Matched betting is a very popular way for experienced betting fans to make some extra money and has become a standard higher-level betting option on a lot of sites.
However, before you can decide if it is something you want to explore, it helps to understand exactly what it is. While you might have heard of matched betting before as something that many sportsbooks offer, the actual process behind it is not immediately obvious to a lot of people.
The Basics of Matched Sports Betting
Matched betting is a specialist technique (or, in many cases, a paid service) that focuses on generating a profit using free bets and promotional offers that online bookmakers give out. The general idea is to put yourself in a position where you bet on two opposing things, turning a profit no matter which option wins.
As you might expect, this can be difficult to set up, but it isn’t actually illegal. However, the big risks come from making mistakes or not keeping your bets properly matched, which can lead to situations where you misjudge your winnings and lose more than you wagered.
In theory, matched betting would be a perfect way to guarantee profits every time. In reality, this would require you to make perfect bets every single time, so many people who use matched betting also get involved in regular betting alongside it.
How to Place Matched Bets
Placing matched bets requires proper preparation work and a solid understanding of the math involved in each bet. Many people convert the odds into decimals just to get a clearer understanding of the numbers involved, and any matched bets that use bonus features will need to be performed before the bonus expires.
A huge part of matched betting is making sure that there is as little risk as possible. This might mean situations like having two opposing bets that will each cover the loss of the other if you win or using a bonus feature to avoid paying for a specific losing bet.
Matched bets are often placed across more than one site: for example, you might bet against a team on one site and bet for them on another, finding sites that offer great odds so that either winning bet would cover the losing bet. This can require a lot of patience and research, making matched betting quite difficult if you are not prepared.
Can You Make Matched Betting Easier?
The best way to simplify matched betting is to use matched betting sites and their third-party services. These are sites that will do the research and calculations for you in exchange for a fee, meaning that you can effectively skip a huge part of the hard work and focus on the bets themselves.
While you obviously want to choose a service that suits your needs and want to make sure that you aren’t paying more than you would win, these are very useful sites to look into. Most of them draw information from hundreds of betting platforms, providing clear data on how odds can be compared across multiple betting websites.
From there, it’s easy to pick out potentially profitable matched betting opportunities, all without having to do much research yourself. If you are interested in matched betting to turn a profit, then these site-based services are worth considering.
