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Matched Betting (or “Match Betting”) is a proven technique used to earn tax-free profits from the free bets & promotions offered by online Bookmakers. It’s based on a simple risk-free strategy rather than chance — so it’s not gambling at all.
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Matched betting can be a great way to make money but did youknow that you can increase your profits even more by receiving cashback when signing up to online bookmakers, casinos and bingo sites? Cashback is available through a number of different cashback sites. The UK’s original free betting site that has set the bench mark for showcasing the best UK free bets and UK free bet offers. Our in-house research team has drawn on over 10 years of industry contacts and betting know how to bring you the biggest free bet offers from all top UK bookmakers and free betting sites. In short, you take a two-outcome wager, and place wagers on both sides of that outcome. This is done on two separate sites, at least one of which should be a betting exchange, rather than a regular sportsbook like William Hill. As the name suggests, no risk matched betting – if executed correctly – will guarantee a profit.
The internet is full of get rich quick schemes and step-by-step programs to ‘make free money online.’
Online sports wagering. Spoiler alert: there’s no such thing as free money, and anyone who tells you otherwise is either delusional or actively trying to steal yours.
Matched betting is widely toted as one such golden ticket to the riches you’ve always dreamed of. So, is it a total scam?
The answer is no. Matched betting is a real way to make money online using the free bet promotions offered at sportsbooks. But it takes patience, strict attention to detail, and a major time investment to be successful.
Read on for a detailed breakdown of how matched betting works and why it’s not the ‘free money miracle’ the internet tells you it is (but might still be worth your time).
What Is Matched Betting?
Matched betting is a risk-free betting strategy that allows you to profit from the free bet offers at online sportsbooks by hedging against them at an online betting exchange. It’s not gambling, and it’s not betting on sports in the traditional sense – you’ve removed chance from the equation and know the outcome with complete certainty.
You don’t need to know anything about sports or handicapping to take advantage of matched betting, because you will always wager the same amount of money on both possible outcomes. The goal is not to ‘win’ a bet in the traditional sense, but to guarantee your free bet offer ends up a winner.
Matched betting is a hedging strategy, but you’re only using your money to wager on one of the two possible outcomes. You use the sportsbook’s money (in the form of a free bet) to hedge against your own.
Matched Betting Step-by-Step
Here’s a very high-level overview of how you can get started with matched betting. Because most sportsbooks make free bet offers contingent on rollover, you need to put down your own money on a qualifying bet before you’ll be able to use theirs. Remember, there is no risk of losing the money you put down. You simply need to have the cash on-hand to ‘unlock’ or ‘qualify’ the free bet.
Place a Qualifying Bet to Unlock Your Free Bet
- Find a free bet offer at an online sportsbook and register with the site to access the promotional offer.
- Select a bet that you can use to ‘unlock’ your free bet by meeting the rollover requirements at the sportsbook. If the book requires you to bet $100 to unlock a $100 free bet, bet $100 on any line with only two possible outcomes. Stay away from championship futures, horse racing, three-way moneylines, etc.
- Find the same event at a betting exchange and ‘lay’ your original bet at the same odds – i.e. bet the same amount of money on the exact opposite result you wagered on at the sportsbook.
- Following the sporting event, one bet will be graded a winner and the other a loser.
- At this juncture, you have a ledger balance of $100 (or the value of your free bet offer) minus the juice and any commission charged by the betting exchange. You’re technically going to lose a very small amount of your money placing qualifying bets, but you’ve essentially taken the sportsbook’s money in the form of a free bet that’s worth far more than the amount you’ve lost.
Place a Matched Bet for Guaranteed Profit
Repeat steps 2 – 4 using the free bet you’ve unlocked to the wager at the sportsbook (you’ll still need to use your own cash to lay against it at the betting exchange, but there’s no risk of losing this money). No matter what happens in the game, you will win the bet and withdraw the winnings.
Since there’s no chance of losing your money, matched betting can be a good time to wager on long odds that would otherwise be too risky.
Matched Betting vs. Arbitrage Betting
Matched betting is just like arbitrage betting in the sense that you are placing equal wagers on every possible outcome of an event. The difference is in your method – arbitrage betting exploits significant discrepancies in the odds at different sportsbooks, requiring bettors to engage in extensive line shopping to find opportunities.
Matched betting is much simpler – you can use the strategy to guarantee profit by betting both sides of any wager that is eligible for a free bet and offered at an online betting exchange.
Is Matched Betting a Scam?
Matched betting isn’t a scam, pyramid scheme, or nefarious attempt to steal your identity and drain the bank accounts you wanted to supplement in the first place.
That said, it’s been widely advertised on precisely the type of internet blogs we’d urge you to be wary of, with personal finance bloggers (who typically have ZERO qualifications to dispense financial advice) leading the charge.
Matched betting isn’t a scam, pyramid scheme or nefarious attempt to steal your identity and drain the bank accounts you wanted to supplement in the first place…but remember that it is not a way to make a living,
If you decide to pursue matched betting, just remember that you can figure it out on your own, and that it is not a way to make a living.
You’re unlikely to make more than a few thousand dollars per year, at the absolute maximum. Do not pay someone to tell you how to do this. It’s not worth paying for advice on something with such low returns – save your pennies and take them to a real financial adviser rather than a ‘matched betting expert.’
Are these Strategies Legal?
Matched betting is legal everywhere it is legal to bet on sports online. This includes the United States.
The only caveat is that you need access to a betting exchange in order to efficiently take advantage of matched betting. Betfair is the best-known exchange on the web, and it’s only available in three states that have explicitly sanctioned its operation: Nevada, New Jersey, and Delaware.
At least for the time being, matched betting remains out of reach for most American bettors, despite its legality at the federal level.
Is It Worthwhile?
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Matched betting is not the most efficient way to supplement your income, nor is it particularly entertaining, especially compared to traditional sports betting. Unless you are incredibly efficient, matched betting pays less than minimum wage. Even if you took advantage of every single introductory free bet, you’d likely walk away with a couple thousand dollars following hundreds of hours of effort.
Matched betting is a risk-free way to make money online. If you have extra time on your hands and enjoy working with numbers, it can be a lucrative hobby.
That said, matched betting truly is a risk-free way to make money online. If you have the extra time on your hands and enjoy working with numbers, it can be a lucrative hobby.
The bottom line: matched betting can net you some extra cash, but it’s no way to make a living.
Can You Be Banned From Sportsbooks?
Sportsbooks are always looking for bettors who take too much value, and those who engage in matched betting can fall into this category. Online betting sites cooperate via shared security servers, which means they’ll eventually identify anyone making lots of money with risk-free betting strategies.
Virtually all sportsbooks specify that they are for ‘recreational bettors only,’ and there’s nothing recreational about manipulating a free promotion to make guaranteed money at a gambling website.
That said, some executives in the industry have suggested that online sportsbooks really aren’t concerned with matched betting. They know people are taking advantage of free bet offers in this manner, but the offers are ultimately worth too much in terms of new customer acquisition for the books to overly restrict them.
Review the tips in our guide to avoid restriction when arbitrage betting to find strategies that also apply to matched bets.
Looking to Make Real Money Betting on Sports?
Matched betting offers some monetary value, but it offers zero entertainment value. Luckily, more traditional sports betting methods are increasingly gaining traction as investment opportunities.
Read up on sports betting and investing to see how the brightest minds in finance are applying their skills to make a tidy profit and change the way people think about betting on sports.
The next best thing to guaranteed profits is a strategy that provides reliable returns over the long run. Visit our sports betting strategy section to pick up on the tips and tricks the sharps have been using for years, and enjoy the action!
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In this article we’re going to look at the subject of matched betting with multiple accounts – and by that we mean having more than one account at the same bookmaker. This is done by holding accounts that you run in other people’s name (friends or family members), not just your own.
In the matched betting community, this has been nicknamed ‘gnoming’. It’s also known as ‘multi-accounting’.
Honestly, you’re not going to find this written about very openly on the internet as it’s a taboo subject, even among matched betters. But it’s clear there are people doing it. Plenty admit to it on internet forums. And, of course, it’s allowing them to make much more money than if they had just one set of accounts. So maybe it’s worth a look.
In this article we’ll take a look at some of the things that you should consider if you’re going down this route.
Just a word of caution, though: this does not constitute any legal or tax advice. The below has been put together as a collection of viewpoints based on what others have told us about doing it. What you choose to do with this information is entirely your responsibility.
Is matched betting using multiple accounts legal?
In matched betting, you pose as a regular punter in order to harvest offers and freebies from the bookmakers – all the while you’re actually laying off your bets in a risk-free way so you’re guaranteed profits. Although it’s perfectly legal, some might view it as an inherently murky activity.
Doing matched betting on your own account is already not really in the spirit of what the bookmakers want you to do (and we know this, because they will close your accounts if they suspect you of being a matched better). But does the idea of running multiple accounts at a bookie – using the names of friends and family – cross an altogether different line? Might it even be illegal?
As we’ve said above, we’re absolutely not in a position to give you any legal advice on this. Whilst we haven’t seen anything definitive on the legality of operating bookmaker accounts on behalf of others – either saying it is or is not legal – if you choose to go ahead with this activity, you do so entirely at your risk. It’s extremely grey territory.
One thing, however, is clear. If you’re setting up accounts with bookmakers on behalf of other people then you must have their permission. To do so without that would be identity theft. And you won’t get far with it anyway, for the following reasons:
- You may be asked to provide identity documents, and background checks to open accounts.
- Bookies are likely to require you to fund those accounts using a bank account in the same name as the customer (and even if they don’t, making transfers from seemingly unrelated bank accounts is likely to arouse suspicion).
So, first things first, make sure that you have the permission of the other person, and tell them what you’re doing. If they’re not fully onboard with it, then leave it well alone.
Getting the cooperation of friends and family
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Having explained the concept to the friend or family member, if they’re still prepared to listen to you, you’re going to need to agree with them how this is going to work.
They’re unlikely to let you make money using accounts in their name if there isn’t something in it for them. Get ready to give them some cash.
It seems that people have tried two methods to compensate the other party:
- Offer them a percentage of your profits
- Offer them a fixed monthly payment
From the feedback of those doing it, the latter option is the clear favourite. Giving them a percentage of the profits makes the arrangement more complicated. You’ll constantly have to calculate the amount due, and they may have suspicions you’re not being entirely honest / accurate anyway.
With a monthly fee, things are clearer.
Setting up and operating a multiple matched betting accounts
Keep in mind that the bookmakers are always on the lookout for irregular activity. So anything that doesn’t fit with the profile of a normal punter will raise suspicions. If the bookmaker realises what you’re doing, they will close your gnoming account, and may also gub your own one too!
The feedback, from those using multiple accounts, is that you’ll want to consider a number of important safeguards:
1. Use different addresses and bank accounts
Whilst there are plenty of stories of people having opened up accounts at bookmakers in the name of their wives, not all bookies are open to that sort of thing. Ideally, you don’t want to open up too many accounts under one address. If a bookie sees that you’ve opened 5 accounts at one address for you, your sister, your mum, dad, and gran – they’re probably going to look into that.
But don’t just make up addresses, they need to be where the person actually lives! You may be asked for proof of address.
You also need to use different email addresses.
Equally, you want to be using different bank accounts. There’s more on that below.
2. Use different IP addresses
An IP address shows a bookmaker where you’re accessing the internet from. Again, too much activity coming from one IP address may result in your accounts being flagged.
The chat amongst matched betters is that you want to use a different device and connection for each set of accounts. Many of them have got cheap phones (on a SIM only plan – do NOT connect it to WIFI or it will use the same IP address as anything else using that WiFi connection) to avoid it looking like there are multiple people using the same IP address and device
If that seems a bit much, you could always try getting a decent VPN, which will hide your real IP address when you use the internet.
3. Vary behavior between accounts
Here, the advice seems to be to try logging into accounts at different times and varying user behaviour slightly. If you’re doing identical bets across all accounts at much the same times then that could raise some questions.
Laying bets at the exchange, for multiple bookmaker accounts
The betting exchanges, where you place your lay bets, don’t care if you’re matched betting. They’re also not the ones giving you any bonuses where you make your profits.
So, even if you’re running accounts at the bookies in a dozen different names, you can just use a single account at the exchanges. There’s no problem with that, but bear in mind that you might need to increase the size of your cash float in order to have enough capacity for your lay bets.
Bank accounts for multiple matched betting accounts
Transferring into a betting account from a bank account that doesn’t match the user’s name is suspicious, and in many bookies might not even be possible. So you need to make those transfers in from account in that person’s name
The banking situation is, for us, the greyest area out there. Some people recommend that you set up a new account in the person’s name (obviously with their permission) and you have control over it, and the debit card is in your possession. Not a single bank out there would consent to, or recommend, this arrangement – but people clearly do it. This arrangement has clear risks for both the person whose name is being used, and the person setting up the account.
So many new bank cards that you’re going to need a new wallet
Having control of that account also makes it possible for you to get your profits out of it too. Otherwise, if you don’t control the account, you’re relying on the other person to constantly make transfers out to you and in to bookmakers. If that person is on board with the whole idea then that may not be a problem, but it’s going to slow the whole process down a little. It may also take quite a bit of explaining over why various payments need to be made.
Note that it might also take some explaining to them if you’re making very big profits in relation to the amount you’re paying them!
Tax implications of matched betting on behalf of others
Whilst winnings from bookmakers are tax free, we’re not in any position to tell you what the tax situation is where you’re matched betting on behalf of other people. We’ve seen nothing authoritative that clears this up.
Is there an argument to say that you’re providing a taxable service on behalf of others? Do they need to pay tax on the money that you might be paying them for this arrangement? These are all things that you’re going to have to consider for yourself – and for full disclosure you may want to mention this risk to the person you’re doing it on behalf of.
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Conclusion: Matched Betting using other accounts – is it worth it?
We mentioned right at the start, this isn’t something we’ve got into ourselves. The whole thing is fraught with issues – which we’ve covered above.
Aside from the legal and tax uncertainties, a significant issue is having to explain the idea, and the risks involved to someone else. On top of that, you need their help – or permission – to manage the cash payments and receipts. Unless the person trusts you a lot, they’re likely to be a little suspicious of the whole idea. Most instances where we’ve heard of people operating multiple accounts is where they’re doing it on behalf of a spouse.
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Trust between you both is paramount. These sort of arrangements can end in tears, with suspicion or jealousy causing a fall-out. If the other party becomes difficult and decides to complain to the bank or bookmaker then it is going to cause you a lot of trouble and your own accounts will most certainly get gubbed. At worst, you might even end up in court.
Whether you get involved in this is, ultimately, something for discussion between you and the other person. For many, like us, it’s not something we’ll be rushing into soon. But, plenty of people are – and perhaps it’s that which explains some of the seemingly unbelievable matched betting profits you hear people reporting.
Whatever you choose, good luck!