When you open an account with a bookmaker and place a £10 bet, you’ll qualify for a £20 free bet! So the £10 part is known as a ‘qualifier bet’ and the £20 part is known as the ‘free bet’.
Matched betting shows you how to turn that £20 free bet into profit!
In traditional betting you risk your money on the result of the bet.
In matched betting, we match our first bet with another bet. This second bet is called a ‘lay’ bet.
If you are unfamiliar with the term matched betting and are a complete newcomer to this side of sports betting, this betting strategy enables you to potentially lock in margins of profit by covering all possible outcomes of an event. Although this may seem relatively complex, there are a few simple steps that can be taken that, if done correctly, could help you achieve this feat.
Before you start placing bets, you should first familiarise yourself with the types of bets you will likely be placing. These are categorised into two different things, back and lay bets, with one relating to betting on an outcome to occur and the other for the event not to occur. Placing one of these with a bookmaker and another with a betting exchange allows users to cover all eventualities of an event, ensuring a margin of profit could potentially be locked in.
However, bookmakers often offer free bets or promotions to new or existing customers. Bettors could potentially receive these after placing their initial back and lay bets, which is referred to as a qualifying bet. The purpose of the qualifying bet is to trigger the bonus or free bet, which you can then use to lock in profit via the matched betting strategy.
The first step in order to claim a qualifying bet is to select a bookmaker that is offering a specific free bet or promotion to new customers. For example, these can be in the form of “bet £20 get £20’. After selecting a bookmaker, you place a bet on the bookmaker matching the requirements in order to claim the promotion. Although this is done via a bookmaker, you will still be simultaneously laying a bet on a betting exchange in order to counteract this initial bet. In order to determine the stake needed to cover this on the betting exchange, you could use one of the many matched betting calculators to ensure that the opposite outcome is covered effectively.
After this, all you have to do is wait for the sporting event you have wagered on to settle. Regardless of whether the selection wins or loses, one of your bets will win, cancelling out the loss on its counterpart. From this, the bookmaker will credit your account with the respective bonus from which you can continue to apply the matched betting strategy and transform these free funds into real profits if applied correctly.
If you want to delve further into the world of matched betting, OddsMonkey is a comprehensive platform that provides step-by-step matched betting guides and essential tools to make matched betting accessible to beginners. All of the resources are made to simplify the entire process, making it easier for newcomers to start capitalising on all of the various bookmaker promotions and offers. The valuable assistance offered by OddsMonkey is paramount when it comes to matched betting for dummies!
*DISCLAIMER: We’re legally required to state that there is no guarantee of specific results each month. The amount of money that you earn can vary dependant on the time and effort that you commit each month.
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