Is Matched Betting A Scam? Or Betting Loophole?

We’re always told that, when you gamble, the bookie always wins.

But a very large number of individuals turn that idea on its head every day – via a method known as “matched betting.”

If you found this post, I imagine you’re trying to find out if Matched betting is legit, if it’s a scam… or if it’s even legal at all?

Surprisingly, matched betting is legal and a legitimate way of making some extra cash… risk free.

It involves taking advantage of free bets that are regularly dished out by bookmakers as promotions – and particularly to bring in new members to their sites.

For example; lets say that William Hill are offering a free bet for new sign ups: £25 when you place a £25 bet.

So, the first step is you spend a £25 bet with William Hill.  e.g. you bet £25 that a certain horse will win a race.

The second step is:  You place a lay bet at a betting exchange, such as Betfair, at similar odds.  So, this means that you bet against that horse winning the race.

When the results come in, you may have made a small loss or gain, but the next stage is where you ultimately profit.

For the final stage –  you place a new bet using your FREE £25 bet at William Hill and a lay bet at a betting exchange, choosing the best odds to maximise your profit, whatever the outcome.

Covering your bets for any result, means that whatever the result is that comes in, you will still profit.

Where people mess this up, is they may feel very tempted to forget placing the lay bet at all – because if they just place the regular bet and win, their profit will obviously be larger.

BUT then this is just plain betting, it’s gambling and nothing to do with matched betting.

Matched betting, when done correctly, is risk free.

The only risks involved – are the ones made in human error.

It is possible that you could place the wrong bet, if you’re not careful.  So long as you’re careful to create bets however, you cannot lose.

Is Matched Betting Legal?

Matched betting is completely legal.

However, bookies are still prone to banning accounts over time, if they feel that all you’re doing is taking advantage of free promotions.

As you can imagine, the bookies don’t like it!

Many people will either place the odd genuine bet, just to look more realistic.

Or do what they call, “mug bets.”

Mug bets are also risk free bets too and are just placed in order to make accounts appear more “normal”.

Matched betting is legal and it’s certainly not a scam, but it’s still wise getting started to start off small, until you get to grips with it and feel more confident.

Getting Started With Matched Betting:

When I started matched betting, I had absolutely no experience and the whole idea was very alien to me.

I would make sure that all the bets I had in play were complete and the profit was in, before I’d jump into more bets.

This would avoid too much confusion and that uneasy feeling of having a lot of money in play all at once.

At one point, after I had gained a little confidence, I had around £600 all sewn up in bets ready to be completed in one day – I did feel quite uneasy, because despite the fact I knew I was not gambling, you still can get that anxiety in your mind that you made have made a mistake.

I always checked, double checked and triple checked my bets however and gradually, it starts to become more second nature and you do grow in confidence.

If you’ve had any gambling problems in the past though, I don’t advise you to get into this!

It’s easy for some to get into the mentality of… “but if I don’t do this lay bet…I’d make a lot more money…”  Suddenly, WHOOOSHHH… your profit is down the drain.

Why Doesn’t  Everyone Do This? It’s Free Money!?

Risk free money seems like something of a fairytale – so, it’s understandable that some people may be sceptical.

However, when you get into it, you realise there are downsides that may put some people off doing it regularly.

For one thing, it’s just a very odd feeling to have all that money, “safe”, but still temporarily gone and there is a great sense of relief that you feel, once it’s all back in your accounts again!

Some people may not be bothered about this at all, but if you have more of a nervous disposition – then you might be uneasy with it.

I think this is one reason that many people do not give matched betting a go, it just feels too uncomfortable for them and you also need a bankroll to start out with it – initially £100 is OK to start, but you’d want to build that up with your profit so that you always have money to play with.

It may also feel like you have to put a lot of money upfront in order to make quite a small profit – for example, having £100+ in play in order to make a £20 profit would not be an unlikely scenario and later on and as you get more confident, it’s larger sums.

While it’s all money you get back, you do still need to play with it to gain the profit.

It also does require some effort and there is a learning curve.  You do need to be very careful placing the bets.

Making mistakes could lead to a loss.  If it’s all done correctly, you can’t lose – but humans do make mistakes.

This is another reason to start small and build up gradually as you go.

Also, constantly signing up with new bookies and keeping up the momentum with bets and keeping a careful record of your bets, could feel like a bit of a chore for some people.

Profits will also tend to be quite small.  Often, profits are around the £25 mark or under and so therefore, it is not something that will make you rich.  It’s no get rich quick scheme.

The Biggest Downside Of Matched Betting?

The biggest downside is that you can quite easily be banned from bookmakers, if they think you’re just using their free promotions.

They don’t care about whether you’re partaking in matched betting or not – they only care about losing money.  If you only bet every time they have a free offer, they are missing out.

This is why “mug betting,” can be such an important strategy if you want to keep as many accounts open to you as possible.