No-Risk Matched Betting

One of the things that every bettor is afraid of when it comes to wagering their money in sports is the risk. No matter what you do, the risk is always there. Even if you are equipped with the knowledge or even have "insider information," Luckily, there are punters who found a way to drop the risk through matched betting.

Here are the things you should understand about no-risk matched betting. This includes a guide on making this bet and the risks associated with it.

Matched Betting Explained

No-risk matched betting is a way of wagering for sports where you guarantee yourself a profit no matter what the outcome may be. This is a method of betting to win that can grant you a high payout as betting to risk methods.

Matched betting is done by strategically using bonuses and free bets from sportsbooks to cover all sides of the game, hence the term - "matched" betting, since you are matching whatever bet you do with another bet using free credits you gained from bonuses and promotions. If you calculate the sports betting payout of this type of wager, you can see a significant return to your wagers given its incredibly low risk.

Is this legal? It is. Why do the bookies allow this? In a way, they have no way of stopping people from making matched bets. Another good thing about this is that you do not need to know anything about sports nor be interested in the game: this strategy is all about the money. Unlike regular sports wagers that are hard to determine whether they will win or not, this is as close to a guaranteed bet as you can get.

With the way match betting is getting you consistent returns, it makes sportsbooks more like a job than a recreational activity for most bettors. There are still risks where your income can be cut off if you are not careful.

No-Risk Matched Betting Parts

In order to pull off a successful matched betting strategy, you have to understand two of the most fundamental concepts and their differences - the two parts of matched betting, the back bet and the lay bet.

Back Bet

A back bet is a bet for something to happen. When you make a back bet, you are essentially saying that you are putting your money for that specific event to happen. An example of a back bet is betting that a certain team to win. Betting on a horse is making a back bet since you are placing your money on the idea that an outcome will happen - the horse winning or for an NFL wager to come true.

The basics of a back bet are the following:

• If your wagered outcome happens you win money based on the odds you bet on. This is called your potential return.
• If your wagered outcome does not happen since the team you backed lost or the game ended with a draw,  you lose the amount you wagered, and it becomes part of your liability.

You can place back bets on bookmakers like , , and , among others. The key to being able to make matched back bets is to use the "free bets" bookmakers are offering. This is the most common way of doing matched betting, as it also follows the most common way of betting - by predicting who will win the game.

Lay Bet

A lay bet is the total opposite of a back bet. In a lay bet, you place your money for something not to happen. Betting specifically that a team, would not win the batch is laying the bet. Although betting that the other team would win is essentially the same as saying that the other would not, lay bets are all about an outcome NOT happening - whether it's the Giants losing in a Super League match or the Knicks missing 5 points to win against the Cavaliers.

The following are the basics of lay betting:

• Unlike back bets, lay bets are done through a betting exchange, such as . If you want to lay, you are then matched against users who are looking to place back bets.
• The players making the back bets are acting as the traditional bettors here, while those who make lay bets are playing the role of the bookmaker/
• The betting exchange makes money not by collecting or facilitating the bets, but by charging commissions for each bet. The bookmaking part of the job is left for the lay bettors.
• If the wagered outcome happens, the lay bettors lose and they have to pay winnings to the back bettors.
• If the wagered outcome did not happen, the lay bettors win and they take the money from the back bettors who lost their bets.

How to Make Matched Bets

Here are some of the top tips on how you can make matched bets with no risk. Take notes!

Look For Sportsbook Bonuses

The key to making matched bets is to find the right sportsbook that offers freebies and bonuses that you can use to pull this "trick" off. Now, keep in mind that while almost all online sportsbooks offer bonuses, not every bonus is the same. Some have a small minimum deposit required to give out a bonus, while others would require you to dish out thousands of dollars before you can get any freebie (which are oftentimes thousands of dollars worth, too, to be fair).

Now, which bookies offer free bets and bonuses upon signing up? There are a lot, but you can begin by creating a . Another reputable sportsbook that is often running a promotion is William Hill. You can create a William Hill account if you see that their bonus offer works better for you.

While you can still do matched betting even without the bonuses, the entire point of why it is a good betting strategy is that it takes advantage of free credits that a lot of people either gravely misuse or just straight up ignore.

Find Qualifying Bets

Once you get your sportsbook account and secure your free bets or free credits, the next thing is to make a qualifying bet. Most of the time, free bets come with betting conditions that restrict how you use it, when you can use it, and when you can cash out any winnings from it. These conditions differ from one sportsbook to another, so make sure that you have read the fine line of your free credits first before deep diving into anything.

Usually, the betting requirements would have you bet on any sport. There may be certain odds that you can only bet on to qualify - usually, you'd have to wager for odds of 1.5 to 4.0. The fastest way to do this is to bet on the most popular games. Remember: qualifying bets should always be placed at low odds.

One thing you should also remember is to try to keep the odds of your back bet and your lay bet as close as possible. By doing this, you can claim your free bets by only potentially losing as little money as possible.

To help you get a better idea of how much you have to wager for a matched bet, take a look at this , where you can get a calculation for a qualifying bet, a free bet, and a no-risk bet.

Claim and Utilize Your Bonus

After you place your qualifying bet, you can now claim your free bet or your bonus. You may lose a few pence on the process, but the point is to start this flow of claiming a bonus and making a matched bet with it.

Take this example into consideration: say a game between Manchester United and Arsenal. Let's say that you'll go to for your back bet and Betfair for your lay bet.

Going to William Hill, you may back Manchester with an odds of 2.15. Now, you make a lay bet on the pick for Betfair, with an odds of 2.14. Using an odds calculator, the difference of 0.01 in the odds would give a loss of $0.23. This is with a back bet of $10 and a lay bet of $11.73.

Now, let's say that Manchester did win. You then win your back bet with Wiliam Hill with a profit of $11.50, while losing $11.73 on Betfair. Now, after that qualifying bet, you get a bonus to your Willaim Hill account! This is only a theoretical scenario, but the process is fairly the same once you get to do it yourself.

After you claim your bonus, the goal is not to repeat the entire process over and over.

Risks of Matched Betting

Although it can be called "no-risk" matched betting, the truth is that doing matched betting comes with a little risk, too. What are these risks, and how do you mitigate them? Here are the things you need to know.

The risk that comes with matched betting is not about the risk of losing a bet. When matched betting is advertised as "no risk," it does not come with hidden deals that will surprise you as you go. The risk, however, comes with the bookies possibly limiting your betting activities. At the end of the day, bookies need to protect their revenue stream and make money.

You may find it hard to believe, but the truth is that bookies hate sharp bettors. In general, they hate anyone who always wins and makes a profit on their bets. However, what the sportsbook loves are squares or those people who lack any real strategy in betting and thus lose more than they do win.

Now, although doing no-risk matched betting does not make you a square not a sharp in any way (since, technically, you do not bet based on analysis of the odds and factors), the sportsbook would still see that you make so much profit in your account. They would then restrict your account, IN sports betting lingo, this is called grubbing.

To avoid being tagged and eventually getting grubbed, some recommend that you place low stakes on some accumulators here and there from time to time, simulating a "gambler behavior" so the sportsbook would not think you only make so much money out of a platform.

Reducing Risks

With a fair understanding of what sports matched betting is, its basics, and some of the caveats that you should be aware of, you might be asking: how, then, do you reduce the risks for matched betting? How do you avoid getting restricted by the sportsbooks? Here are some tips.

Consider Mug Bets

What are mug bets? It is a type of bet that is essentially the same as a matched bet but without the need to rely on free bets and credits. Thus, you would still need to wager a back bet and a lay bet back-to-back, but you would use your actual money all the time.

Mugs bets are wagers you place on low odds and with low stakes. This could be an underdog moneyline bet with incredibly low chances of winning. . The aim of these bets is not to win or make money but to mimic a natural gambler routine so as to avoid getting flagged by your chosen sportsbook.

Take note that you are looking for bets that will make you look profitable to a bookmaker. If the underdog team seems to have a good chance of beating the opposing team, take the favorite bet. Bookmakers prefer the favorites to win since the payout for them is much lesser than the underdogs. It is a good idea to back a favorite if their odds are 1.30 or lesser.

Sign Up for Other Sportsbook

What could be the best way to avoid getting flagged by a sportsbook and having your account restricted? Try a different sports betting site. As the saying goes, do not put all your eggs in one basket. Remember that not all sportsbooks work the same and have the same policy when it comes to freebies and bonuses. Also, in order to avoid getting flagged for your matched betting activity, dispersing it amongst several bookies would help as it would then appear to each individual sportsbook that you are only making a few bets here and there.

Bet Round Numbers

Avoid betting the minimum qualifying bet all the time, or making odd-numbered bets. The point is that odds numbers may trigger attention towards some US sportsbooks. As such, instead of staking an amount like $27.50, it might be a better idea to round it to the nearest dollar or at least even to the nearest $5, so it won't stand out with sportsbooks.

FAQ

Gambling is mostly about risk, but with no-risk matched betting, you can technically wager without the need to face the risks of traditional gambling and thus, without being an actual gambler at all.