Matched betting - who's done it and who's good at it? (No Referrals)

Caporegime
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29 Jan 2008
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58,898
Here’s something interesting from looking at my MB which has been steady for last year. My smarkets is down £6000 and paddy is up £1700, not checked the rest but as my total is over £4K in the year that’s a lot of bookies I’ve taken money off. Too many wins!

Well that's how it works, the money comes from the bookies - if you could make it so your exchange account was positive you'd not need matched betting to begin with.
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
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15,940
Sounds pretty sensible, I think posts like that are always interesting. I mean there are others who’ve just general update about getting gubbed etc... could do with more discussion about betting in general.

I'll do that for sure - monthly update but my plan is a long term gain - not bothered about short term results.
 
Caporegime
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Well that's how it works, the money comes from the bookies - if you could make it so your exchange account was positive you'd not need matched betting to begin with.
good in theory. I think the nature of finding matches is almost a way to find value (when bookies odds are relatively high vs the exchange )
 
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Caporegime
Joined
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good in theory. I think the nature of finding matches is almost a way to find value (when bookies odds are relatively high vs the exchange )

Not quite sure what you’re referring too re: where you’re finding the value (aside from the offers themselves).

If you’re finding value at the bookies (beyond the actual offer itself) it can often (though not always, still context dependent) be a quick way to get your account limited. Might well be better to try not to find value there and just accept taking a slightly less efficient bet that is less likely to draw attention to your account.

If you’re somehow able to find value at the exchange through looking for matches then that’s great, you don’t get limited for finding value there... I mean if that’s the case then go exploit it... you don’t need to match the other side of the value is coming from the exchange somehow - there is variance to deal with but adjust your bet size accordingly and (if you can find them) take multiple positions, place plenty of bets...
 
Soldato
Joined
19 Jan 2006
Posts
15,940
Sounds pretty sensible, I think posts like that are always interesting. I mean there are others who’ve just general update about getting gubbed etc... could do with more discussion about betting in general.

Well first monthly update - not much around this time before the season restarts again. Laying the draw.

However - I'm down 0.25 points....3 good wins, 1 loss - Silly from me as I was unable to watch the game/updates and forgot to set my out (normally around 70 minutes) if looking like a draw I usually trade out. Season starts this month so more opportunities to get stuck into it.
 
Associate
Joined
25 Aug 2008
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947
So I have decided to get back into Matched Betting. I repurposed my old bank account for something else, so now have a Revolut card to get me going again. Not sure how long this will last as dubbed at most the big bookies, however have just signed up to Virginbet today for their bet £10, get 5 free £10 SNR bets. This offer seems so +EV, I'm tempted not to lay any. There was a thread somewhere once, that long term, forgetting to lay arbs was more profitable long term.
 
Associate
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25 Aug 2008
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947
Well that was definitely +EV. All in all, from my £10 initial bet, and not laying, I am up £111. Now to find the next bookie. Any thoughts?

Novibet, Energybet or Mansion seem the obvious ones. Deposit anything from £10-25 and get the same free bet, seem good offers to build up the balance.
 
Associate
Joined
26 Jul 2020
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796
For those seasoned enough to remember Donglemouse's diary on Money Saving Expert's website, matched betting has been a way which geeks have been making money online.

In short, matched betting is a loophole whereby you take advantage of free bets offered by bookmakers and turn them into real cash that you can spend. It's not a 'system' but rather a nifty trick which makes use of the fact that the free bet, is well free.
This whole thing is a sham though, as you only tend to get one 'free' bet per sign up - then what?

And if your real money bet loses, then you only break evens - total no brainer here!
 
Caporegime
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58,898
This whole thing is a sham though, as you only tend to get one 'free' bet per sign up - then what?

More signups and more free bets from additional offers... Yes there is a finite amount of low hanging fruit out there but that's not really much of a problem, doesn't make it a sham.

And if your real money bet loses, then you only break evens - total no brainer here!

Nope, there is free money available - you can try to win that free money by just playing the offer (in the long run this is more profitable but allows for short term losses/swings) or you can use exchanges to hedge your bets and lock in that free money (albeit for a price - crossing the spread and paying commission) - how you structure that hedge is up to you but typically it is structured so you take a neutral position towards the result. Of course in the long run hedging or matched betting is less profitable than just playing the offers (if this isn't immediately obvious to people it will become apparent when they've done lots of it and note their negative exchange balance) but it's attractive to most people as the cost to lock in the profits isn't seen as being too high and they're generally risk averse, dislike gambling or taking risk etc..
 
Caporegime
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24 Oct 2012
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Godalming
This whole thing is a sham though, as you only tend to get one 'free' bet per sign up - then what?

And if your real money bet loses, then you only break evens - total no brainer here!


So you ignored 5231 posts discussing this topic and quoted a post from 9 years ago claiming it's a sham?


I hope I never get you on a Cluedo team.
 
Don
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18 Oct 2002
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Cornwall
So you ignored 5231 posts discussing this topic and quoted a post from 9 years ago claiming it's a sham?


I hope I never get you on a Cluedo team.

His account is only active for two hours a day during morning hours, so sadly you will have to wait till tomorrow for an exciting update, a unique poster (or probably not ;) )
 
Caporegime
Joined
29 Jan 2008
Posts
58,898
His account is only active for two hours a day during morning hours, so sadly you will have to wait till tomorrow for an exciting update, a unique poster (or probably not ;) )

Wait - is that just some pattern of behaviour you've noticed or is that an actual restriction someone in the mod team has come up with for his account?
 
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