Matched betting (noun)

the activity of using free bets from bookmakers (= people who accept and pay out money risked on the results of races, matches, etc.) in order to make a profit

Cambridge Dictionary

TightAsF_ck's Matched Betting Spreadsheet

For the uninitiated, I have written an introduction to matched betting below. But the main point in this post is to make my matched betting calculator and bet logger spreadsheet available for general use and scrutiny. People who want to calculate and record their matched bets may find it useful. It has the following features:

Matched betting calculator
Automatically log bets from the calculator
Automatically track bookie/betting exchange balances.

It's pretty self-explanatory. So I will provide no instructions unless explicitly asked. But please scrutinise and make suggestions for improvement!
Click here to access the Matched Betting spreadsheet
Disclaimer: I've used Google Sheets to create it, as it lives on the web and can be updated from mobiles, tablets, laptops and dekstops. *You will need a google account if you want to access and edit your own copy.** If you don't know how to use Google Drive and Google Sheets, Google it! As there is a script that allows bets in the calculator to be logged automatically, you will receive a warning when copying this spreadsheet and first clicking the "log beermoney" button. You need to be happy ignoring the warnings if you want to use this spreadheet (you can inspect the script, it only copies information from one sheet to another, but I am not a fancy google developer and I do not know how to get it officially approved for distribution).*
The rest of the post is for anyone interested in learning about matched betting.

Matched betting overview

What is matched betting?
Matched betting is the technique of using betting exchanges (platforms where you can act as the bookie) to capitalise on bookmaker promotions and earn money. There are many, many bookmaker promotions available from over 100 UK bookmakers.
But due to the use of bookmaker promotions, matched betting is a controversial beermoney technique. We all agree on beermoneyuk that bookmakers are one of the worlds evils. So matched betting should be avoided by anyone with a history of gambling problems or any propensity towards addiction. Everyone should be careful. And everybody should be aware that without a strict transactional outlook, matched betting can lead to gambling. Gambling is for mugs.

How do you earn with matched betting?
This is best explained with the simple example of a free bet given to you by your favourite bookie for being one of their "favorite customers":

You rub your hands with glee as you place that free bet on your favourite team to win at the weekend.
At the same time, you bet on that event not to happen at a betting exchange.
By adjusting how much you lay, you guarantee some profit.

In reality, many free bets require you to first place a "qualifying bet". With matched betting techniques, you place this bet and lay it at the same time to gain the free bet for a small cost. For example: a "free" £10 bet earned from a £10 qualifying bet will cost around £0.50. You can then "guarantee" that you walk away with around 75% of the free bet - or £7 profit in total.
In addition to "free bets" from sign up offers, there are also more advanced ways to profit from matched betting (bet clubs, extra places, 2ups).

How much money is needed to start earning with matched betting?
To start with you need to deposit money into:

A bookmaker (to place a bet and qualify for a free bet).
A betting exchange (to lay the bets placed at the bookmaker).

Many bookmaker offers require a £10 first bet. £20 in your exchange should allow you to cover this £10 qualifying bet optimally for a qualifying loss of about £0.50.
When this bet has settled, you will now have a free bet to place. Again, £20 in your exchange account will allow you to extract ~70% of the value of a £10 free bet (£7, for a total £6.50 profit on the bookmaker offer).
If your back bets at the bookie all win, all of your cash will end up in your bookmaker account. This is not ideal as you may have to withdraw cash from the bookie to feed the betting exchange account. Instead, we hope that all bookmaker bets lose. This means all of your cash ends up in the exchange.
If you take it slow, you can start with £30 (or even less). However, the amount of cash deposited into the exchange influences the odds you are able to lay with your free bet. Higher odds can give higher potential profits on your free bet.
I tend to have ~£100 in my betting exchange account.

Matched Betting TightAsF_ck Style
Over the past 6 months or so, I've been taking advantage of matched betting (mostly using Oddsmonkey, but also Outplayed) to earn between £100 and £200 each month. On days when I do a little matched betting, I spend around 10 minutes a day on it. Some people make a lot more, but most will be spending a lot of time on it using advanced techniques. They will also have a large balance in their betting exchange accounts (think £1000 and up) that enables these advanced strategies.
Here's my strategy for the past couple of months:

Pick a nice looking sign up promotion.

Have a hunt on Google to see if I can find a better deal.

Have a hunt on FreeCash/Gaintplay too.

Sign up via the best deal.

Use the OddsMonkey/Outplayed oddsmatcher software to find a match I want to bet on to rinse the bookie sign up offer.

I stick to football, for reasons involving a friend that liked the races too much.

Repeat the above with any free bets the bookies sends my way.

I'm only a casual matched bettor, but I really couldn't give a monkey's about sport. This is solely a hobby that earns me a bit of beermoney. And you really do need a transactional outlook. If you don't have this, don't bother.

Learn to earn with matched betting

Where can I learn how to earn with matched betting?
There are "beginner how to" threads that are frequently reposted on the sub. But all of these really just point you towards two sites that provide extensive guides teach and tools to make the most of matched betting. These sites require paid memberships (£25-£30/month). These can be cancelled at any time.
Many on beermoneyuk find the quality of resources and convenience afforded by these sites are worth their subscription fees, but there are also free options that make their money by other means.
Paid Options

OddsMonkey (link with free trial) is cheaper (£24.99/month), and has all you need to learn and earn with matched betting. This subscription also comes with casino offers that cost extra with Outplayed.

Outplayed (link with free trial) is more expensive (£29.99/month), but also more polished (excepting the recent issues).

Both have free trials as standard, and both will offer a substantial discount (usually a month half price) at the end of this free trial.

Free Options
These free options are really just funnels that will eventually recommend that you sign up to Oddsmonkey or Outplayed. You can use these to learn the basics, but I'd recommend just cutting them out and going for the main sites to begin with. But that's just my opinion, many people stick with the free sites and do well with matched betting.

Team Profit

Matched Betting Blog

Why does every recommend joining a matched betting service?
Short answer: you use the tools, place the bets you are told, and you earn beermoney.
Long answer: You might think its because they provide a list of bookie sign up offers. But this is not why these sites are valuable. The value comes from the following tools/features of the sites:

oddsmatcher software

This scours the bookes/exchanges to identify matches/races that can be bet on for maximal profit.

matched betting calculators

these automatically calculate the optimal stakes to place to maximise your matched betting earnings.

active community forums

these forums are the beermoneyuk of matched betting. People share tips and tricks for finding and making the most of bookie offers.

advanced tools for continuing with matched betting after sign up offers have been exhausted, and tools for tracking profits and bookies/exchange balances.

Glossary

I figured I would add this brief dictionary of key matched betting terms. To help explain things, I use the following imaginary football game:
Man Utd vs Chelsea | Potential Outcomes: Man Utd win, Man Utd do not win (draw or lose)

Bookmaker (Bookie) Glossary
1. Back bet

The back bet is the bet you place at the bookie for an event to happen (e.g. Man Utd to win).

2. Bet Stake

This is the amount you bet at the bookie for an event to happen (e.g. a stake of £10 on Man Utd to win).

3. Bookmaker (Bookie)

The bookie (or bookmaker) is the company that takes your bet (e.g. Man Utd to win). In taking your bet, they are effectively betting on the event to NOT happen (Man Utd to NOT win). To back an event NOT to happen is to "lay a bet" (see below).
Usually, bookies are the scourge of the earth. They run hefty promotions to convince people to begin betting with them. With matched betting, we turn the tables on the bookie to earn money from these promotions.

4. Odds

The "odds" is the ratio of the amount of profit the bookies are willing to offer a customer in return for their back bet. The ratio represents the chance that the bookmaker thinks your selection has of winning. Odds are usually expressed in fractional form.

Fractional odds represent the ratio of profit to stake offered. Fractional odds of 2/1 means you will get £2 profit back for every £1 staked (£3 back in total; 2 profit).
Decimal odds represent the total amount given back by the bookies. Fractional odds of 3.0 means you will get £3 back in total for every £1 stakes (£2 profit), When accepting a bet, the bookie offers to pay the customer an amount they are willing to lay. The odds offered by the bookie is ratio between the amount they are willing to lay is specific in specifies the odds, and pays out your winnings.

5. Potential Profit

The potential profit is amount you can expect to earn from a free bet promotion offered by the bookie. Usually, it is around 70% of the promotional bet value.

Bookmaker (Bookie) Glossary
1. Qualifying (trigger) bet

A qualifying bet is a bet that must be placed in order to gain access to a free bet offer. For example, a bookie might offer a free £5 bet after you have first bet £10. The first £10 bet is the qualifying bet. In matched betting, we play both sides of the free bet to "buy" the promotional bet for a small qualifying loss (see below)

2. Qualifying loss

The qualifying loss is the amount lost or spent in qualifying for the free bet. Usually it is around 5% of the free bet amount (e.g., £0.25 on £5 qualifying bet).

3. Stake returned (SR) free bet

A stake returned is a promotional bet where the stake is included in the returns. These are very rare.

3. Stake not returned (SNR) free bet

A stake returned is a promotional bet where the stake is not included in the returns. These are the most common type of free bet offered.

4. Mug bet

This is a back bet placed at the bookies to convince them that you are a regular gambler. If you only use your betting account to take advantage of promotional offers, it is likely that your account will get restricted and you will lose access to the promotions.

Betting Exchange Glossary
1. Lay bet

A lay bet is the opposite of a traditional bet. When you a lay a bet, you are acting as the bookie. Think of it as: you are the bookie; somebody places a bet with you that Man Utd will win. You accept the punters bet and, in doing so, essentially bet on the opposite: Man Utd to NOT WIN (Man Utd draw or lose).

2. Lay bet stake

The lay bet stake is the amount you will win if your lay bet comes through (Man Utd DO NOT win). If our punter placed a £10 bet on Man Utd to win, then you will win the £10 stake if Man Utd DO NOT WIN

3. Liability

When you are "acting the bookie" by laying bets, your liability is the amount you stand to lose if your lay bet loses (if Man Utd win). This is the amount you have to pay the punter who placed a bet backing Man Utd to win.

4. Liquidity

The liquidity of a market is the amount of money available for you to lay at the betting exchange. It is the total value of back bets that have been placed at a specified odds. Essentially the amount you can lay.

^{[PA Non-ref](https://profitaccumulator.co.uk/}) | ^{[OM Non-ref](https://www.oddsmonkey.com/}) | ^{[TP Non-ref](https://www.teamprofit.com/tightaswhat})

Anybody else getting really annoyed at the constant barrage of sports betting advertisements?

Jim "Mattress Mack" McIngvale just won $75 million making it the largest legal payout in sports betting history tonight as the Houston Astros win the World Series against the Phillies.

How betting websites (like sports and elections) calculate the odds?

CMV: commercials for sports betting should be banned during sporting events

I’ve noticed over the past few years a worrying increase in the number of commercials for sites like FanDuel and Drafkings whenever I watch sports. These commercials always talk about free bets that people can get and always talk about how much you can “win”. A big part of my problem with this is that it glamorizes bets and uses “free” bets as a way to lure people in. Another problem I have is that a size able percent of people who watch sports are adolescents/teens. I think that these commercials glamorize sports betting and can lead people to becoming gambling addicts when they otherwise would have never would have started otherwise. To me these commercials are harmful in the same way that cigarette commercials were and they should be banned.
Edit 1: One of the reasons that I failed to mention in my original post is the ease of access that consumers have to these sites, they can see a commercial which glamorizes betting and makes it seem like they can which large sums of money from their home. I think this makes these ads especially harmful because a consumer can see the advertisement and then instantly sign up without ever leaving their couch. This is different than advertisements which glamorize things such as alcohol because there is a physical step that separates the consumer from the alcohol that does not separate the consumer from the gambling sites.
Edit 2: Regarding comparisons to alcohol commercials, I think the big difference with sports betting is that it can instantly be done from ones own home and banning commercials with alcohol would not reduce people’s exposure to alcohol. For example if someone sees a draft kings commercial advertising how they can win tens of thousands of dollars and how their first bets are free it is extremely easy to download the app and instantly start betting. With commercials for beer and other alcohol while you can order something on Instacart or DoorDash, it is not instantaneous and does not provide promises of potentially winning large sums of money. Additionally while more people may be addicted to alcohol, it is far more prevalent than gambling in society and banning alcohol ads would only marginally affect people’s exposure to it. For example many have bars and people will be drinking a whole bunch of different types of alcohol, I would argue that being in this sort of environment is much more likely to induce someone to drink rather than an advertisement for drinking. Additionally it is quite common for people to drink at family gatherings or during holidays. This same sort of atmosphere cannot be commonly found for sports betting except in casinos so I would argue that while alcohol addition may be more harmful, banning ads for alcohol would not have a large effect on the number of people exposed to drinking whereas banning betting ads would.
Edit 3: they shouldn’t be allowed at all not during sporting events only

I will be done sports betting today. Thank you all for the picks it was fun while it lasted. Ain’t no way Dallas loses today with their starters playing for possible seeding and Washington with nothing to play for ruining my 6 game. Entertaining to say the least and laughable

How the Sports Betting Industry Quietly Consumed America (2022) [00:23:04]

State 'deeply disappointed with the very rocky start' of sports betting in Ohio

[HNIC] Three hockey stars contacted by CBC's The Fifth Estate as part of an investigation into sports betting in Canada refused to talk about their brands, despite deals reported to be worth several million dollars to do exactly that

Is anyone else sick of the sports betting commercials?

RANT Is anyone else out there that used to love online poker pissed Because they made it illegal because it was unskilled gambling, and now online sports betting seems to be Legal everywhere?

Pete Rose, recipient of lifetime MLB ban for betting, places first legal sports bet in Ohio

How sports betting, nuclear bailouts and undercover FBI agents collided in Ohio’s historic public corruption scandal

Sports betting ads EVERYWHERE

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TightAsF_ck's Matched Betting Calculator & Automatic Bet Logger/Balance Tracker Spreadsheet