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Around the World => UK Discussion => Topic started by: jade on May 15, 2018, 07:27:22 AM

Title: Matched betting?
Post by: jade on May 15, 2018, 07:27:22 AM
hi all,

I have been toying with the idea of trying matched betting. Profit accumulator is mentioned a lot as a way to get started. Anyone have any experience or feedback on MB and PA?

Cheers!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on May 15, 2018, 09:37:55 AM
I did mb for years, (I even ran a related website for a while). Very profitable then but much more limited now due to the offers being much poorer after the initial online land grab. More value in using bricks and mortar bookies nowadays apparently.

You need to become an expert in reading the small print.

Best resource to start back then was the MSE forums, worth a read.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on May 15, 2018, 10:14:49 AM
I started MB in Sep '2016, made very nearly £9,500 so far with PA as my guide.

 Football is the most consistent form of offer/boosts (where you make your risk-free money). With the Premier league season just ending, things will be quiet for the next few months - perhaps the World cup will through up a bit - but expect July to be limiting.

 The casino offers can be really profitable, they are mathmatically in your favour if you pick the right ones (known as positive estimated value) but does of course come with risk of loss... and addiction.

 Be aware though - whilst sports betting is risk free money -- it is not time free money. It does require an investment of time, especially when starting out. The upside is, there is an easy £1k from the sign up bonuses.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: frugledoc on May 15, 2018, 02:45:58 PM
Go through the intial offers on all the sites.  Easy 800 quid. After that it's too boring to continue.

I got banned from a few big websites and I was only doing an occasional bet. No idea how others don't get banned.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on May 16, 2018, 03:00:08 AM
Hi Jade, i'm quite interested in doing this as well.  I've had a look at signing up on profit accumulator and it asks me for a 'referral ID' - presumably it rewards someone with a cash incentive.

If you're happy to share it, let me know your username and I'll enter you in this field so you get the referral reward? 
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: jade on May 16, 2018, 04:54:16 AM
thanks for all the replies. :)

highlandterrier - I did wonder about the small print and having to double double check to ensure you didn't lose money. I saw some MSE forum's on it so will check them out - thanks.

ExitViaTheCashRamp - good work! appreciate the info.

frugledoc - that's interesting. Could be a way to make a lump sum.

Manchester - that's kind of you, I'll let you know if I do.  (probably won't be for a few wks if so).


Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on May 16, 2018, 05:44:29 AM
One thing I forgot, PA has links to sign up with the bookies to make things easier for you... however don't blindly use them. Get yourself a cashback account with Topcashback or Quidco or similar as these sites get a kickback for 'introducing' you to the bookies -- and will give you a cut of it. I've gained an additional £200 this way. Takes a while for the kickback to arrive in your account... but it's more free money.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: jade on May 16, 2018, 05:48:44 AM
thanks ExitViaTheCashRamp - that's v useful!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on May 16, 2018, 06:19:40 AM
ExitViaTheCashRamp - well done, a great feeling when you know you can earn money from thin air independently.

Out of interest where is the EV nowadays after sign up offers?  The generous reloads have gone, and the occasional goalscorer boast or individual match boost are for small amounts. Is a good proportion straight up arbs ?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: dutty on May 16, 2018, 07:48:05 AM
It's absolutely worth a crack even just for a few months. If you pay close attention and devour as much of the free information out there, you might even work out a little niche for yourself.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: jade on May 16, 2018, 07:52:57 AM
thanks Dutty.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 04, 2018, 03:52:36 AM
So I created a profit accumulator account and have decided to give it a bit of a go.  I'm going to try and practice over the next few days before the world cup comes on.  Already made one school boy error and I'm officially down by 50p. :')


They're running an offer where you can sign up for 3 days for £1 to try it.  If you fancy it, I'd appreciate if you could use my referral code so I get £20. :)

301221

https://www.profitaccumulator.co.uk
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 06, 2018, 04:23:02 PM
Thought I'd update you all on how I've done so far.  I've placed 11 bets and made a profit of £50.  My deposits have added up to £127.50.  I've withdrawn £73.50 and the remainder is in 3 different bookies accounts (one I'll withdraw tomorrow).  I'm struggling with the liability, because I only put £60 in the exchange account, I've found I can only really put one bet on at a time.  In hindsight I'd have put a little bit more into it to start (maybe £200) and just gone for it.  Overall I'm happy with it so far.  I'm going on holiday at the end of the month, so I'll be buzzing if it earns enough to pay that off!  my target is £1k over 2 months.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: poppydog on June 06, 2018, 05:17:09 PM
Sorry to chip in here negatively. I have family experience of betting and gambling destroying lives.  I wouldn’t touch this subject with a barge pole. 

Each to his own, but there has to be a better way to construct a side hustle.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 07, 2018, 04:31:02 AM
I'm sorry to hear about your family experience @poppydog  I'm not a big gambler either (although I do enjoy playing poker every now and again).  The point with matched betting is that it's completely risk free.  Although you're using gambling sites, you're not technically gambling because there is a guaranteed outcome (no risk of losing money).
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: SpreadsheetMan on June 07, 2018, 06:14:15 AM
I'm sorry to hear about your family experience @poppydog  I'm not a big gambler either (although I do enjoy playing poker every now and again).  The point with matched betting is that it's completely risk free.  Although you're using gambling sites, you're not technically gambling because there is a guaranteed outcome (no risk of losing money).

Yes, "free offer bagging" is probably a better description of what is (mostly) going on. It's a load of tedious and time-consuming admin trying not to make mistakes (i.e. by making a real bet) and dodging the bookie's AI trying to catch MB patterns as far as I have seen.

My problem with it philosophically is that I find the gambling industry both sleazy and tawdry, so it's unpleasant to go anywhere near it even with a guaranteed profit at the end. Yuk.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on June 09, 2018, 02:27:06 AM
Although you're using gambling sites, you're not technically gambling because there is a guaranteed outcome (no risk of losing money).

 Addiction is an awful thing and it catches matched betters too - usually via the casino offers.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 09, 2018, 05:40:14 PM
Although you're using gambling sites, you're not technically gambling because there is a guaranteed outcome (no risk of losing money).

 Addiction is an awful thing and it catches matched betters too - usually via the casino offers.

I imagine there are a few people who've been caught up in addiction and been introduced to gambling through matched betting.  I personally don't think it will be an issue for myself.  There is an option to hide any 'risky' offers within profit accumulator, focusing on Casino offers which are more likely to get people hooked. 

If someone who's reading this has an addictive personality, then stay away.  If you can handle it, I'd recommend it so far.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 09, 2018, 06:15:01 PM
Here's a short summary from my first week within matched betting.

PLEASE BARE IN MIND THIS POST IS SIMPLY TO LOG MY PROGRESS AND TO GIVE A PERSONAL OPINION ON THE PRO'S AND CON'S OF MATCHED BETTING IN GENERAL. 

Betting accounts opened: 13
Amount deposited: £370.49*
Amount Withdrawn: £353.13
Current Balance on betting accounts: 95.45
Number of Live bets: 2
Guaranteed profit from live bets: £48.60
Time invested: 9 hours
Overall profit/(loss): £126.69
£/hour: £14.08

*This includes £18.99 I've paid for a profit accumulator account (£1 three day trial + £17.99 monthly membership).
 
Positives/Negatives:

+ Easy enough concept to grasp.  Training videos etc make it dummy proof.
+ Other than my initial deposits into betting accounts, it doesn't require much to get going.  I already had a laptop and internet connection.
+ Anyone (with some spare cash) can do it.  Don't need to be fit or have much free time.
+ Looking through the forums, there clearly are a lot of people earning over £1k per month from this.  Some people have made £20k+ within a couple of years.  This is a positive because it has reassured me that it's not a con. 

- Bookies take deposits instantly, but only credit your withdrawals after 3/5 working days.  NOT GOOD FOR CASH FLOW IF YOU'RE EXPECTING BILLS GOING OUT.
- Seems a bit slow at first.  You'll learn about liability if you get into matched betting (M/B).  Basically, because I didn't want to dump a ton of money (£1k+) into M/B, I have to wait for one bet to finish, then I can place another.  This should reduce as my accounts grow, but I'm sacrificing higher profits in order to pick events that happen sooner, in order to get more bets in per day and make more money.
-There's a very negative perception of bookies, so people assume you're doing something either illegal or risky.  Get's annoying explaining to everyone that it isn't illegal, nor risky.

Anyone who's debating doing it, I'd recommend trying the free offers and deciding if it's for you after that point.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: dutty on June 10, 2018, 06:53:18 AM
As you've mentioned it's 100% risk free so if I were you I would add more cash to your exchange. Theres no reason to have £500 in the bank when it can be working for you outside of it.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Roland of Gilead on June 10, 2018, 08:08:36 AM
Having never heard of matched betting I am guessing that the strategy here is to make a win/loss bet on different gambling websites and your profit comes from some bonus offers they give you for placing a bet?

That is pretty genius but I think illegal here in the states.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on June 10, 2018, 11:32:27 AM
Having never heard of matched betting I am guessing that the strategy here is to make a win/loss bet on different gambling websites and your profit comes from some bonus offers they give you for placing a bet?

That is pretty genius but I think illegal here in the states.

 More or less, yes :) The profit comes from free bets (i.e. that they give you a token to make a bet, if it wins - then they pay out in cash, if it loses - then your 'lay' bet wins in a betting exchange -- ensures profit either way). Sometimes to get market share or other promotion, bookies offer above odds -- e.g.   "Hey ! Bet with us today as we are boosting the odds of Brazil to win the world cup !"   You then bet with the bookie on the enhanced odds, and bet Brazil won't win on the exchange at the standard odds -- ensures profit again.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 15, 2018, 09:16:09 AM
As you've mentioned it's 100% risk free so if I were you I would add more cash to your exchange. Theres no reason to have £500 in the bank when it can be working for you outside of it.

I'd love to add more to the exchange, but financially I'll need to wait until next payday.  I've moved up to having around £175 in my exchange account, which seems to be enough for the bets I'm doing right now.  This has grown organically from placing bets.

Having never heard of matched betting I am guessing that the strategy here is to make a win/loss bet on different gambling websites and your profit comes from some bonus offers they give you for placing a bet?

That is pretty genius but I think illegal here in the states.

That's it.  There's also casino bonuses, where you deposit a certain amount of money to get free spins/credit.  Some aren't risk free, but most have such a low risk that they're worth doing.  So far I've made around £20 profit from £40 deposited.  The best part is that any winnings (whether gambled on sport or casino) are completely tax free. 







If anyone's still interested in my progress, I'd say the money is snowballing.  I've not had as much time to put into this through the week.  Here's some info:


- Deposited: £598.49
- Withdrawn: £582.54
- Current balance with bookmakers: 251.63
- Profit actual: £235.68

So I'm making pretty good money off it.  Most of this is prior to the world cup being on and with low funds.  I reckon I could make that per week whilst the world cup is on now. 

Can't recommend it enough.  If you're on the fence, get off and try the free offers! 


Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on June 25, 2018, 06:32:49 AM
So I've got another update after 3 full weeks of MB'ing:

- Deposited: (£793.49)
- Withdrawn: £841.74
- Current Balance With Bookmakers: £362.93
- Profit Actual: £332.38
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on June 25, 2018, 07:56:01 AM
I am about 100 miles from the most skilled & dedicated matched bettors, but thought would mention this by way of example of what can be done:

June Profits: £772.37, I expect to pull in at least another £100 before the month is out. The best deal was from Betsafe which netted me £50 in under 4 minutes !

 The really serious MB folk will have picked up a couple thousand. The World cup has been astonishingly profitable.

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on August 01, 2018, 04:29:52 AM
My latest update:

Very quiet month as barely any sport on!

I've made around £700 profit since I started and have a balance of £481 in my accounts. Averaging £350 per month so far.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on October 01, 2018, 05:20:01 AM
If anyone is still interested in this let me know.  I've made over £1,100 since starting in June (I'd say I probably spend around 1 hour a day 5 days a week). 

It's the easiest side hustle I can imagine.  I'm happy to answer any questions people have.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on October 01, 2018, 10:59:45 AM
Glad to hear you are doing well Manchester :)

 I was doing a casino offer in Sep, bet £10 get 10 spins. Using 20p spins, it spat this out a £203 jackpot at me !

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: FireUK on October 04, 2018, 09:32:04 AM
I've been doing matched betting since around 2003. It was great back then, a lot harder now as more and more people do it, but still some money to be made. Nice to put a dent in the bookmakers profits.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on October 04, 2018, 10:24:11 AM
Asked this before, repost in hope of reply, don't think I'll dive back into MB but curious -

Out of interest where is the EV nowadays after sign up offers?  The generous reloads have gone, and the occasional goalscorer boast or individual match boost are for small amounts. Is a good proportion straight up arbs ?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on October 05, 2018, 01:24:03 AM
Sorry highlandterrier, I'm not sure I can really answer that one as it isn't something I track. It also depends very much how you go about making your profits and who you are gubbed with.

 If you are talking pure risk free bet X get Y free bets, then I guess you are probably looking at +£3 or £4

 If you include boosts, then they vary between 50p to £2.50. Fred  & Paddy have been quite generous lately on football and the Ryder cup had some amazing ones.

 If you include low risk casino, then they are usually a quid or two.

 Some folks go for no-lay accas (not me) and pull a few hundred a month.

 Some folks (not me again) go for 2up offer with Paddy and 365 which can throw out a few hundred.

 Some folks go for Freds DD/HH which they say offers a large profit.

 Then there are some other horse offers and such. the exact EV I have no idea. It's nothing like days of past I understand, I only started in late 2016 so cannot compare. I can only say for me it is well worth the time. I'll be FIRE at least a year earlier thanks to MB.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: FireUK on October 05, 2018, 08:42:16 AM
Much of the EV comes from high risk casino these days. However, the variance is also high so you can actually go for long periods when you're not actually making any money (or even losing money) even though you're taking tons of EV.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on October 05, 2018, 11:28:38 AM
Thanks for the replies guys. Didn't mind the high variance of casino offers too much when you had a solid baseline of less risky stuff that meant you still made a healthy profit every week, but the sports betting was the bread and butter that kept me going. Cheltenham week was awesome.

Maybe return for a dabble one day, I am gubbed pretty much everywhere though ! Although I have moved address since then hmmm.

Being quite risk adverse the whole experience taught me that a little risk can go a long way and made enough cash to lead me to aim for FIRE in the end I guess.  I would never have had the confidence to invest in equity outside of a pension without the whole risk/reward lessons I learnt from MB.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on October 18, 2018, 02:52:53 AM
Glad to hear you are doing well Manchester :)

 I was doing a casino offer in Sep, bet £10 get 10 spins. Using 20p spins, it spat this out a £203 jackpot at me !

No way you stuffy so and so!  Once hit a £500 pay out whilst wagering on a sign up offer - ended up withdrawing a tenner.  :')
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on October 18, 2018, 03:02:22 AM
Asked this before, repost in hope of reply, don't think I'll dive back into MB but curious -

Out of interest where is the EV nowadays after sign up offers?  The generous reloads have gone, and the occasional goalscorer boast or individual match boost are for small amounts. Is a good proportion straight up arbs ?

Hi mate,
@ExitViaTheCashRamp is pretty much spot on.  I'll add my experience though. 

I've made £1355 in a handful of months, only spending around 5 hours a week doing it.  Been focussing on 'building my bank' which is now around 25x what I started with.  I'm making more £ per hour now because I can take on more offers and max out bets. 

I never arb (I'm only gubbed by one account who've limited me to 50p stakes).  I've done around half of the signups (there are so many new bookies opening).  I've started doing the weekly bet clubs and diving into the world of 2ups, but being cautious to avoid gubbings!   I've started doing some of the ITV horse racing offers which can be incredbly lucrative, but haven't had any major returnss on that so far (a case of when not, if though).


I've also started dabbling on Low/Medium risk casino which is quite profitable.  It's more time consuming though.  Good to set an auto clicker and go and do some ironing or something. 


Most of the people who post their monthly profits are making money in 2ups and casino offers.  They have a thread 'how to make £1,000 per month' in which they post RISK FREE offers that will earn you over £1k per month.  It's just a case of having the time to do them all.  I'm massively impacted because Saturdays are the busiest and most lucrative, but I usually go out and watch football! :P
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on December 07, 2018, 03:43:43 AM
Nice little update for anyone who's interested.  I passed the £2k profit mark yesterday!

It took me 108 days* of matched betting to make my first £1k profit.  From there it was a further 80 days* to make my second £1k profit.  So I'm getting better/quicker at making more profit. 

My 'bank' (value of cash in bookies websites) is over £3,500 currently.  So my rough estimate is over the 5 months I've deposited £1,500 to help generate this £2k (the more money you have in your exchange the more offers you can do).  I want to get my bank to around £10k before I start withdrawing.  I'm tempted to open a new bank account so I can keep my matched betting balance completely seperate and pay myself a wage from that account.  One of those things I really need to get round to doing, but just haven't done.

Seeing some of the figures people make from MBing part time is incredible - some of them could be FIRE'd in months if they only knew! :')




*These days include times when I've not done any matched betting (e.g. being on holiday).



Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on December 17, 2018, 06:30:30 AM
Am sure I can bore folks for Britain on this, so unless someone asks a specific question, this will be my last post on this subject here. Had a very lucky start of the month with several unexpected bonuses come in, so now I am on holiday going to stop for the rest of the month. I took nearly two months off after the world cup and most of a month at the end of the premier league in May. Here is my years profits:

Jan-18    627.78
Feb-18    901.14
Mar-18    846.97
Apr-18    927.95
May-18   396.32
Jun-18    347.63
Jul-18     417.90
Sep-18   676.43
Oct-18    617.92
Nov-18  1,059.12
Dec-18    901.96
Total    £7,721.12

 This was all obtained part time, usually in quiet periods when working my real job from home. It required very little skill, just plugging in numbers into Excel to tell me how much to put down here or there. All that is required is the time to do the work, much like any job. If you were still umming and arrring over if this is worth doing, I hope my numbers here can help convince you either way of what can be achieved.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: sea_saw on December 21, 2018, 03:57:03 AM
I just wanted to say that's super interesting, ExitViaTheCashRamp and Manchester, thank you both for posting about your progress!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: UK Dancer on December 21, 2018, 06:04:07 AM
Agreed, definitely something I'm looking into doing in the new year!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: daverobev on December 21, 2018, 08:55:01 AM
I'll be looking at this too. From a separate current account, which - I think - will hide it from the mortgage approval people...?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on December 21, 2018, 09:23:58 AM
I've seen that asked often about Mortgages, they don't care. I had Nationwide account for matched betting with very significant gambling turnover, and had a mortgage approved with them no issues in a week.

It is a very good idea to have separate account for practical reasons though. 

Sent from my moto e5 using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on December 24, 2018, 09:13:31 AM
Am sure I can bore folks for Britain on this, so unless someone asks a specific question, this will be my last post on this subject here. Had a very lucky start of the month with several unexpected bonuses come in, so now I am on holiday going to stop for the rest of the month. I took nearly two months off after the world cup and most of a month at the end of the premier league in May. Here is my years profits:

Jan-18    627.78
Feb-18    901.14
Mar-18    846.97
Apr-18    927.95
May-18   396.32
Jun-18    347.63
Jul-18     417.90
Sep-18   676.43
Oct-18    617.92
Nov-18  1,059.12
Dec-18    901.96
Total    £7,721.12

 This was all obtained part time, usually in quiet periods when working my real job from home. It required very little skill, just plugging in numbers into Excel to tell me how much to put down here or there. All that is required is the time to do the work, much like any job. If you were still umming and arrring over if this is worth doing, I hope my numbers here can help convince you either way of what can be achieved.


Some big numbers there!  I'm not that good at it yet (or my matched betting bank isn't big enough).  Do you mind me asking more about how you reach those figures (perhaps by PM?)…  I'm averaging around £330 per month, mainly from Weekly bet clubs, Sports reloads and low risk casino.  Trying 2ups now but not had great success so far.  Still got a good few sign ups as well.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on December 24, 2018, 09:19:04 AM
I'll be looking at this too. From a separate current account, which - I think - will hide it from the mortgage approval people...?


Opening a new account is a good idea, just to keep everything separate from your every day money.  Makes it easier to define what your matched betting bank is.

Don't worry about your mortgage.  I've just re-mortgaged and released over £20k of equity and that's with thousands of pounds being deposited and withdrawn from various bookmakers. 
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on December 24, 2018, 09:20:51 AM
I'd appreciate it if any of you signing up to profit accumulator would use my referral code: 301221

I think I get £10 free for each person. 

I also have referral codes for all the big bookie sites (some of which will give you free cash too for using it).  PM me if you're happy to use any. :)
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: daverobev on December 24, 2018, 02:46:29 PM
What are the first steps? Seems like Smarkets and Betfair are necessary for laying, can you get shut out with them or are you always ok?

I've bookmarket a few 'start here' blog pages.. I guess I'll go into it slowly.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Zola. on December 26, 2018, 08:29:17 AM
What is matched betting exactly?

you are offering the same odds as a bookie somewhere?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: daverobev on December 26, 2018, 09:47:08 AM
What is matched betting exactly?

you are offering the same odds as a bookie somewhere?

Sign up bonuses and boosted odds at bookmakers, where you bet 'normally' - for an outcome - offset with a 'lay' bet against the same outcome somewhere else. So you are hedging, but because of the bonus or boost, you can't lose.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on January 02, 2019, 03:38:09 AM
What are the first steps? Seems like Smarkets and Betfair are necessary for laying, can you get shut out with them or are you always ok?

I've bookmarket a few 'start here' blog pages.. I guess I'll go into it slowly.

I just started by doing to free trials at Profit Accumulator.  However some good things to do are:

- Create a new email address to use specifically for MBing
- Take a photo of your ID, proof of address, Debit Card (with middle numbers and csv blocked out).
- Create an Excel Spreadsheet with a list of your username/login for different bookies and also to manage where you've deposte/withdrawn from etc.  (I also keep a spreadsheet of every bet I've placed and what the offers assosciated to that bet were).
- Open a new bank account to use for your matched betting (so you can keep funds seperate and easily trackable).  I haven't done this... wish I did!


Betfair can restrict/gub you and will, most likely do it from their sportsbook or casinos, eventually.  They probably wouldn't restrict you from the exchange (or if they did you'd be very unlucky).  Smarkets are solely an exchange and wouldn't restrict you... they like matched bettors as we provide liquidity into their site for punters to bet against (they mainly make profits from charging a commission on punters backing bets rather than MB'ers laying bets).


My only other bit of advice would be to start slowly.  You can easily start with, say £50 and turn that into a couple hundred £'s in you first month, strictly through no-risk sign up offers.  But when I started I rushed a bit and made a couple of mistakes.  Perhaps limiting yourself to 1 or 2 sign ups per day would be beneficial.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: ExitViaTheCashRamp on January 02, 2019, 04:28:41 AM
Some big numbers there!  I'm not that good at it yet (or my matched betting bank isn't big enough).  Do you mind me asking more about how you reach those figures (perhaps by PM?)…  I'm averaging around £330 per month, mainly from Weekly bet clubs, Sports reloads and low risk casino.  Trying 2ups now but not had great success so far.  Still got a good few sign ups as well.

 There isn't really a method I follow, I'm just in the fortunate position of being able to invest time into it during my working hours. I work from home and do a lot of software testing, which has long gaps whilst I wait for things to install/uninstall/trigger certain flags e.t.c. Which means I can get on most boosts, the weekly bet clubs and casino offers.  I'm very rarely pulling extras from 2UP and BOG - those are just nice bonuses when they turn up.
 
 March should be a great month, if you have paid holiday it *might* be worth taking 12th - 15th March off for the Cheltenham festival - in past years bookies offer a huge amount of boosts and pulling several hundred off them is not unknown.... just make sure you have built a profile of horse race betting before then !

 For the exchanges, Smarkets seems to have lost their edge. For pre-events I would strongly suggest using Matchbook, for in-play I still find Smarkets better.

 You are dam right about the separate bank account for deposits/withdrawals from bookies... so wish I had done that !
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on January 02, 2019, 07:16:04 AM
Thanks for taking the time to reply about it.  I was thinking about booking Cheltenham off.  Will do it this afternoon.  I'm in a reasonably similar position where I can place bets during working hours and I watch sports constantly so I always keep an eye out for boosts etc. 

I know there's a shelf life on matched betting before bookies catch on and I get restricted, but every penny I make is going towards FIRE and it sure beats sitting watching tele and procrastinating... I actually quite enjoy doing it! :P
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: guy999 on January 24, 2019, 06:51:03 AM
Hi
Just been reading through here and about to signup with PA.
How has everybody's luck been lately?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on January 31, 2019, 05:16:20 AM
Hi
Just been reading through here and about to signup with PA.
How has everybody's luck been lately?

Quite good for me.  This month I've made £400 without putting much effort in at all.  I've been busy at work so not had as much time to do it, but think I could have easily passed £500 had I done more offers.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: daverobev on January 31, 2019, 05:30:55 AM
Hi
Just been reading through here and about to signup with PA.
How has everybody's luck been lately?

Quite good for me.  This month I've made £400 without putting much effort in at all.  I've been busy at work so not had as much time to do it, but think I could have easily passed £500 had I done more offers.

What's your bankroll, if you don't mind me asking? And how many bookies are you using to get that level of return? I'm probably going to start in the next month or so.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: daverobev on January 31, 2019, 12:54:15 PM
Got an appointment to open a bank account next week. I signed up for Profit Acc, just wondering how 'necessary' it is? Surely using that leads to gubbing because everyone else is doing the same?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: vand on February 01, 2019, 03:18:49 AM
You can make about £1000 from one-off sign-up offers. At least you could a couple of years ago. Probably a bit less now. Don't need a huge bankroll, although it helps if you have a couple of grand so that you are not constantly having to moving money around different accounts.

After those you are left with "reloads". It depends how much time and effort you put in to taking advantage of every single £5 bet thrown your way, but I'd say you will do well to scrape £200/month. After a year you'll probably have lost most of your accounts and will do well to make £100/month.

PA is a decent service, but I actually think that you are better off not using it. "Matched Betting" in its purest sense is only a small subsection of the wider topic of Advantage Play. It's more sustainable, and more satisfying and arguably more profitable if you learn for yourself how to extract the value from the bookies, and then you have all the tools you need to be able to do so on a continual basis. There are techniques that are +EV in the long term, but not always hedgeable.

for a higher level of sophistication I would recommend checking out bookiebashing dot net (I have no affiliation, but learnt a lot from their podcast)

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on March 28, 2019, 07:07:32 AM
Got an appointment to open a bank account next week. I signed up for Profit Acc, just wondering how 'necessary' it is? Surely using that leads to gubbing because everyone else is doing the same?

Hi mate,

Really sorry, didn't even see you'd responded to me previously.  My MB'ing bank is currently just under £5k which is built up of £1.5k deposits and £3.5k profits.  I've not had much time to MB since Cheltenham, but still making abit of money here and there.


Profit Accumulator is very necessary IMO.  It saves you the time of manually searching for offers, as well as giving you calculators and resources (such as the forum and support line) to put bets on quickly.  The £18 fee per month is easily coverable from reloads.  At the end of the day you're going to get gubbed by everyone regardless of using PA or not.  If you're matched betting, they will figure it out and restrict you. 

As Vand said, there is a lot of value in Advantage play (These can be offers such as 'money back if 1 leg lets you down on a 4 fold accumulator'.  I bet £10 every other day with Paddy Power, Every now and again it comes in and earns me around £30-50 profit immediately, sometimes 1 leg lets me down, I make £8 from the free bet so the actual bet has cost me £2 (£2 loss - this is the most likely outcome) and occasionally more than 1 team lets you down and you lose the full £10.  Overall this has earnt me money, but isn't risk free and increases variance (good months/bad months).  Another is Casino offers that are expected value.  They aren't risk free, but the odds are in your favour rather than the bookies.

If you need any advice my pm's are open.  You'll also have access to the forum, there are some mods that are very helpful I've found.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: TinyAcorn on April 14, 2019, 03:56:35 PM
Hi. I'm thinking of giving matched betting a go but seem to have chosen the worst possible time to get started, as the footie season is coming to a close... would you recommend getting started regardless or should I just read up, get email and bank account sorted with the aim of starting proper when the footie starts back up? 

I don't really know anything about sports but it doesn't look like that's actually a barrier, I'm good with numbers and organised so this seems like it could be a good option to me - higher rate tax-payer too so the tax free nature of MB appeals over more traditional side-hustles.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on April 16, 2019, 03:04:02 AM
Hi. I'm thinking of giving matched betting a go but seem to have chosen the worst possible time to get started, as the footie season is coming to a close... would you recommend getting started regardless or should I just read up, get email and bank account sorted with the aim of starting proper when the footie starts back up? 

I don't really know anything about sports but it doesn't look like that's actually a barrier, I'm good with numbers and organised so this seems like it could be a good option to me - higher rate tax-payer too so the tax free nature of MB appeals over more traditional side-hustles.

I'd argue now is a good time to start.  With matched betting, you make so much until you get 'gubbed' by bookies who've sussed out that you're a matched bettor.  So to avoid this you need to look like a 'mug punter' who doesn't stand out from the thousands of people who plow their income into these sites. 

This time of year, the Premier League is reaching it's climax and the Champions League is in it's latter stages.  So a lot of people would be more inclined to have a punt on these bigger games, compared with a less important game earlier in the season.  There will be lots of sport on over the summer (golf, tennis, Ascot etc) so there is still some money to be made. 

Before you do anything though, create a matched betting email address (something subtle though, not TinyAcornsbookiebashingemail@matchedbettors.com), open a current account separate to your other finances (no overdraft facilities or any other bells/whistles).  Then sign up to profit accumulator and do the free trials (which will pay for your first month).

The best advice I can give you is to take your time and don't rush.  Also, value your accounts early on (if you plan to do this long term).  I didn't do much mug betting on some good accounts and I've lost out on profit as a result.  There is tons of information on the forums about how you can do this.

If you're feeling generous, use my code when you sign up and I'll receive a £10 referral bonus from Profit Accumulator. 

my referral code is: 301221
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: tomw on April 17, 2019, 07:09:39 AM
Hi. Great thread, thank you for sharing :)
I was wondering if you monitor your credit score and if MB had any effect on it?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: vand on April 18, 2019, 02:22:36 AM
shouldn't affect your credit score at all.  Most betting sites have degenerates and, well, gamblers, as the bulk of their clientele, whose credit scores are likely to be below average, so they're not going to be turning away most of their potential business.

However, a word of advice.. they often make you jump through hoops when doing stuff like withdrawing money, so make sure you have recent bank statement, proof of ID & address all ready to send to them, and don't even think about multi-accounting.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: tomw on April 18, 2019, 02:54:02 AM
Thank you for the reply. I was more concerned about lowering my credit score by opening multiple betting accounts with different providers   
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: highlandterrier on April 18, 2019, 04:32:09 AM
I don't monitor my credit score but I matched bet for around 10 years and took a £200k mortgage out towards the end with the same bank that I used for my betting account. Was approved within a week so no issue.

Also, I've never encountered anyone in the community who believed that it affected their credit score. Which makes sense as you are not using credit anywhere in the process, and have no bills to pay or anything, so there is no reason for it to affect how likely you are to pay of a debt.

Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Playing with Fire UK on April 18, 2019, 05:11:42 AM
Thank you for the reply. I was more concerned about lowering my credit score by opening multiple betting accounts with different providers

Do you mean multiple betting accounts or multiple bank accounts to use for betting? You only need one spare bank account and if it doesn't have an overdraft then it won't impact your credit rating.

Bookies will sometimes do identity checks using credit rating agencies, again, this won't impact your credit rating. A betting account doesn't have any place on a credit rating (it isn't offering credit) so there is no way it can impact your credit rating.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: tomw on April 18, 2019, 05:57:39 AM
I was thinking about one bank account and multiple betting accounts. It is all clear now. Thank you :)
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on April 23, 2019, 08:50:09 AM
I don't keep track of my credit score, but  haven't been turned down for credit since starting matched betting.  I would definitely recommend opening a new current account just incase you're planning on getting a mortgage.  They will look at your bank statements, so would be better if the transactions were in a separate account (although it didn't bother me). 

Thanks to the two kind people who used my referral link.  You've helped me earn an extra £20.  :)
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Kookaburra Risotto on July 12, 2019, 11:47:32 AM
I've been thinking about giving this a go for a while now, thanks everyone for sharing tips and experiences.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: djr8369 on September 03, 2019, 04:33:25 AM
Great thread. If I can find time to spend on this around studying part time I’ll give it ago. Would appreciate if anyone who does it regularly opens a case study.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on September 04, 2019, 05:12:40 AM
Great thread. If I can find time to spend on this around studying part time I’ll give it ago. Would appreciate if anyone who does it regularly opens a case study.

I'm not case-studying material, but you may be interested in what I have to say.

Matched Betting is really just a tiny subset of the whole topic of Advantage Play (APing).  I began cutting my teeth on Matched Betting just over 3 years ago and have since ran with it, advanced my understanding & broadened my knowledge and skills and earn considerably more from my APing than I do from my day job (so a pretty decent side-hustle). However, online offers will dry up eventually as bookies see that you know what you are doing and limit/close your accounts.

If anyone tells you "you can't beat the bookies" then you I will tell you now that they're just mugs talking out of their arse, because I and people like me make a good living from doing just that. 

We do so by constantly taking value. Taking value simply means you are able to find and back an event to occur at a bigger price than its true odds of occuring. Mugs try to pick out winners. Professionals bet on value. I personally specialize in horse racing where the each-way system is easily abuseable to create value if you understand when it tilts the odds in your favour (sometimes ludicrously so), but there are other techniques out there which others employ. Doing what I do online will get your account restricted very quickly; I am in a big city with hundreds of bookies, so I do all my betting anonymously in-shop.
I've had a string of gubbings recently so my profits are suffering as a result.  I do have a lot of bookies local to me but having started my in-store matched betting career as of yet. 

Could you shed any light on what particular offers you're taking advantage of?  Private message etc?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: UK Dancer on November 15, 2019, 07:47:31 AM
Judging by the post above, you're fundamentally misunderstanding the entire point of matched betting: there's no fear because there's no risk...
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on March 14, 2020, 05:28:56 AM
I have never tried matched betting. Is it really profitable ?

I've found it's not as profitable as when I first started.  I think the bookies are cottoning onto matched betting and the offers reflect that. 

I'd say it's definitely worth signing up to Profit Accumulator and running through the Sign Up offers.  There are hundreds and if you can get through them all, they are easily worth over £1k.  Then decide for yourself if it's worthwhile to continue with other offers. 
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Manchester on April 23, 2020, 04:50:27 AM
Matched betting isn't betting.  it's using relatively simple maths to guarantee a financial outcome.  When done correctly there is no risk and no gambling.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: sea_saw on April 23, 2020, 07:41:15 AM
The random people who keep digging up this thread to reply without reading it are a true delight.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: PhilB on April 23, 2020, 08:03:23 AM
I was startled to see the thread come back to life as I didn't think there was anything left to bet on at the moment!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: never give up on April 23, 2020, 08:06:12 AM
Want to bet on when the lockdown will end?
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: sea_saw on April 23, 2020, 08:31:13 AM
NGU I'm shocked! After everyone so carefully explained what a slippery slope this is!!!
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: never give up on April 23, 2020, 09:27:44 AM
:-)

We need to rename this thread "Applying mathematical equations for positive side hustle outcomes" or something.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: vand on June 01, 2021, 07:55:48 AM
Matched betting isn't betting.  it's using relatively simple maths to guarantee a financial outcome.  When done correctly there is no risk and no gambling.
is it even possible? sounds like magic, easy money

Nothing magic about it.

It's just monetising the value in bookie freebies, eg if a bookie gives you a £20 free bet then you can even out extract the value out of it (theoretically nearly 100% of the face value, but in practice more like 80-85% of the face value) and even out the variance of outcomes by using some hedging (usually on a betting exchange, but also doable with dutching)

You can occassionally get an outright arb, but don't expect to keep your accounts for long if you take these bets. Bookies aren't stupid, and they know almost immediately if you will make money from them or vice versa over the long term.
Title: Re: Matched betting?
Post by: Cameronq1 on October 24, 2022, 12:16:16 AM
You can make about £1000 from one-off sign-up offers https://melbets.in/app/ (https://melbets.in/app/). At least you could a couple of years ago. Probably a bit less now. Don't need a huge bankroll, although it helps if you have a couple of grand so that you are not constantly having to moving money around different accounts. After those you are left with "reloads". It depends how much time and effort you put in to taking advantage of every single £5 bet thrown your way, but I'd say you will do well to scrape £200/month.

After a year you'll probably have lost most of your accounts and will do well to make £100/month. PA is a decent service, but I actually think that you are better off not using it. "Matched Betting" in its purest sense is only a small subsection of the wider topic of Advantage Play. It's more sustainable, and more satisfying and arguably more profitable if you learn for yourself how to extract the value from the bookies, and then you have all the tools you need to be able to do so on a continual basis. There are techniques that are +EV in the long term, but not always hedgeable. for a higher level of sophistication I would recommend checking out bookiebashing dot net (I have no affiliation, but learnt a lot from their podcast)

Similarly, this month it was possible to make more than £200 without much effort, although this is not the limit. If you do it as a day job, there will be even more money