×

A guide to matched betting – part one

A guide to matched betting – part one

Bookmakers offer free bets to new customers as an incentive for you to sign up. So before we start, the process involves betting. Therefore you need to be 18 years old or older in order to perform matched betting. You also have to be a new customer, if you have signed up to multiple bookmakers in the past then unfortunately you will not receive the full benefit from matched betting.

Matched betting in concept is very simple. It involves placing two bets: the first is to bet for something to happen and the second is to bet against the same something happening. Which in essence renders the bet neutral as you cannot win or lose.

In practice it is a little harder. The first question on many lips will be “how do I bet against something happening?”  Intuition will probably tell you to bet for the other outcomes, so take a football game between Manchester United and Liverpool. Popular perception would say by betting for Manchester United to win, you would need to bet for the draw and Liverpool to win in order to render the bet neutral. This is incorrect, in most circumstances when matched betting you place only two bets – one at a bookmaker and the other at a betting exchange.

Betting exchanges have been dubbed the biggest revolution in gambling ever seen in the UK. Betting exchanges are where gamblers can bet against each other rather than a traditional bookmaker. Odds are dictated by the market and the betting exchange matches funds from people betting for an outcome, with funds from people betting against the same outcome. In principle a betting exchange allows to types of bettors: the first is a backer, and they are just like any punter at a bookmaker and bet for outcomes. The second is a layer, and they act as a bookmaker, betting against outcomes. The betting exchange matches backers and layers at the correct odds, and for providing this service charge a commission on the winner’s profits of usually 5%.

This is the first instalment of my matched betting guide. To continue please see part two. This is achieved by viewing my author bio, where you will find a list of all my articles. rtp mpotop88

Post Comment