How to Place a Free Bet When Matched Betting

Free bets are awarded by bookmakers for various reasons. When you first start matched betting, you will mainly take advantage of signup bonuses, that will give you a free bet once you have deposited and made a qualifying bet, although there are also welcome bonuses with wagering which are different and this method doesn’t apply. Once you get more experienced and have opened all your bookmaker accounts you will likely move onto reloads, which also come with free bets.

Ladbrokes Sign Up Offer

How is a Free Bet Different to a Qualifying Bet?

The obvious difference between a qualifying bet and a free bet is that your free bet isn’t placed using your own funds, instead it is placed with funds from the bookmaker. The other difference with free bets is that the free bet stake is not returned. We call this an SNR bet. With a qualifying bet your stake is returned and we call this a normal bet.

This is important, because it affects how we calculate the matched bet to make an even profit regardless of the outcome.

Ladbrokes Free SNR Bet Example

Free bets may also have an expiry date, so make sure that you check this when you are completing an offer.

How to Calculate a Free SNR Bet

To make sure that your free bet is evenly matched, you will need to calculate how much you need to lay to ensure that the bet is evenly matched. There are 2 ways that you can do this:

Yesbets Premium - Finds the best matches for your free bets and calculates the lay amount and profit for you. Watch a video of us doing this. Try it for free

Use a Matched Betting Calculator - You can find the odds yourself on both the bookmaker and the exchange and enter them into the calculator along with your stake. When you do this make sure you select the bet type as an SNR bet. It will then tell you how much you need to lay in order to match the bet evenly.

Ladbrokes Matched Betting Example

How to Place an SNR Free Bet

Once you know the back and lay amounts, you need to do the following:

Enter your stake at the bookmakers, make sure you select the free bet, or it will use your actual funds - Check odds are still the same
Enter your lay stake - Check the odds are the same and there is enough liquidity to get your bet matched at the odds you want
Confirm and place your back bet
Confirm and place your lay bet

As long as the odds haven’t changed, you will have matched your bet successfully and will make a profit regardless of the result.

Useful Links

What to do if your bet is unmatched
Partially matched bets

How Much Profit Should You Make from a SNR Free Bet?

You should be looking to make around 80% profit from an SNR free bet. So on a £10 free bet you should be looking to make around £8 profit. Placing free bets on higher odds will yield more profit, so if you want to make the most from your free bets, you will need a larger exchange balance to cover the liability.

Ladbrokes 80% Profit Example

However don’t always ruthlessly go for the highest profit that you can. To keep your betting accounts open and prevent them from being restricted, go for popular football markets so that you blend in.

Opting for low odds qualifying bets and then high odds free bets will also stick out like a sore thumb and will likely get your accounts gubbed pretty quickly.

Tips For Placing a Free SNR Bet

Find a close match to maximise your profit
Higher odds at close matched will yield more profit, but you will need the money in your exchange to cover the liability
Don’t always go for the most profit, look at what you are betting on as well
Pick large events if you can. Stay away from obscure markets, as this can stand out like a sore thumb to bookmakers
If you haven’t done any matched betting before stick to football markets, as the odds don’t move as quickly and there is normally a lot of liquidity in the betting exchanges
Always place your back bet first and then your lay bet