Risk free matched betting using bookie offers

[richardxjr]

Some kind soul on another thread recently linked to this and rekindled my interest as a part time tax free earner.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php...

Made £200 in my first week, plenty more to come. A chunk of that is from referral bonuses so don't sign up to any bookies or exchanges just yet!

Anyone else doing this or thinking of it? The mse board is very cluttered, I thought similar PHers might be able to help each other out?

Mods: although based on gambling products, this is risk free if done correctly. I am certainly treating my exploits as a business, but please move elsewhere if you deem it necessary


The below won't make any sense yet to new visitors. But it's here on Post 1 as a general guide, a reminder of the general rules once you've read the MSE thread a gazillion times and then forgotton it!

Edited to add as suggested by TomE said:

General Rules of Thumb for Matched Betting

Qualifier Bet - odds match as close as possible, low odds to minimise lay amount required, aim for 95% retention of stake. The aim here is to lose a small amount on this bet, to release the free bet
Free SNR bet - odds match as close as possible, higher odds (7.0+) to maximise returns, aim for 80% or above retention of stake
Free SR Bet - odd match as close as possible, higher odds (7.0+) to maximise returns, aim for 90% or above retention of original stake.

Edited by richardxjr on Tuesday 22 November 14:59

[richardxjr]

I would suggest immersing yourself in the MSE intro board for a few days, download the 'matcher' spreadsheet, even better 'Ultimatcher3', and try and understand the undelying maths. The search engine there is very good.

I opened a Betfair account with a referral code and cashback then did free bet offers of £10, 5, 10, 30, 40, 40, currently gaining 80% of these values in cash.
I've invested £180 and currently have a fund of £380.

Most offers are stake £xx for a matching free bet. You match each back bet with a lay bet at an exchange (eg Betfair). You lose say 5% on your qualifier then win around 80% of the value of the free bet - irrespective of the result of the market you are betting both ways on.

Skybet is a good first bookie to toe-dip: they offer a £10 bet on registration: no qualifying bet required

[richardxjr]

It's a bit light on football fixtures this week. You can do horses (or any sport), but football is safer (odds changing due to non runners in particular). F1 works too, I got a good odds match for the last race.

If I find a good odds match on a Friday night for the Saturday games, I'll place my bets on both sides then... if not, that's my Saturday morning job

You don't need to have any interest in sport btw (I don't), just a head for figures and an organised, methodical approach.

I use 'oddsmonkey' for finding good matching bets. It's a bit clunky and the prices are delayed 30mins, but if you're looking a good few hours before an event the odds will be pretty stable.

I've researched most of the bookies new account offers now. If anyone would like an opinion about the value of any particular offer, ask on here or email me

[richardxjr]

Some bookies are happy for 'partner accounts', most aren't - especially for sign up bonuses.

There's masses of bookies for new accounts: UK then Europe. And they will all email/text you further free bet offers once registered, especially around major sporting events. Cheltenham Festival in March is a biggie, then we've the olympics...

It is imperative that the T&Cs of each bookies' offer are read, printed out and thoroughly understood before signing up.


First step is a Betfair account. This is an exchange which allows lay bets, and has an excellent sign-up offer if done correctly. This is where you'll want to build up your trading balance as you'll use this for laying off your positions with the different bookies as you progress.

If you can, use a dedicated bank account with debit card for mostly fee-free deposits and withdrawals and easier tracking of where your money is.

[richardxjr]

bigweb said:

I'm well up for this as I have quite a bit of free time at the moment and made some good money from the casino sites when casino bagging was profitable.

Any tips on how to start etc would be welcome

Immerse yourself in the MSE guide linked in the first post. Take a few days getting your head around it.

Open a Betfair account. Find a referrer for £25 bonus straight into your account once you've staked £25 with them. The person whose referral code you use also gets £25 and it is usual for this to be split so you get some of this cash too. There is a referrers board on MSE or you could email me if you like

When you've got a referral code, sign up on a cashback site and click through to Betfair from their link for another few quid cashback which takes a couple of months. You enter the referral code into the Betfair sign up page.

Please do NOT post referral codes here: Betfair do not like this.


If you just sign-up to Betfair you'll get a £25 free bet offer which is not as profitable as going the cashback+referrer route


Edit: I've another, better cashback available for Betfair, which pays out in just a few days from registration. With a decent friends shared referral & cashback you can now get £57.50 from signing with Betfair. I've detailed this all out if you'd like a copy just ask.

Edited by richardxjr on Wednesday 9th November 13:22

[richardxjr]

Ooh a real live example

Just signed with L*dbr*kes. Topcashback £20.60. Free £50 bet (stake not returned ) matching £50 deposited and staked on a qualifier today.

Qualifier: Oxford v Southend, Oxford to win @ 2.37 - matched at Betfair @ 2.34 so that will be a net 85p loss on this £50 qualifying bet.
matcherxls. spreadsheet (find it on MSE) works out my BF stake as £51.75 and liability of £69.35

I'll talk you through it:
My outlay is £50 for the qual stake @ laddies PLUS £69.35 liability @ BF = £119.35
If Oxford win I win £68.50 at laddies, plus stake back £50 = £118.50
If Oxford don't win I get credited at BF, my liability £69.35 plus (stake £51.75 less 5% BF win commission) £49.16 = £118.51
So, whatever the result of the match I've lost 85p on that qualifying bet. (1.7% loss = good. Aim for <5% loss on a qualifier)

On settlement of that qual bet Laddies will credit me my £50 free bet which I will match at higher odds to max out 80% profit.

Edited by richardxjr on Tuesday 8th November 13:54

[richardxjr]

Right, my quali has finished Oxford 0 - 1 Southend. So I lost my bet at the bookie and won on the lay side. 84p loss as calculated beforehand.

I've received my £50 free bet token and placed my free bet on Thursday's England v Iceland Under 21. Got a great odds match again, so I know whatever the result I will be £43.20 better off, after the 84p loss on the quali.

So I'll have retained 86.4% of the free bet value in cash


Quick review:
I bet £50 real money, lost 84p, bet my £50 free bet which will return £44.04.

ETA nearly forgot, I'll also receive £20.60 cashback in due course from signing up to this bookie via topcashback.

Edited by richardxjr on Tuesday 8th November 23:04

[richardxjr]

TVR MAN said:

Very nice Richard.

I've read about this a few times but never got round to doing anything about it. I think I must start soon.

In your above post - once you have qualified for your free bet, could you decide to remove the riskless element and just place a £50 bet that has only really cost you 84p? Would you be able to cash out the winnings if you bet your £50 free bet at say 10/1 and won?

Removing the riskless element would make it a gamble. No thanks But to answer the bit in bold: yes, for most offers. BUT with some more obscure bookies you may have to wager through a certain amount before withdrawing: treat these as stake returned bets for a minimal loss each time just like a quali. This is all detailed in the MSE guide and is a reminder to always check a particular offer's T+Cs


England U21's won by a rather convincing 5-0. My lay-side winnings were credited back to my betfair account before the whistle had blown


WRT paid sites like the one above. What I really like about my new part time job is that I'm engaging my brain and learning stuff completely new to me.
An easy £100+ a week for a couple hours works is nice too. Especially if you know how you've earned it. No overheads, no tax.


A thought too about ethics. There is speculation about whether bookies like us sort signing up just for their free offers - yet they keep placing the ads.
In my Laddies example, both bets (qual and free) lost at the bookie side and won on the lay side.

Laddies are up by my £50 quali stake, I'm up £64ish, Betfair made it's commission. The punter who's back bet at BF I took got better odds than he would have got at most bookies. So everyone's happy, yes. Except the Icelandics

Waiting for a coupon to appear in the Sun tomorrow which means Will Hill's £60 free bet for £30 staked is on (instead of their internet published £25) I should be able to make £50 out of that.

Edited by richardxjr on Friday 11th November 09:06

Edited by richardxjr on Friday 11th November 09:15

[richardxjr]

For a good insight into bookies free bet offers have a look at betrescue.com. Subscribe with your email address and they let you know new offers as they arrive.

There are still better offers about though, so a quick google and check cashback sites before signing up

[richardxjr]

Two weeks in now Got £50.06 out of that WHill offer.

£180 invested, £333 profit, available £513.

8 free bet offers done so far, avg 80.3% of free bet amount gained, after qualifiers.

[richardxjr]

In my first week, most lost @ bookies and won @ Betfair, which helped. I also received £57.50 of BF referral and cashback in that first week, direct to my BF balance. My bookie debit card withdrawals have taken 2 working days.

I have got a Neteller ewallet now to make things faster, but you have to check bookie T+C's as sometimes their sign up bonuses aren't available when depositing using ewallets. Another way round is to start with a bigger float of course.

I'm awaiting 2 small payouts from bookies from the weekend. (Low odds qualis which won). Should be in my account by tomorrow/weds, well in time for next weekends fun

Edited by richardxjr on Monday 14th November 09:25

[richardxjr]

Just like any betting or spreadbetting.

That's how I understand it, but make your own enquiries to be sure!

[richardxjr]

I clicked a few buttons and got £17.50 cash in a week. Not bad I'd say!



For anyone thinking of diving in, now's a very good time. Betfair have another fantastic offer valid until End Nov. 25% refund on back stake or lay liability the first time you place a bet using their mobile app, max £100.

So make sure you only use their website for your first few lay bets.
After a week or two you should be ready for, say, Laddies free £50 bet. With odds of 9/1 (10.0) your lay liability will be around the £400 mark. So do this on their app and for a very easy extra £100 on top of the £40 or so you'll get from the laddies offer

I've added this to my 'get started' data sheet.

[richardxjr]

Email sent Shuvi

[richardxjr]

Here it is shuvi

http://thebettingwarehouse.com/#/cash-back/4554514...

[richardxjr]

Scroll down to the first offer - Betfair - there is a banner there, click on it!

When you click through to BF remember to overtype the promo code with my referral code ... else you'll just get their std sign up offer which is way less profitable!

[richardxjr]

Er, yes! Lord knows why it isn't showing on yours. Clear cookies/try again?

[richardxjr]

Yes, but...

You'll have read that for a quali bet you want short odds, and a free bet you want longer odds (7-10 - the higher the odds the higher your lay liability will be at betfair)

You'll have found a better deal with Vic than £25 free.


Now. You've deposited £50 at Ladbrokes using their code for a free £50 bet. You'll have read in their T+Cs that you need to place your quali today.
There are no min odds for this offer BUT you want min odds 1.2 to get the BF bonus straight away.

So you want a good match with Lads, 1.20-1.25 something like that, that also has at least £50 liquidity at Betfair

[richardxjr]

15Nov UkraineU21 v LithuaniaU21, UkraineU21 to Win - back @ laddies £50 1.33, lay UkraineU21 to win @ BF 1.32 - Stake £52.36 liability £16.76

Brilliant match. You'll lose 26p whatever happens and your £50 free bet will be credited as soon as this quali bet is settled.

[richardxjr]

I edited that post Shuvi. Found a good match for ya.

You have to bet your quali today to get the free bet! It does not have to be on an event today though.



Edit: to convert 3/2 to decimal: (3 divided by 2) PLUS 1 = 2.50

You can edit your preferences to decimal odds at Laddies in 'your account'

Do this bet then step back and read the MSE guides !!!!!!!

Edited by richardxjr on Monday 14th November 13:53

Edited by richardxjr on Monday 14th November 13:55