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

knowlton · 23 Jun 2011 at 14:32

Skull said:
That was how it was at the start, but the bookies have caught on and you now have to "rollover" the bonus, which essentially means you have to make several more bets which cancel each other out, each time eating away at the bonus you get, before you can withdraw the cash. Ends up making every bonus more time-consuming and ultimately less profitable.

Essentially, yes - that is the case... But only if you do matched betting by hand as it's slightly more complicated and the calculations can be more complex.

If you do it automatically like I do, then it's far less hassle as it's based on a set process - it's literally follow the instructions and with draw..

rwm24 · 23 Jun 2011 at 19:52

Does anyone know of any better sites offering to match your deposit for new accounts?

knowlton · 23 Jun 2011 at 21:46

rwm24 said:
Does anyone know of any better sites offering to match your deposit for new accounts?

If you're looking to matched bet manually, then try comparethebookie.com where they have a fairly comprehensive list..

If you're doing it automatically, then you'll see the list under 'new offers'

piggeh · 23 Jun 2011 at 22:55

I done this - just ensure you have a decent sized float and then you can hit the bigger bonuses. Made £800 from it, before it started to get to the piddly amounts and got fed up with doing it. Make sure you read the T&Cs of any new sign up bonus before you do it, to check for turnover requirements, minimum odds etc.

The MSE forum, spreadsheets etc are great tools to help.

knowlton · 24 Jun 2011 at 10:30

piggeh said:
I done this - just ensure you have a decent sized float and then you can hit the bigger bonuses. Made £800 from it, before it started to get to the piddly amounts and got fed up with doing it. Make sure you read the T&Cs of any new sign up bonus before you do it, to check for turnover requirements, minimum odds etc.

The MSE forum, spreadsheets etc are great tools to help.

The approach I've taken has always been 're-invest' your profits..

I started off with a £50 float - then I used the profit from that float to 're-invest' and do the next offer, etc. It does take longer, however it does mean that I don't have large amounts of money absent from my bank account..

I think you're right - it seems like tens of thousands could be made once upon a time, but sadly either the offers have shrunk, or bookmakers are making their offers more complicated for people to do by hand.. though it doesn't make a difference to me as I do mine automatically

knowlton · 24 Jun 2011 at 23:50

For those who are using Fixtheodds..

Logged on earlier, and wow - it has drastically changed! It's now a lot simpler and neater than before...

But the main thing that has got me excited, is that they have a refer a friend scheme which is a no brainer - make money by matched betting, tell your friends, become a hero to your friends and FTO gives you a tenner in cash!

It's obviously not that straightforward - it's a two step process:

- You matched bet as normal and once your lay bets with Betfair have reached £75 or over, the refer a friend function activates
- You refer a friend and once they've hit the £75, you will get £10 in cash..

But since it took me 3 bets to reach that £75, it's definitely a nice additional earner!

knowlton · 28 Jun 2011 at 10:15

OK, I've made my first referral to test out this system.. I have my dad doing it (i.e. me on behalf of him), so it shouldn't take long to see how this works.

Azza · 30 Jun 2011 at 20:00

Finally got my card to work on BetFair. Just done my first matched bet, using Paddy Power's free £20 from £10 bet. Nice £13.24 profit coming up later on.

ergonomics · 30 Jun 2011 at 20:46

knowlton said:
OK, I've made my first referral to test out this system.. I have my dad doing it (i.e. me on behalf of him), so it shouldn't take long to see how this works.

Doesn't it work on the Betfair referral basis? I.e. you are referring your dad, through fixtheodds, to betfair, and gaining £10.

However, you can just refer your dad straight away to betfair, and when he signs up with your referrel code... you both get £25!

If anyone is planning on signing up at betfair.. do use my code and we can both enjoy an extra £25 free to play with

64YY44Q7T

Azza · 30 Jun 2011 at 23:10

Has anyone got a decent spreadsheet that they use?

Lethal` · 1 Jul 2011 at 00:23

Azza said:
Has anyone got a decent spreadsheet that they use?

Ultimatcher
Takes a little while to setup initially, but very useful

OpenToSuggestions · 1 Jul 2011 at 00:26

I made £2500 overall.
To which I then went and lost it all on Blackjack, because I was an idiot.

Doing it properly mathematically does work.

Azza · 1 Jul 2011 at 00:42

Lethal` said:
Ultimatcher
Takes a little while to setup initially, but very useful

Thanks.

digipeep · 1 Jul 2011 at 00:45

mglover070588 said:
I made £2500 overall.
To which I then went and lost it all on Blackjack, because I was an idiot.

Doing it properly mathematically does work.

If you are a degenerate like this example, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT STARTING MATCHED BETTING.

knowlton · 1 Jul 2011 at 10:25

ergonomics said:
Doesn't it work on the Betfair referral basis? I.e. you are referring your dad, through fixtheodds, to betfair, and gaining £10.

However, you can just refer your dad straight away to betfair, and when he signs up with your referrel code... you both get £25!

If anyone is planning on signing up at betfair.. do use my code and we can both enjoy an extra £25 free to play with 64YY44Q7T

Ha! Very cheeky!

Are there any bonuses with that though? On this, I think I got a free bonus on the Betfair side, although it's been a while ago...

knowlton · 1 Jul 2011 at 10:26

digipeep said:
If you are a degenerate like this example, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT STARTING MATCHED BETTING.

+1 Agreed. Gambling is for mugs. Matched betting is for smart people.

Azza · 1 Jul 2011 at 10:33

How often are you getting existing member offers knowlton? Or not so much now the football season is over here.

doodah · 1 Jul 2011 at 10:36

mglover070588 said:
I made £2500 overall.
To which I then went and lost it all on Blackjack, because I was an idiot.

Doing it properly mathematically does work.

Is it a case of just tedious maths? Not highly complex maths?

knowlton · 1 Jul 2011 at 12:48

Azza said:
How often are you getting existing member offers knowlton? Or not so much now the football season is over here.

Reload offers? Not so much now - as you say, since the footie season is over.

There are still plenty of UK bookies with offers - however I've recently been trying my hand at Euro offers, which seems to have a healthy stream of offers. Exactly the same process except the currency (and you have to set up a new Betfair account).

The reload offers that I did receive tended to be for specific, big matches like Chelsea vs Man U. They were great and you could get a matched bet built for you. They made a nice £18-£23 here and there.

knowlton · 1 Jul 2011 at 12:57

xibinim said:
Is it a case of just tedious maths? Not highly complex maths?

Erm, it's a bit of both really.. It's more about the understanding of favourable odds and spending the time to actually find matches with those odds, and having the knowledge to apply the appropriate maths to work out the best range (since there are variants such as stake not returned, returned, rollovers, etc)...

That's one of the problems with doing it manually, as it can take a lot of time hence why I've chosen to do it automatically.