at 7:57 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  We don’t lose the £50.00 qualifying bet. The beauty of matching our Ladbrokes bet at the betting exchange is that the two bets cancel each other out, meaning we break even, as shown in the table above.
  
  +3
  Reply July 10, 2017 at 8:51 am
Lottoboy
Guest user

Sorry I don’t understand. Put £50 back bet and £50 lay bet = £100 Get £50 free and then pay lay bets again of £50.
Where is the profit? Am I missing something?

+2
Reply July 10, 2017 at 2:25 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  The profit comes from extracting 80% cash from the £50.00 free bet. I think you may be misunderstanding the lay bet. If you continue on to my Betting Exchange Guide, things should become clearer.
  
  +2
  Reply July 11, 2017 at 8:53 am
Kieran
Guest user

I’m from Ireland but living in Spain. Can I do matched betting from there?

+1
Reply July 25, 2017 at 12:28 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Hi Kieran. Spain doesn’t appear to be on the list of prohibited countries, so you should be able to get a Smarkets account. It’s then just a case of checking the terms of each bookmaker to see if they accept customers from your country of residence.
  
  +2
  Reply July 26, 2017 at 8:59 am
Riza Hope
Guest user

Awesome read, Matt!! I recently read about match betting and really keen on doing it. I am from the Philippines and would be living in Vietnam for a while and travel around. Do you think I can do match betting from those two countries? Thanks !!

+2
Reply August 23, 2017 at 10:50 am
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Hi Riza. You would need to have a read of the terms for each bookmaker offer to see if you meet their new customer criteria. Some bookmakers don’t accept new customers from certain countries.
  
  +2
  Reply August 23, 2017 at 11:28 am
Hemant patel
Guest user

How do i join 🙂

+2
Reply October 29, 2017 at 8:35 am
1. Matt
  1329
  
  There’s no need to join Hemant, my blog is completely free to use.
  
  +2
  Reply October 29, 2017 at 9:41 am
Dav
Guest user

Is it a waste of the free bets if I start now with around £50 or would it be more profitable if I start with more?

+1
Reply December 14, 2017 at 9:03 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  £50.00 is enough to get started on the smaller offers Dav. The bigger your bankroll, the easier it is to move your money around, so it depends entirely on your financial situation.
  
  +1
  Reply December 16, 2017 at 3:01 pm
Heather
Guest user

I’m from the US but am living in Wales for the next few months. Would it be hard for me to get into matched betting? Not sure if the bookies require you to be an actual citizen or if it’s just a location thing, because I know some of them require documentation to cash out.

+2
Reply August 30, 2018 at 7:00 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Hi Heather. As a UK resident, you should be able to open accounts with quite a few bookmakers. You would need a UK bank account to deposit funds into your bookmaker/exchange accounts.
  
  +2
  Reply September 2, 2018 at 10:43 am
Charlie P
Guest user

How has matched betting been around since 2006? What was I doing in 2002 when I bet £10 with ladbrokes and layed my free bet on betfair? I have been matched betting since 2001.

+2
Reply August 3, 2019 at 4:58 pm
Chetan
Guest user

Hey Matt, really well done blog!

I am currently residing in India. I have New Zealand Bank account and an Indian one. I saw I have access to several BookMakers and Smarkets websites from India. But I’m not sure if after the exchange rate loss and everything I will still make any money?

+2
Reply September 11, 2019 at 7:15 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Hi Chetan,
  
  India and New Zealand don’t appear to be on the list of prohibited countries, so you might be able to get a Smarkets account.
  
  I’m not familiar with the opportunities that are available in India, though I would imagine if the offers are profitable, the exchange rate shouldn’t be anything to worry about too much.
  
  Good luck!
  
  +2
  Reply September 13, 2019 at 10:58 am
kriswil
2

Hi Matt,

I am new to matched betting, I love all the information you have provided. Is it possible to do matched betting from Nigeria?

+2
Reply April 25, 2020 at 12:10 am
1. Matt
  1329
  
  It’s possible to do matched betting outside of the UK, but it depends on the restrictions in your country.
  
  You would need to check the terms of each bookmaker and betting exchange to see if they accept customers from Nigeria.
  
  +2
  Reply April 25, 2020 at 11:28 am
Big Mikey
Guest user

Hi Matt,

Why would I sign up and pay for PA or OddsMonkey when you provide a lot of the info for free. What more do they give me?

Thanks!!

+2
Reply May 14, 2020 at 2:42 pm
1. Matt
  1329
  
  Signing up to a subscription based site like OddsMonkey is by no means a necessity Mikey.
  
  Like you say, I post step-by-step guides for all of the reload offers and there are a number of guides to help you and calculators that will help you do the maths.
  
  OddsMonkey have some additional tools that help you find odds without having to do it manually.
  
  If you’re interested in giving them a try, you can trial their premium service for 10 days for just £1.00.
  
  +1
  Reply May 16, 2020 at 12:14 pm

What is Matched Betting?

A Simple Example

Step 1. Select a bookmaker offer

Step 2. Cover all outcomes

Step 3. Use your free bet

An Ideal Second Income that Fits Around You

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does matched betting take?

Do I need betting experience or sports knowledge?

Is matched betting legal?

How much money do I need to start matched betting?

Can I still do this if I already have bookmaker accounts?

Start Your Matched Betting Adventure with Me

Join 1,000s Who’ve Already Profited

Leading Tools, Without Paying a Penny

What are you waiting for?Learn the fundaments and make £15 in the process.

Got a question? Leave me a comment below…

What are you waiting for?
Learn the fundaments and make £15 in the process.

Got a question?
Leave me a comment below…