Dispelling The Myths Around Matched Betting

Ooooh, gambling. You don’t want to do that. It’s a mug’s game.

And indeed it is. But matched betting is not gambling. In fact, it’s about as far from gambling as we could hope to get. But as soon as you utter the word “bet”, people of a nervous disposition begin to get all shivery.

You see, when we place a matched bet we cover all outcomes. When we place a bet at a bookie, we can win or we can lose. But when we back and lay every outcome, we can’t lose. Furthermore, bookmakers give us bonuses to keep us betting, to entice us into that shivery world which we were initially so anxious about. We back and lay those bets to give us nothing but profit.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Wrong. If you stick to backing and laying you’re guaranteed profit. But taking free money from bookmakers? Surely this can’t be legal? Which brings us nicely to dispelling myth number 1.

Myth 1: Matched Betting Isn’t Legal

If betting is legal, why wouldn’t matched betting be legal? The rise of betting exchanges in the early 2000s made it possible for punters to take on the bookies, ultimately resulting in a nationwide revoke of bookmakers’ licenses to print money. We’ve had enough, said Betfair. It’s time to take on the bookies at their own game.

Instead of backing bets, anybody could now lay bets. We were given the opportunity to bet against outcomes. Through a betting exchange, we could therefore take the role of a bookmaker. We offer bets against outcomes - let’s say a horse to win the 16.15 at Kempton. You might fancy that nag. She’s got great form and the going’s good. So you take me up on that bet. You back that bet at the betting exchange.

The bookies are left gazing in through the window. What can they do, other than try to entice us back with free bet bonuses that we can use to match bets and guarantee ourselves profit?

Myth 2: Matched Betting Is Only For Sports Fans

Rubbish! Plenty of Yesbets users don’t give a monkeys about sport. In fact, it can actually be better if you don’t. Being disinterested allows us to focus solely on our profits. Forget the pain of following your team through thick and thin. Forget not ever betting on Manchester United to win because you’re a die-hard Liverpool fan. This isn’t sport. It’s business. And we’re in the business of making profit.

Widely diverse groups are increasingly turning to matched betting as a means of income. Mums, students, retirees. It doesn’t matter who you are or if you follow a team or even give a damn about sport in general. It only matters that you’ve got the time (20 minutes per day) and the means (from as little as £40) to spare to get your matched betting journey off and running and get you piling in the profits.

Myth 3: It’s Complicated

Actually, when you join Yesbets you will notice that there are a shed load of articles and tutorials to help you learn matched betting, as well as free access to the Yesbets private Facebook group for all Premium Members.

Not only this, but every single sign-up and reload offer contains step-by-step instructions that turn from blue to orange once completed. We can’t move on to the next stage of each offer until we have completed the previous stage.

For example, we need to place a qualifying bet at a bookie in order for us to be able to claim the free bet bonus. Once we have added a balance to that bookmaker, say Ladbrokes, and then placed the back and lay bets detailed in the Matched Betting Calculator, we click the Confirm And Save button and then Settle our bets once the event has finished. Yesbets tots up our profits and keeps a running total so we can be all nice and smug about them.

Myth 4: It Won’t Last Forever

One of the key points that Yesbets stresses - particularly to new members - is to act like a natural punter. Make at least one “mug” bet - bets that any mug would make - for every free bet you take the bookies up on. As long as we always look to back and lay our bets, we’ll still be up in terms of profits overall.

If we act natural and come across to a bookmaker that we are regular punters, there is no reason why we can’t keep matched betting right up until we’re worm food. We should also stick to the “main” sports, and by that we mean popular ones. Football has overtaken horse racing as the most popular sport for bettors so, even if we don’t give a monkeys about football, we can reap the rewards of it being the most popular and ubiquitous sport in the UK - and, for that matter, in Europe.

Myth 5: We Can Do It For Our Friends

Well, I said that matched betting is legal. And it is, 100 percent. But pretending to be somebody else and placing matched bets on their behalf? Even if it’s a spouse, loved one or friend? Questionable, not only legally but ethically.

Do you think that bookmakers would be pleased if they caught you rinsing them on behalf of several different people? They would freeze your account - and your winnings - for sure.

For that reason, bookies make it extremely difficult for people to “gnome” (hold multiple accounts). Bookmakers monitor our computers’ Mac and IP addresses in order to snuff out gnomers. Most bookmakers don’t even allow multiple punters from the same address.

That said, some, such as Sky Bet, do operate family friendly betting policies. It’s always worth checking the bookmakers’ Ts and Cs to check if our loved ones can get in on the matched betting action. If we could double our profit, why wouldn’t we?

After all, that’s why we’re in this game. To make as much as we can, and potentially supplement our incomes to the tune of a retirement fund, pension, holiday, extension… or whatever it is that floats your boat. Heck, put it towards a trip to space if you want. You want to bet that you can’t?