Matched Betting & Arbitrage Explained: Risk Free Strategies

Matched Betting & Arbitrage Explained

Matched Betting is a technique that aims to help you make profit from free bets and promotional offers from online bookmakers.

In contrast to traditional betting and gambling, Matched Betting is a mathematical approach that eliminates all of the risk.

Whereas traditional betting sees you select one outcome (eg: home team to win), punters will use Matched Betting to cover all bases.

Different bookmakers offer different promotions and odds variations, allowing the punters to use free bets to make profit.

What is Matched Betting?

The Matched Betting system means that you cover all possible outcomes of a match or an event, by backing and laying.

The first bet would see you back one team / player - ie: you bet on Team A to beat Team B in a football match.

The second bet would be a lay the same on a betting exchange, which means you would go against the same team or player - ie: lay Team A not to win.

How does Match Betting work?

To qualify for a free bet, you normally have to place a wager on that bookmakers’ website, which can be to back a team or player in a match / event.

If you were to back Team A to win with one firm, you would then lay the same team with an online exchange (eg: Betfair, Smarkets).

By placing both a back and lay bet, you should cancel out any loss and in the process, allow you to meet the two bookmakers’ requirement to unlock free bets or a bonus offer.

An example of Matched Betting would be to back Team A with £10 at odds of 2.0, then lay Team A not to win at odds of 2.04 on the exchange.

The exchange will take a 5% commission on winnings, so these are the two possible outcomes, depending on the result.

If Team A wins, you win £10 in profit and your total return is £20 - the £10 stake and your £10 winnings.

If Team A fails to win, you lose your £10 stake with the first bookmaker but you win the lay stake of £10.15. After the commission is deducted, your net profit is £9.64.

What is Arbitrage Betting?

Arbitrage Betting, otherwise known as arbing, takes advantage of any price discrepancies between different bookmakers.

The idea is to place bets on all possible outcomes of a sporting event or match, in a way that guarantees a profit no matter what the final result.

This does need the punter to have several different betting accounts and also requires fast reactions when markets are live or change the odds.

How does Arbitrage Betting work in horse racing?

Arbing in horse racing presents more challenges compared to other sports, which may lead to a change in approach.

A tennis match has two possible outcomes, a football match has three while racing can have between three and 40, depending on the size of the field.

The bigger the field, the more difficult and expensive Arbitrage Betting becomes and opportunities become more rare.

Finding a combination of bookmakers where all the odds for every single horse allows an arbitrage opportunity is tricky and could potentially require a large amount of capital.

Key differences between Matched Betting and Arbitrage Betting

The main difference between the two betting types is that Matched Betting relies on bookmaker offers and free bets, while Arbitrage depends on discrepancies in bookmaker odds.

The value of a promotion leads to a guaranteed cash profit with a Matched system, while the Arbitrage strategy depends on betting on all possible outcomes.

Advantages and risks of Matched Betting and Arbitrage Betting

Matched Betting is mathematically risk-free, as the strategy eliminates the risk and allows you to cover all possible results to make sure of a profit.

This ensures that no matter the result of the match / event, you don’t lose money on your bets and the profit is derived from the bookmaker’s free bet or promotion.

A low cost / capital to start up is also beneficial and it could ultimately lead to high profitability.

If you cover all possible results in Arbitrage Betting, there is also the guarantee of profit with a ‘sure bet’ / ‘green book’. That means your total return will exceed your total stakes.

Although you don’t have to rely on promotions, Arbitrage opportunities are fewer and sometimes last only a few minutes or even seconds.

If you can’t place all of your opposing bets at favourable odds before they change, you can be left in a losing position.

Regular punters of the Arbitrage system will often use spreadsheets to keep tabs on their bets and profits. They will also make use of odds-match software in order to help find the price discrepancies.