How Matched Betting works
Matched Betting is a technique that mathematically guarantees profits from free bets and promotions that betting companies offer. When people are looking for the best matched betting offers 2021 or the best arbitrage bets 2022, they will most likely look on google, Oddsmonkey or OUTPLAYED.
Most bookmakers will offer these offers, upon opening an account, and after opening an account they will offer additional offers occasionally, usually at weekends and special events. See this 2 minute video BELOW:
Some companies are more generous with these offers; these companies are generally the ones you will be using the most.
When first starting-out, it is very achievable to profit £500 a month, for just a few hours work per week, especially if including Saturdays.
How it works
Matched Betting is an almost risk-free strategy.
The free bets or bonuses are used to cover all outcomes of an event that is being betted-on. Therefore, making it risk-free. The only element of risk is that of the bettor, themselves.I.e: human error: backing or laying the wrong selection is the common mistake.If done properly it is generally considered safe If done safe, and with no errors, you can expect your starting bankroll (BR) to begin multiplying very quickly.
BACKING AND LAYING OUR BETS
This may seem a daunting process at first. But believe me, you will soon get the hang of it!
Below I will show you how to typically make £15 or more from one popular offer.
STEP 1
I would advise opening an exchange account for ALL betting exchanges, but for now, we will concentrate on Betfair.
The good news now is Betfair have recently made a 2% commission rate widely available to everyone. This is very good news – as it has been 5% for almost twenty years!
STEP 2
Open a Skybet, Ladbrokes or Coral account.
I call these “honeymoon” accounts, as they start-off very pleasant, with easy profitable offers, then it gets worse! And no, I’m not divorced! More details on “honeymoon” accounts can be found in video BELOW.
We will base our example, below, on the Skybet offer Bet £5 – Get £20 in Free Bet, as per the picture below, that was featured in the above Video.
The great thing about these “Honeymoon accounts” is that we typically only need around £50 to get started on the first offer, hence why I named these this! Due to the ease of the offer and the minimal bankroll they require – you can complete these offers very quickly, making quick profits, as displayed below.
STEP 3
Placing our qualifying bet
It is vital you check the terms and conditions before placing bets. Always!
The offer terms above state odds of over 1.50 (1/2) or greater.
Football would be a good market option for doing these, for two reasons.
- The prices usually match better, resulting in less qualifying loss.
- There is always more liquidity in football markets, which makes life easier for us!
Backing football bets also helps us look more like a Mug Punter – as footy is more popular than, say, Horse racing.
The more popular the event, the better – generally Premiership is the safest bet! Although it would be hard to revolve your entire Matched Betting around Premiership football alone.
Odds Format
Upon reaching the bookie site you might want to change the odds format to “decimals”, this will make things a tad clearer.
Most companies have this at the top right-hand side of their website. Other sites have them at the bottom, few have it in their “My account” section, as featured in the video, the UNIBET settings were contained in the “My account” section. This video BELOW shows brief examples.
Qualifying bets
Qualifying bets should always be placed with low odds – an easy rule to follow – would be to search for odds that are close to the minimum odds requirement.
However, for the benefit of flexibility, I will demonstrate how they can also be found at higher odds. This is only due to the fact this football game is a high-profile game on TV, these usually produce low QL matches too.
*Please note* There is speculation that backing at low odds and laying at high odds will not help with account health. Make of it what you like – I personally prefer to back at low QL and lay my free bets to obtain a good profit. It’s a decision YOU must make. No one has the magic wand or answer, unfortunately and there is a lot of bad/paranoid advice out there. Try find a happy medium would be best advice.
The Qualifying Bet
SkyBet are offering odds 1.95 on Man City
Below are the BETFAIR Odds.
The odds of Man City – with Sky Bet – is 1.95 and with Betfair 1.99 – so this is deemed as a good close match. Although not as near to the minimum odds of 1.5, this is good enough to satisfy our objective.
We now need to calculate the Betfair lay stake
My Matched Betting calculator says the lay stake should be £5.03.
Therefore, I then click on the odds “1.99”, and enter my £5.03 stake.
This presents us with a £5.03 liability, which is coloured red.
Red on Betfair indicates possible loss, green is possible win.
I advise to get in the habit of double checking this – as will eliminate mistakes.
It is not hard to back or lay the WRONG selection!
I’ve done it before many times!
Need to discuss Beginners Matched Betting?
MAKING THE PROFITS FROM THE FREE BET(S)
Upon being granted our free bets, the exciting part happens!
Some companies credit the free bets, upon bet placement – others after bet settlement – others the following day. I would advise to write everything down, to keep track! Even go to the extreme of setting alerts, as a reminder. This will save you dosh in the long run! See my ‘setting alerts’ video BELOW.
So, we now assume we have received our free bets.
Profiting
Now we can start profiting … Let feeding time commence!
When we checked the terms and conditions for the qualifying bet (QB), it is vital we follow the same procedure with our free bet. As with most free bets – this one will state ‘SNR’.
SNR means stake not returned. All these acronyms can be found on my Betting Jargon A-Z HERE.
It is also important to check the validity on these free bets. These can differ but this bet states 30 days.
Make this a habit, as you don’t want them expiring! For example, at time of writing this, Ladbrokes and Coral Free Bets have a 4 day validity period.
The process of getting as much profit from our free bets is a reverse process to our initial qualifying bet.
With our initial qualifying bet – we selected the LOW odds, generally advising to select odds that were nearest to the minimum odds requirements, of odds of minimum 1.5 (1/2).
THE BIGGER THE ODDS THE BIGGER THE RETURN
For the free bet we do the reverse of this approach!
We look for the HIGHEST odds … meaning the HIGHEST odds that are the CLOSEST match we can find on an oddsmatcher or manually searching. This generally involves some sort of compromise.
*Please note* There is speculation that backing at low odds and laying at high odds will not help with account health.
Make of it what you like – I personally prefer to back at low QL and lay my free bets to obtain a good profit. It’s a decision YOU must make.
No one has the magic wand or answer, unfortunately and there is a lot of bad/OUTPLAYEDranoid advice out there. Try find a happy medium would be best advice.
In this example, I will show a very close match, at mid odds. There are advantages and disadvantages to matching selections with high odds, this is explained at the end of this guide.
TIME to gain profit!
As this guide is based on Skybet – the free bet lay will be based using SkyBet too.
To do this, we follow the same approach as above, but in reverse:
STEP 1
Find the bet, on Skybet.
To my dismay, I was not able to upload the original SkyBet image below, due to copyright concerns. Hence why this image is below.
STEP 2
Find a close match
Close match depicted below. The match being 6.0/6.2. Which is quite close. To find these, all that is needed is patience. Again: there are speculations/theories that laying free bets that are a close match will harm accounts; however, you must decide the approach that suits you and be mindful of these theories at the same time.
STEP 3
Using the calculator, calculate the lay.
The lay is at 75% which satisfies our needs. Our goal was to profit over £15. If we were to do this on a 0% betting commission exchange, such as Smarkets or Matchbook, using OUTPLAYED offer, this would make the percentage as high as 80.75%.
Matched betting – CONCLUSION
We have now profited an easy £15.45 and there are many other Bookies we can use for this too, some as easy, some harder. My Beginners Course provides a full comprehensive guide.
We’ll now look at how to get the most out of our cherished free bets.
Extracting as much profit as possible.
The Above is a table depicting three things:
Left = The free bet odds
Middle = The Betfair liability needed to lay the bet at these odds
Right = The expected profit, based on a realistic average.
We can see the higher the odds, the higher the expected return. However, the downside is that this requires more bankroll, as well as ‘possible’ theories of account harm using this method.
Arb Hunters odds mantra for free bets are “the BIGGER the odds – the BIGGER the return”, check out the 80% goal video BELOW. *Be mindful of theories mentioned*
Be mindful, you do not have to necessarily back very high odds to enjoy 80%+ profit from free bets.
The earlier example showed an 80.75% return from a lay of 6/6.2.
These are still classed as Mid-Odds, in my opinion.
Below is a real-life example of backing and laying a relatively “high” odds selection.
For added insight, below, you will find an image from the free oddschecker site.
I like to give my viewers a full insight of free and premium services. Due to copyright concerns, I am not able to upload the oddschecker picture, however, the odds were 22.0 with several bookmakers on Norwich to win.
As highlighted above – Norwich are 22.0 with Marathonbet and Betvictor.
Following the same approach as before, but in reverse, we now use my Matched Betting Calculator, to calculate how much we can profit from our £20 FREE BET. This can extract 83.1% even if using a 5% commission exchange and 87.5% when using a 0% exchange.
We want to get as much “bang for our buck”, as after all – we’re in this to make the most profits possible. Arb Hunters mantra takes care of that …
*Please note. I have experience that sometimes – especially when laying horses, using free bets, it is better to sacrifice the 5% Betfair commission and ensuring the lay. This may seem absurd to someone who regularly uses only Smarkets, but there is a method to this madness.
This is due to [other exchanges] may not have required liquidity at that time. More of this will be mentioned in the Members site.
Placing the FREE BET on this market at these odds, satisfies Arb Hunters mantra [of being bog odds of 8.0 or more [ideally], and equally important: the lay odds are close.
Pros to laying higher odds:
Bigger % returns from free bets
Cons to laying higher odds:
Consumes a lot of bankroll.
Account health ‘possibly’ in danger?
This may not be a problem if you have a large bankroll, but if you are limited this can slow-down your progress.
It is no fun having your entire bankroll trapped in a bookmaker wallet on a Thursday evening … knowing that by the time you receive the withdrawal – it may be Monday or even Tuesday. This means you have not only missed-out on a precious day of profiting on a Saturday; you have also not been able to match bet for 4-5 days, harming overall profits.
One day, one of these high odds selections will eventually win and you could then find yourself in a situation where you have no money in your exchange and a lot of money in your fixed odds account.
This video BELOW speaks about this.
Account health and Backing at higher odds.
It is also ‘theorised’ that backing high odds, when using free bets, is not good for account health. Like I said: ‘theorised’.
No one really knows, apart from the bookies themselves, although it is ‘possible’ and does make sense.
If you fear this, it is still possible to get 80% form a free bet on a 7/7.4 lay.
Knowing how to maximise an 80% return [or above] on our FREE BETS is crucial.
There are also theorised risks, so please be mindful of this, but come to your own compromise of which price to back and lay your free bets at.
When I say “compromise”, you need to weigh-up the following:
- Do you want a high % from your free bets? Are you willing to chance the risk of theories?
- Or are you happier to “play it safe” and gain a less % from your free bets.
- Will being cautious and fussing around, while not maximising your % profits be mathematically ‘worth it’? You may get gubbed a month after you would’ve done by maximising anyway!
It’s up to you to find and choose your own approach!
Anyone who says “they know the exact solution” is either high or reads too many forums.
What happens to Man A will not necessarily happen to Man B.
A lot of information is simply passed-on – and not ‘first-hand’ information. This information can easily accumulate and seem like it has come from 100++ individual ‘first-hand’ sources, when it has simply been passed-on.
Hence why it is easy to get “brainwashed” in Matched Betting.
IS MATCHED BETTING A NEW THING?
Matched Betting isn’t something new. Matched betting [using Exchange] has been around since year 2000.
Matched Betting, using the Dutching method, has been around for as long as I can remember – as far back as the late 1980’s. I cannot comment before that, as I was not about to witness it!
You will read on some Matched Betting sites, and big ones too, that “ … Matched betting has been around since 2005”.
I can’t fathom-out how and why they say this?
I believe it is because content has been copied from other websites, or that they have done a simple google search.
The google search will display an image. The image only dates to around year 2004. There is a reason for this.
Matched Betting was formerly commonly known as “Arbing” and/or Bonus Bagging.
The core discipline and/or principle has not changed at all. So therefore, is the SAME thing. Except, was gradually “renamed” Matched Betting. This name was made known exponentially by the likes of oddsMonkey and the OUTPLAYED.
But fact is “Matched Betting” has been around for Donkeys Years prior to these companies even being thought-of.
However, Arbing is now looked-upon as a totally different disciple to Matched Betting, although both hold similar core principles.
Matched betting RELOAD OFFERS
Next off, you can start on the RELOAD OFFERS.
These are slightly harder, but not a one-off, unlike initial sign-up offer free bets.
These Reload offers are repeated throughout the year, until you have the misfortune of having your account gubbed!
Common occasions for popular reload offers are big sporting events, whether football or horse racing, to name two of the most popular. Examples, such as:
- Cheltenham Festival – annually every – (March)
- Aintree Grand National Festival (April)
- Royal Ascot (June)
- Champions League Final
- FA Cup
- Euro 2020
- World Cups
This list is by no means exhaustive and just as an example.
GUBBED
If you don’t know what gubbed means please see the Acronyms glossary!
This glossary will be a useful tool throughout your matched betting journey!
Gubbed is a word that is prevalent in every betting forum. The best advice I can give is: Do not listen to too many “gubbed” theories. They will end-up be confusing you!
Theories are often quite contrasting – and are not a “one-size-fits-all” rule.
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES
To summarise:
MATCHED BETTING POSITIVES:
- Exponential return on investments [If done properly and no errors].
- Easy to do.
- Convenient.
MATCHED BETTING NEGATIVES:
- Accounts are not eternal, you eventually get Gubbed!
- (Can) be time consuming.
CONCLUSION
Matched Betting is probably the easiest/safest money you’ll make when starting betting, due to the risk being almost zero, apart from human error – and although you will more than likely get gubbed at some point – It’ll happen less sooner than our later Chapter … Arbing!
If you are a Beginner at Matched Betting, you may wish to check-out my Beginners Course, below.
If you wish to skip this section, the next topic will be about the four main betting exchanges.
WHAT IS A BETTING EXCHANGE
A betting exchange is just like a Bookmaker. You can back bets on there. But there are two main differences; you can also lay bets on there and these bets that are being placed are betting against other people and not bookmakers!
The History of the different exchanges can be found below this article.
The great thing about exchanges is that we can not only back a selection, we could lay a selection, if we thought it will lose! Effectively, this gives US the opportunity to become the Bookmaker!
BACKING and LAYING
There are only two possible choices of bet
BACK. A back bet is usually placed if you think something will win and is the standard bet done at a bookmakers. I BACK Arsenal if I think they will beat Chelsea, for example.
AND
LAY. A Lay bet can be placed at a betting exchange, and this is betting AGAINST something to happen. I LAY Arsenal If I think Chelsea will beat them.
BEST BETTING EXCHANGE.
Although subjective, I believe the majority would agree with me.
Betfair hold the most markets and liquidity (money available to back/lay).
They have, undoubtedly the superior interface and software functions.
They are used by professional Traders, indicating supreme liquidity.
0% Exchanges (With OUTPLAYED offer). (Check still valid).
MATCHBOOK
They have the smallest increments available. Which is a massive positive. See my increments video here.
They have unique markets
They offer 0% commission in association with OUTPLAYED. Click here.(Check still valid).
SMARKETS
They are very popular with Matched Bettors
They offer 0% commission in association with OUTPLAYED.
BETDAQ
Betdaq is the second most established exchange to Betfair.
Betdaq have a premium looking interface.
Also used by professional Traders.
Regularly have welcome offers. Have sportsbook also.
Ladbrokes also have an EXCHANGE, however, this is now part of Betdaq. Despite having a different interface appearance, the liquidity is identical. Check it out!
There are pros and cons to each exchange. However, in general most people find BETFAIR is superior and enjoy 0% commission exchanges for placing Matched Bets; especially large ones, including football 2up bets.
TIP
I have every exchange and would recommend opening each one, or at least three of them.
By doing so, you can usually enjoy a welcome offer on each, if valid. Please use my links above to open these – this will help with further improvements/software additions of this free site.
WHY ELSE OPEN MULTIPLE EXCHANGES?
As mentioned earlier – different exchanges have different markets – some that are not available elsewhere. Not having this exchange can lose you potential profits!
Another reason why it is crucial to have at least two exchanges is: If one site crashes, you do not have to go through the hassle of opening a new one, just to lay your bets.
Doing this can sometimes make the difference of losing a trade, if you place your fixed odds bet without realising the exchange site has crashed!
Again, losing you more potential profits!
HISTORY OF THE EXCHANGES
Prior to the year 2000, this was not possible. Betfair came about in the year 2000, followed by Betdaq, then came MatchBook and Smarkets.
For the record, Ladbrokes also have an exchange, but apart from a slightly different interface, it is the same product as Betdaq, but in different packaging.
There is also another Exchange, that is due to become established. Bet.dot.me.
I was speaking on the phone to their representative back in October 2018. The guy explained how their interface is going to be based on Smarkets and they may shoot for a 1% commission objective. Bet.dot.me didn’t want to give too much information away, at such an early stage in their developments, which is understandable in this industry – as it is renowned for people stealing ideas!
This site will keep you posted on the developments within bet.dot.me.
Smarkets and Matchbook have since both dramatically increased their revenues; some of this success is due to oddsmatching companies pushing them hard and involving them in mutual deals.
I personally believe, without this fact, it may have been a different story.
Happy profiting!
ARBITRAGE – How arbitrage works
Arbitrage, or “Arbing”, is slightly more advanced than Matched Betting, but they both hold similar core principles.
Arbing does not rely on offers or bonuses, like Matched Betting does. That is not to say that Arbing cannot be used with offers. This YouTube video BELOW explains Arbing very briefly:
The benefits of Arbing are explained in the following OUTPLAYED paragraphs, as well as the perils! …
Arbing is an abbreviation for “Arbitrage”.
As you’ve probably guessed by the name of my website: “Arb Hunter” … I have done a few Arbs in my time!
At a guess, I’ve spent over 10,000 hours trawling Betfair for Arbs over the years since year 2000. Although Bet Angel Trader, Peter Webb, would probably consider these part Time hours!
I have made a lot of money from Arbitrage in the past, mainly from Arbing Horses.
I specialise in Horse Racing Arbing; my Arbing approach differs from the generic approach. This was developed over the years.
I also have a unique style of Arbing called “naked Arbing” … no, that does not mean I place my Arbs without any clothes on!
Naked Arbing means the bets are not layed immediately – in fact, I “gamble” that these Arbs will lay and then enter them into the market unlayed.
I do this by pressing “keep”, to ensure the lay is secure in the market..
This function is only possible on Betfair. On Smarkets, for example, if there is a Non-runner, and your horse is NOT layed, the unlayed bet will be cancelled-out, unless you manually enter it again. However, if it is layed the Smarkets formula will adjust the lay to the new lower price, same as Betfair …
This could be considered “Trading”, but a kind of trading that relies on the fixed-odds side of the bet too..
As half of this strategy relies on a fixed-odds bet – It is therefore only HALF as risky as Betfair Trading, in my opinion..
This is since you will most likely be entitled to BOG and therefore have some form of security, if the price of the horse drifts, unlike with Betfair Trading …
Hence the well-known hierarchy of Matched Betting – Arbing – Trading..
Why a hierarchy? …
Each step requires an extra responsibility and discretion.
Hierarchies exist due to there being far less discretion involved in partaking in a Matched Betting offer Vs entering a Betfair pre-race Trade.
Methods such as “naked Arbing”, which is briefly featured in “Guides” and on the main OUTPLAYED will be featured in the Members Club; It took me years of practise, to feel comfortable playing with risky strategies like naked Arbing – these methods are advanced, I would dissuade newbies from considering these.
Years ago, Arbing was not AS harmful to your account as it is now ….
Yes, it was certainly “frowned-upon” by almost every Bookmaker … but you did not get Gubbed anywhere near as quick as you would now!
The good Ol’ Days of being able to sit at your PC ‘picking off’ arb-after-arb have long gone!
I would generally dissuade anyone from jumping straight into Arbing – without following the initial Matched Betting route.
Nowadays, you will have better account health and longevity to your accounts by following standard Matched Betting principles, as your core method, THEN implementing Arbing into your routine, once you’re more advanced, and fully understand the situation.
It is also common sense to learn basic techniques like Matched Betting first and “in-turn” this will give you enough practise on the betting exchanges to probably start spotting arbs yourself, without even intentionally focussing on looking for them!
When this happens, you will be ready for Arbing.
Rewind ten years ago, and I would not have said the same story.
In my opinion, ten + years ago it was more profitable to take the Arbing route.
You got gubbed quicker than in Matched Betting, but the profits available were worth it back then, as you weren’t gubbed no-where near as quick as nowadays, mainly due to Bookies algorithmic software being 10% of what it is now!
I made an absolute packet from horse Arbing earlier this decade. But since around year 2013, even the most tolerant Bookmakers started gubbing quicker and seem to gubb quickly now.
There are certain Bookmakers you can use for Arbs, when Gubbed. There are also [currently] comOUTPLAYEDnies that offer “minimum bet guarantees”, even for gubbed accounts.
I doubt the longevity of these bet guarantees.
When enjoying this style of “arbing”, by implementing the minimum bet guarantees – it is vital you are very fast and alert.
Due to the fact they mostly don’t offer these until after 10:00 am –which is a bad time for finding Arbs, so … the only alternative is usually just before the race – hence why markets are moving fast.
Fast moving markets equals danger.
If you are a beginner Matched Bettor, it is inevitable you will get your fingers burnt at some point doing this.
It is imperative that you are focussed and do not miss laying your trades.
The minutes before the race, when you are most likely to find these, happen to be the busiest times for market movement. This equals danger.
The more experienced you are – the better chance you have of dealing with these … when the inevitable ‘brown stuff’ hits the fan!
As explained in the next chapter …
The most common hazard with these are:
The markets are moving so fast – the price can drift or contract rapidly, within seconds. Of course, if you are not uber-quick this can sometimes go in your favour. However, the strategy is to lay as soon as possible.
If you currently do enough of these bets – you will understand exactly what I am talking about!
One day the brown stuff WILL hit the fan.
This is just an occupational hazard, that can be salvaged, but due to the fact you will be under time pressure – you will have to have a ‘built-in contingency plan’, for when this happens.
Knowing how to “accept” and handle loss is vital if you wish to start playing with many minimum bet guarantee Arbs.
Like pre-race Betfair Trading … DO NOT EVER let your lay go “in running”, if it drifts heavily and you fail to lay it at your desired price.
Take the loss on ‘the chin’ and move on.
Some people DO let these go in running!
At a guess, 70%+ of the time you may get away with it … But this does eventually end in tears …
Further Arbing chat can be found on the Members Site.
When Betfair was born in the year 2000, Arbs were very fruitful during the early years, until circa 2012.
Advanced Software is now used by Bookmakers and they are usually one step ahead of any Arber and/or the software they may use.
The technical advantage they hold now is far superior to the advantage they held seven plus years ago; They can afford the best IT programmers and software, it’s in their best interests.
Arbing has a certain appeal, as it DOES NOT rely on offers.
Although using offers alongside an arb is extremely effective [and dangerous to account health] … Arbs can be used alone!
This makes Arbs VERY attractive.
Arbs are very abundant, if you know when and where to look for them.
Timing is everything with Arbing! Hence why I am the self-proclaimed Arb Hunter.
It took me years to establish the best “Hunting times”!
I spent thousands of hours working this one out!
Arb profit margins can also be very high.
Many oddsmatcher and other sites recommend not taking Arbs over a certain % ROI, as they fear these could be palps; however, if you do this you can miss many arbs.
I believe they say this just to be “on the safe side”, which is probably the best generic advice for newbies, to minimise errors for them and also reduce questions and confusion.
However, an experienced Arber can quickly discriminate the difference from a genuine OUTPLAYEDlp to a genuine Arb.
When you are more experienced it is easier to spot a “palp” [short forpalpable error] … “palpable”, meaning that “THE ERROR IS OBVIOUS”.
Most palps are caused by Non-Runners not being updated on the system.
My “spot a palp” video BELOW explains, very briefly.
A BASIC ARB EXAMPLE:
For example: you back at 6.0 and lay for 4.0. You could then choose:
A. To OverLay/Hedge … or
B. To UnderLay, therefore potentially making more profit, but only if the selection won.
I found option B to be the most profitable.
ARBING CONCLUSION
ARBING POSITIVES:
- Not reliant on Offers
- Frequently found
- Massive profit margin potential
ARBING NEGATIVES
- Gubbed super quick
CONCLUSION
- Only use Arbs with Gubbed or uncherished accounts.
- Only you know which accounts you cherish!
- This is very subjective.
MORE ARBING – INCLUDING ADVANCED ARBING
Arbing in A Nutshell
Some different types of Arbing
Above is an image showing the ridiculous stakes I used to place on Horse Arbs 2010 – 2016.
These stakes were almost a regular daily thing.
I had several “golden bet365 accounts”, this account [above] lasted over 12 months,
with relentless stakes as pictured. However, it was used genuinely for 5 years prior and had built-up a good “level”,
although I did eventually get gubbed – many thousands was profited.
I mention below [in video and text] that these arbs were predominantly “naked arbs”
and I guess their software found it more difficult to discriminate me as an arber,
as the lay price was not there on the exchange for the software to detect.
Arbing has become a lot more difficult since 2015, due to the popularity of Matched Betting also.
I will very briefly touch-upon these methods and will post further blogs detailing each.
There are links to the detailed pagesOs on the topics below this blog.
Most Common Arbs
Full video Vlog HERE.
A Basic Arb
Straight forward Arb
Back 4.0 lay 3.9
If you backed £10 at 4.0 and layed at 3.9, if it won you would win +£1 using the underlay method and +£0.34p using the hedging/overlay method.
Of course, this is peanuts, but if performed with £100 it would be +£10 or +£3.40.
I will do seperate video explaining in detail my views on underlay/overlay/mixture and in running angles.
This can get very complex, but the two most practiced methods are overlay and underlay.
A straight arb is the most common and also include things such as minimum bet guarantee arbing, explained later.
Min Bet Guarantee Arbing
Minimum bet guarantee is a straight-forward offer that is primarily used for Arbing.
A full article on Min Bet Guarantee can be found at the bottom of this page.
Minimum Bet Guarantee is an offer most people use on their gubbed accounts.
However, this offer can be used for both gubbed and ungubbed accounts.
The nature of this bet is Arbing – and therefore, this is the reason most people try use this on their gubbed accounts.
Although the bookies are offering this offer – there is still fear of harming your account from repeatedly taking value/Arb prices.
Gubbed accounts usually come in different levels of being gubbed – except with companies like bet365!
*Please ensure your onus to check these offers are still valid, Matched Betting rules do have the habit of changing overnight sometimes!
In Running Arbing
This requires speed, practise and repetition.
The most common markets this is performed on is Football.
I know a guy who has made £700k from this method alone since 2011, mainly using bet365.
However, I would recommend to anyone wishing to start in running arbing to use it to their advantage.
IE Choose a sport you have knowledge and niche in.
The more niche the better. I hear many times of people raking in loads of cash from in running arbing …
and there usually follows a pattern; the pattern is niche.
Example guys I know:
The footy guy [above] loves football, plays football still [in his 50’s] and has many hours experience in trawling exchange Vs booky.
A boxing fan I know – is very successfully backing/laying boxing [in running] which is very volatile,
due to the speed required, but he has the same background as the footy guy … he loves boxing, is an ex boxer, has visited exchange Vs Booky markets many times.
Another [few] guys I know, all love MMA [as do I] They too are ex competitors, study the markets, same as the two guys above.
My point is – practice makes perfect. There’s no secret strategy except from hours grinded out.
But if you’ve already got passion for it – the hours will be enjoyable.
Which brings me onto my favourite arbing technique below.
This technique was not given/taught or shown to me; I adopted it through several thousands of hours trawling
Betfair Vs Oddschecker, I still use this method to date, albeit in far fewer occasions and hours.
Naked Arbing
Naked Arbing is a phrase made for an Arbitrage Trade that is not immediately layed.
Despite the saucy picture above, naked arbing can be performed with or without clothes on [if that really is your thing]! I’ll start-off giving you a few examples of how Naked Arbing can differ so much, yet mean the same thing.
Some NAKED Arb examples:
- I see a horse on Betfair that is attracting a lot of early £ support
The price is best-priced 3.75 with Coral – I think it will contract – but the lay is not there already to be layed.
I know [if I wait] for the lay price to be there [on the exchange] the Coral price will more than likely contract further;
so I take the chance on backing the horse at odds 3.75. I then enter my lay into Betfair at odds 3.3. I press “keep” –
to avoid my trade being ‘cancelled-out’ of the market and I wait. OR I could just wait until the odds reached
lower and then lay at 3.3 or whatever my desired price was. In my opinion: you’d be a fool to ‘wait’,
when you could enter the lay into the market and just keep checking intermittently.
You haven’t enough funds to lay a bet – because the bet is high odds – yet you think it will contract and therefore, will lay when it reaches X amount price.
- You haven’t enough funds to lay a bet – because the bet is high odds – yet you think it will contract and therefore, will lay when it reaches X amount price
I believe that Tiger Woods will do well in this tournament and have intentions to lay him
when his price contracts [shortens] at a later stage in The Tournament.
Therefore, I have not layed Tiger yet – but intend to. If Tiger “Tee’d off” and suddenly had an accident ended up in the bunker and was doing terribly –
then my trade would not look too good.
- You think the bet is over-priced and you want to get involved!
Similar to advantage play.
You have no intention of laying, until it reaches a price that is so short that you’d be foolish not to “hedge your bets”.
Just a few ideas and insight into possibilities and perspectives.
Todays Matched Bettors are almost brainwashed into thinking they must lay immediately.
This has been advised to them for a reason, so as they do not suffer any liability/risk ever. But it is always best to explore and realise the bigger picture.
I never used software for these as found a lot of software producing obsolete arbs and I was trading at strange times.
Arbing software Arbs
As mentioned above I never really used Arbing software with Naked Arbing method.
But using Arbing software is efficient and produces a lot of arbs and still has its uses, depending on your needs.
Rebel Betting is my favoured software for this type of arbing. The have been the cream product for over ten years.
Back In 2009 they revolutionised the Arbing world by creating the first three way ditching tool for finding arbs.
Of course, this is standard practise now and can also be found on OUTPLAYED.
Above is an image of OUTPLAYED’s 3-way Dutching calculator; this is not only useful fro football 1-X-2 Markets,
but also 3 runner horse races or other events including 3 outcomes, such as golf Player 1, player 2, tie, etc
OUTPLAYED is also [currently, pls check] offering 0% commissions with their free integration Check out OUTPLAYED HERE
But was a big thing back in 2009, the same as a good smart phone would have been back then!
The types of arbs produced by Rebel betting are probably one of the most common known in football etc.
I find Rebel Betting helpful with these types of betting accounts that we are only going to use for the welcome offers;
especially the Eurozone based ones that don’t offer any/many reload offers and when they do they’re not worth doing anyway.
So it makes sense using a dutching tool to arb with, then you can possibly use three accounts – implementing all their bonuses at the same time!
- Saves exchange commissions or matches
- Saves time
- Saves bankroll!
I will produce a video on all the different types of arbing methods above, as well as more advanced ones …
I will also produce a video explaining overlay/underlay in-depth as there are a lot of intricacies you can use to grind out extra profits,
don’t just think you either overlay or underlay or you will rob yourself of maximising profits!
VALUE BETTING and ANTE POST
Looking and searching in markets, prior to the event can benefit your knowledge of markets and also give you an advantage. Also, Value betting and advantage play is definitely a skill worth learning!
Mentioned further reading:
OUTPLAYED three way dutching HERE
The final part of this HOME page brings us to BETFAIR Trading!
I say Betfair Trading, as it’s arguably the only feasible exchange to realistically trade on, especially pre-Race horse racing.
It is possible to trade on other exchanges, as I once made a video producing a £42 green (overlay profit), the day before the race!
However, you will find it a lot harder elsewhere than Betfair, in my opinion.
Why did I leave this section until last?
This was intentionally placed here.
This is due to two reasons:
Matched Bettors usually go through this process:
- 1. Enjoying sign up welcome offers
- 2. Enjoying reload offers
- 3. Start Getting gubbed
- 4. Run out of betting accounts and offers.
- 5. Start harder methods, like Each Way Arbing, minimum odds guarantee, Arbing, Casino.
- 6. Gubbed Matched Bettors then turn their attentions to Betfair Trading, as “hooked” on the game.
This makes logical sense, as the Matched Bettor [by now] has subconsciously gained betting exchange experience and knows how odds fluctuate and their dangers, etc.
I started Matched Betting in the 1990’s and over the years I’ve seen people “come and go” – but most of these guys ALL seem to follow the above process, numbered 1-6.
Most are under the illusion that once they’re gubbed – that Betfair Trading will always “be there”, as you simply cannot get gubbed from Betfair!
Guys, believe me … will NOT “hit the ground running” with Betfair Trading!
Betfair Trading is hard!
CAUTION!
If after reading the processes, numbered 1-6 – and this sounds like you … then I would do myself a favour and listen to this now, before it is too late.
Don’t leave it until you are gubbed and have no accounts, before you try your ‘hand’ at Betfair Trading.
See what you think of it while you STILL have accounts.
I say this for two reasons:
This will allow you enough time to gain the required experience, in order to profit from Betfair Trading. Or, in most cases, not profit! Betfair Trading is a skill. This is not a simple process, like Matched Betting; Trading is a very emotional game and you must adapt your approaches to it, before you can get good.
What works for John may not work for Jim; Trading is a very personal, isolated thing. It is a personal skill; skills require work.
If you try before you are fully gubbed and realise you don’t have “what it takes”, or it does not suit you, at least you know that this is not a possibility, and you may approach your Matched Betting in a different manner.
Like I say, many Matched Bettors think Betfair Trading will always be there for them, thinking they can dive straight into it … but do not take into account that they are jumping from a simple process to a skill requiring time, effort, paOence and above all: persistence.
Most give up, due to not being persistent.
TIPS
- Study
- Practise
- Forums
- Practise
You may notice I have repeated Practise twice. This is because this is the most vital element.
Caan Berry Video pack
A FULL review of Caan’s Video pack can be FOUND HERE, Complete with listed chapters.
Click on image to view …
Having an extensive video reference guide can help aid you on your journey. There’s a lot of material on this Video pack!
I know a guy who is a very serious Matched Betting Bettor – Mr Chilli, this is not his real name – but a joke nickname I used to refer to him as – he realises that Matched Betting is not eternal and evergreen; he did the sensible thing – he purchased Caan’s video pack and invests 2 hours a week studying it, which isn’t a lot, but he is consistent.
The reason?
- He hasn’t much time to learn. He works FT and Match Bets a lot.
- He wants to see if he CAN become a Trader on Betfair in the future.
- He doesn’t want to discover this, when under financial pressure.
- He’s allowing time and has persistence and a routine.
He is currently enjoying good money from Matched Betting and is therefore under NO PRESSURE to earn money from Betfair Trading.
This helps!
This helps to him to have a clear mind, whilst learning.
He also has a full-time salary coming in.
He can now learn at a steady pace, with a clear mind. All the information digests better, when done slowly with patience.
Unlike, if he delayed ‘trying’ to learn Betfair Trading, until after being fully gubbed and then wished to continue profiting in the same way.
This way, he is trying to gradually replace the Matched Betting WITH Betfair Trading … and learning BEFORE it is too late.
Most people leave it until AFTER they are gubbed!
I can totally relate to this – as why would you try tackle something hard, when the easy money [Matched Betting] is ‘on the table’!?
However, when starting Betfair Trading … after being fully gubbed… the following usually happens.
They then panic – as they want to earn the big money they were earning from Matched Betting.
The following cycle is then a common one I hear of:
- They then put themselves under unnecessary pressure.
- This pressure then has a negative effect on their Trading.
- They then end up losing, through frustration and rash decisions.
- They quit.
The guy mentioned earlier, Mr Chilli, is a perfect example of someone who is approaching things correctly.
I have not spoken to him in a few months and hope he has mastered Trading by now!
Trading Software and Forums
When you get more serious about the game – you will be a fool not to use Trading software, for speed reasons.
Speed inadequacies will cost you money long-term!
Bet Angel will help; super-fast broadband will also help, if available in your area.
Mr Chilli, mentioned earlier, even considered moving house – just because Super-fast fibre broadband was not available in his home location!
I have used Bet Angel many times in the past, which has been my favoured choice, although there are several products out there.
I particularly like the Bet Angel forum.
This forum is arguably the most established Betfair trading forums and a lot of the guys on there are serious black Belt Yodas!
Although Matched Betting and Trading are very similar, Trading holds challenges, the worst thing about Trading is that it is emotional and requires discipline as well as a lot of discretion.
Having an established, solid forum to refer-to in these situations will put you in the best stead, if you are ever going to succeed.
I hope this has given an honest overview of Betfair Trading.
I have elaborated on the negatives, as well as the potential positives. I don’t want to ‘dress-it-up’ all nicely and have you disappointed and confused. This website is BS free.
If you succeed, though, there are Green pastures waiting to be Milked!
Remember, if you are going to be successful, then you are going to have to “power-through” the pains, to reach the joys.
Most people quit, when experiencing these pains; hence why the success rate is low.
Good Luck!