Matched Betting - Profiting from "Freebets"

Each and every bookmaker is different and so has a different set of T&Cs.  They differ in how you qualify for, are given, and place, the freebets they offer.  The most common type are "Freebets" and are something like:

1. Deposit an amount of money and place a bet on a market allowed by the offer.  This is called the "Qualifying Bet".  A football match would always be fine.
2. Once the bet is settled a "Free Bet" is placed in your account, often the same amount as the Qualifying Bet you placed.
3. Place the Free Bet on any market allowed within the offer.
4. Any winnings from the two bets are yours.

Lets suppose then that we can place our qualifying bet at a bookmaker but then lay exactly the same bet at exactly the same price at a betting exchange, in other words find a "matched bet".  What would be the net result on our money if our selection won?  Similarly what would be the net result if it lost?  For those that think the answer is we would break even irrespective of the result go to the top of the class.

This is a very important concept because what it means is that providing you can find a market where you can bet and lay at the same price then you can remove the cost of the Qualifying Bet except that is for the small amount of commission charged by your betting exchange.  We will assume that we have to place £10 to qualify for the free bet and we have found a matched bet at Evens (2.0).  The 2.0 is Evens expressed as decimal odds, from now on we will always use Decimal odds format it is 10x simpler than using fractions. 
If the selection WINS you have a winning bet at the bookmakers.  Your bookmaker account would now have £20 in it (£10 x 2.0).  But £10 of this is the stake you have deposited so your net position would be +£10 .  However, you have layed the same bet for £10 at the betting exchange and because it won you have to pay this £10 out so your net position here would be -£10.  So overall you are +£10 at the bookmakers and -£10 at the betting exchange so you broke even overall +£0 .
If the selection LOSES you have a losing bet at the bookmakers, so your position here would fairly obviously be -£10 .  However your lay bet at the betting exchange is a winner so you would be up here +£10 .  Again if we look at the overall position we can see that you have broke even +£0 .

The key point to take on board at this stage is that we have a method for obtaining the free bets with the absolute minimum of cost and risk.  At this point you have not lost any money but you have not made any money yet either, you do now have a £10 freebet though.  Again look around and find a bet with the same or at least a similar price at both the bookmaker and the betting exchange.  Ideally the odds you chose will be greater than 7 and the higher the numbers and closer the numbers are together, then the more profit you will make.  Assume you bet on the Correct score of a match ending 0-0 at odds of 11.
If the selection WINS  you have a winning bet at the bookmaker, it is just the winnings you keep not the stake, so your bookmaker account has +£100 in it now.  If it does not win then nothing happens you dont lose any money that bet did not cost you anything it was free. 

If the selection LOSES  you can make as much £s as you want to have done at betfair, but assuming odds of 11, the more you chose to lay for has higher liability, meaning you will make less overall profit if it does happen.  A few examples, if you lay £5 at odds of 11, you will have £50 liability.  If the selection happens you win the +£100 at the bookmaker but lose -£50 at betfair, so you are +£50 overall.  If it does not happen you lose nothing at the bookmaker but make £5 at betfair, so you are +£5 overall.  They are your only two possible Net results, being +£50 or +£5 .  If you want more than £5 minimum you can lay more, you might decide you want at least £8, which is fine but this will now have £80 liability.  So now if the selection happens you still win +£100 at the bookmaker but lose -£80 at betfair so it is +£20 overall, or it does not happen and you lose nothing at the bookmaker but this time pick up +£8 at betfair.  Your only two possible outcomes are now +£20 or +£8 .  That is the trade off, the higher you make your worst case result, the lower you make your best case result.  There is no "right" or "wrong" amounts to chose, you have to decide what is amounts you are happiest with, but as long as BOTH results are a profit you cant ever go far wrong.

So to recap the process.

• Place a Qualifying bet with your bookmaker of choice.
• Lay this bet off at your betting exchange to remove the cost (well virtually all of it).
• Place your Free Bet with the bookmaker.
• Lay this Free Bet off at your betting exchange to lock in a guaranteed profit whatever the result.

So that is Matched Betting in a nutshell. 
Click HERE for a practical example of completing an Introductory freebet offer.