Step By Step Guide
NOTE: All figures/ offers shown in this section are for example purposes only
In this section I will go through a typical risk free bet that will be the staple of your matched betting journey. It is what you will start with and what you will make a lot of money with. This section may be a bit longer but don’t feel like you need to read it all in one sitting. Also please don’t be discouraged if doesn’t make sense straight away (if it does then congrats but for me it didn’t). just take your time.
Tips before we start:
To make things quicker and to make it more profitable then I would highly suggest having a Oddsmonkey premium account
Link your Oddsmonkey account to your betting exchange (Oddsmonkey explain how to do this, its simple to do don’t worry)
Create a new e-mail address (outlook, Gmail it doesn't matter). This will help you keep onto of reload offers and stop your personal e-mail getting crammed with offers.
Qualifying Bet
Starter:
You will receive an email from a bookmakers or you will see a promotion on social media with an offer saying “Open an account and deposit and bet £10 get £30 in free bet” or reload offers like “bet £10 get £30 in free bets” (for these examples we will use sign up offers)
Opening new account:
Click the provided link (provided in email or on Oddsmonkey) to be taken to the bookmakers website. Click ‘Bet Now’. All bookmaker will have a different layout but they all ask for the same things.
Fill in all of the required details and make sure that the details are all real and correct (this is just in case they ask you to verify with them at a later date).
This part is exactly like everything else you signed up for. They ask or the typical things like name, e-mail, contact number, address etc. Fill it out as you normally would with anything else. Some bookmaker ask for further I.D information. This is fine as it helps them check for fraudulent activities.
Make sure you select to be notified about future offers! I usual only select to be notified via SMS and e-mail (this is why I suggested you create a new e-mail account and only use it for matched betting). See image below
Set up for qualifying bet:
Deposit the required amount for the offer (for this example it’s £10 as see above).
Once it’s all confirmed you should see your wallet amount increase to the amount you’ve deposited.
NOTE - Make sure you change the adds from fractions to decimals (this is because with matched betting we always use decimal odds) this can be found in the setting or sometimes if you scroll down to the bottom of the page the option will be down there.
IMPORTANT - Find out the Terms & Conditions of the offer. This is mainly what the minimum or maximum odds are that you can bet on to qualify for the free bet or it can be a particular sport. For example, the bookmaker might say “Bet £10 at a minimum odds of 1.5” or “Bet £10 at a maximum odds of 4.0”. Make sure you find out what the odds are they have asked (if they require a minimum odds of 1.5, you can place a bet on a team with the odds of 1.5, 1.51, 1.52, 1.6, 1.8, 2, 2.2 etc etc as long as it is higher the the minimum odds they have asked. If you bet on a team with lower odds then you will not qualify and you will not get the free bet).
Qualifying bet:
1) Go to Oddsmonkey and open the Oddsmatcher.
NOTE - If you don't already have an Oddsmonkey account then sign up for one HERE
2) Filter the Oddsmatcher to the required sports and the required odds.
3) Once everything is filtered then select which match you would like to bet on (make sure the back and lay odds are close and the lowest).
NOTE - for your qualifying bet you want to keep the odds as low as you can plus have them as close to each other as possible (E.G. 1.01 - 1.08 is a good odds distance and 1.01 - 2.51 this is not good). The reason for this is because your qualifying bet you are more than likely to take a small loss (only pennies!). Keeping the odds low and close makes your loss as small as possible.
4) Press the i icon to open the details and the calculator. Make sure you set the calculator to ‘Normal’ (this is because it is the qualifying bet).
Enter the stake amount of the back bet into the calculator (for this example it’s £10). your lay bet amount should show up at the bottom of the calculator along with the amount that you need to have in your betting exchange (your liability). You will make a little loss on this bet so don’t worry if it shows up negative.
Go to the Oddsmatcher and click on the link to be taken to the bookmakers. This link will take you to the bookmaker and it will add the match and result you want to the bet slip (this will save you time in searching for the match and result that you want. It will also cut out you second guessing yourself on whether you have the correct match and result selected). Go back to the Oddsmatcher and click the betting exchange. This link will take you to the betting exchange and it will take you to the match that you want.
NOTE - if you have your Oddsmonkey account linked with your betting exchange you will not need to open the betting exchange in different internet tab. This is because if you have them linked then you should have a ‘Lay the bet’ button on the calculator.
As you can see from the image above, this is the Oddsmonkey Calculator. Here you can see all information about a sporting event including Teams, Market, odds, how much you should back (your stake) and how much you should lay.
You can also see how much of a loss you will take on this qualifying bet.
Make sure that the odds are still the same on the Oddsmatcher and bet slip at the bookmakers and the betting exchange. Sometimes the odds can change in a matter of seconds as they are constantly updating so in the time you see the odds on the Oddsmatcher to the time you see them at the bookmakers and or betting exchange, they may have change. Just keep an eye on them.
Once you’ve checked the odds are still the same then go to the bookmakers and if your match and outcome hasn’t already been added to the bet slip, select the outcome you want (number of goals, which team is going to win etc). If it already appeared in the bet slip in the top right side then all you have to do if enter your stake amount in the bet slip and click ‘Place Bet’, wait for conformation.
NOTE - if you have your Oddmonkey account linked with your betting exchange then all you have to do is go back to your Oddsmatcher and click ‘Lay This Bet’ on the calculator and it will automatically lay the bet. If you haven’t then see below.
If you haven't linked your Oddsmonkey to your Betfair account then you won't have the 'Lay the bet' button shown above so you will need to go to the betting exchange and lay the bet with the opposite outcome to your bookmakers bet (E.G. if you have place a £10 bet for lets say Manchester to win at the bookmakers so now you need to place a bet for not to win at the betting exchange). To do this click the pink box on the team you have set to win or the outcome that you want (number of goals scored, winning team etc). Enter the lay stake amount that is shown at the bottom of the calculator . click ‘Place bet’ and wait for conformation.
This is it for the qualifying bet. Now you just have to wait for the match to finish and for your free bet token to be paid into your account.
The free bet has exactly the same steps as the qualifying bet but you just have to bet on matches with higher odds (higher odds more profit), use ‘SNR’ on the calculator instead of ‘Normal’ and use your free bet tokens as your stake. Anyway lets just run through it.
Right this part is to be done when you have your free bet token (usually credited after a match).
Starter:
Open the Oddsmatcher
Filter the Oddsmatcher to the required sport and the required odds (put the odds at 5+ so we can get more of the money back)
NOTE - For the free bet you want to try and get high odds. This will allow you to extract as much profit from that free bet as possible. Remember though that the higher you have the odds the more liability you will need.
TIP - Press the 'Rating' column to have all of the high return percentage event filter to the top.
Free Bet
Once everything is filtered then select a appropriate match to use your free bet token on (make sure the odds are close and that the odds are high).
Press the i icon to open the details and calculator. Set the calculator to ‘Free bet SNR’ (this is because this is your free bet).
As you can see it shows you how much profit you will make from this free bet. It also breaks it down on what will happen if your bet wins at the bookmakers and loses at the betting exchange and visa versa.
Remember this profit varies with the odds, the higher the odds the more profit you will make but with this your liability will increase. This is OK it just means you will need more money in your betting exchange account. The more experience you get the bigger your account size will be meaning you can increase the odds then with the reload offers.
Enter the stake amount for the back bet into the calculator (for this example its £20). Your lay bet amount should be shown at the bottom of the calculator along with the amount you need to have in your betting exchange (your liability).
Click the link to be taken to the bookmakers and also click the link to be taken to the betting exchange
NOTE - Again if you have your Oddsmonkey account to your betting exchange the you should have a ‘lay this bet’ on your Oddsmonkey calculator so you shouldn’t need to click to be taken to the betting exchange.
Check that the odds are still the same on the Oddsmatcher as the bookmakers and betting exchange.
If you have clicked on the links then it already take you to your desired match and should add it to your betting slip at the bookmakers. If it hasn’t then, go to the bookmakers and select the outcome that you want . Then go to the bet slip and choose the ‘free bet token’ by where you enter your stake amount and click ‘place bet’, wait for conformation.
NOTE - if you have your betting exchange linked to your Oddsmonkey account then you can just click ‘lay this bet’ on the Oddsmonkey Oddsmatcher calculator.
If you haven’t got the accounts linked the go to the betting exchange and lay the bet on the opposite outcome to your bookmakers bet.
Enter the lay stake amount that is shown at the bottom of the calculator. Click ‘place bet’ and wait for conformation.
TIP - If your liability is too much when you first enter it into the calculator and you don’t have the bankroll to cover it just select a match with teams with lower odds (if you have first looked at a match with odds of 5+ but the liability is too much then just do odds of 3 be any money is good money)
Wait for the match to finish.
Congrats! Profit!