Matched Betting Walkthrough

Your first matched bet in 12 steps

By the end of this page, you’ll see how easy it is to place matched bets using our software and come out with a guaranteed profit!

You should now have a general understanding of matched betting. Don’t worry if things are still a bit puzzling as this real-life example will fill in the missing pieces!

For this detailed walkthrough we’ll be using a generous Ladbrokes signup offer (£50 free bet). Our lay bets will be placed using the Betfair betting exchange. From this offer you are guaranteed to make a juicy £30-40.

Prefer videos? You can also watch a video of this walkthrough.

Watch the video and then take your time to read through this guide (about 20 minutes) before starting it for yourself.

Let’s go!

1. Find the Ladbrokes signup offer

On Bank of Bets, hover over ‘Offers’ at the top and click ‘Signup Offers’. This is a live table of all the current signup offers you can profit from.

Look for the Ladbrokes logo.

You can click ‘Details’ first to get a quick overview, and this is also how you can Hide or Report any offers. Clicking ‘Discuss’ takes you to the relevant forum thread for an offer, where you can ask for help or see how others have done.

Clicking ‘Start’ gives you a full preview of the offer. When you’re ready to begin click ‘Start Offer’ at the bottom! The offer will move to your Offer Tracker.

Hint: Throughout the offer flow, click the ‘Instructions’ button top-right to show this window again.

2. Register with Ladbrokes and deposit £50

The offer flow starts by directing you to register with Ladbrokes. You must click ‘Get this offer’ to be taken to the special offer page.

You may notice that your browser goes through a redirect page after clicking the link. This stops the bookmakers seeing that you came from Bank of Bets (a precaution since we don’t want them to know we’re matched betting).

Complete the quick registration form. Pick a username different to the one on Bank of Bets, and ideally a separate one for every bookmaker.

Opt-in for notifications to receive future free bets. Remember to enter the promo code F50 when opening a Ladbrokes account, otherwise you won’t get the free bet!

Deposit £50 on Ladbrokes, which you’ll be getting back but is needed to unlock the free bet. You don’t need to enter a promo code again here.

To make things much easier, set Ladbrokes to show decimal odds (fractions are default but confusing!). Click on the small grey cog (top right) to change this setting.

3. Find a Qualifying Bet

To unlock the free bet, you need to place a qualifying bet using the £50.

The next step of the offer flow loads our Oddsmatcher software, which is designed to maximise your profits and save you a LOT of time!

It fetches live back odds from bookmakers (blue squares) and the equivalent lay odds from exchanges (red squares).

Using some hardcore algorithms (to compare the odds), it ranks the best matches for your qualifying bet based on the smallest loss.

For now we want to use Betfair as our exchange. Click the blue ‘Filter’ button and uncheck ‘Smarkets’ then click ‘Apply’.

In my example, I’m going to bet on Chelsea to win in the Leicester v Chelsea game with an acceptable loss of £1.91.

Click the green ‘Start’ button to continue.

4. Confirm your Betfair account and deposit

The next page displays the details for the selected matched bet, and prompts you to open a Betfair account (the exchange to lay your bets).

If you don’t yet have one, click on ‘Open Account’ to register. You may see a Betfair signup offer, which you can come back to later.

Of course, you also need to deposit with Betfair to cover the lay bet. The minimum amount needed for this bet is calculated for you, labelled as the ‘Liability’ at the top of the page.

Hint: Click ‘Back to Previous Step’ if you want to pick another event.

To protect against any changes in odds, we recommend depositing 10% more than this, which is calculated for you in the Deposit box.

In my example above, the liability is £34.41 and I’m going to deposit £38.00.

Click ‘Confirm’ once you’ve made the deposit.

5. Place your Back bet

Go back to Ladbrokes and find the event shown, and the selection (market). Check that the odds on Ladbrokes match those on your offer flow. If the odds have changed then update them on this step.

Click on the odds on Ladbrokes to open up the betting slip. Make sure the stake is £50 then click ‘Place Bet’!

It’s important you place the bet on Ladbrokes before clicking ‘Confirm’ on the offer flow.

6. Place your Lay bet

Now you need to lay that same bet on Betfair, which cancels out the risk.

Click the event link to be taken directly to the market on Betfair (if not simply search for it).

If the lay odds (red box) on Betfair have changed, update them here before doing anything else, because the other figures will also change.

On Betfair, click on the red box containing the lay odds for the bet. This will open the bet slip.

Enter the ‘Backers Stake’ as shown on the offer flow. The ‘Liability’ on the slip will be updated as expected.

In my case, the Backer’s Stake is £50.61 and my liability is confirmed as being £34.41.

Click ‘Place Bet’ and that’s it… bet matched!

7. Wait for Qualifying Bet to settle

After clicking Confirm on the flow, you’ll see a summary of both bets you’ve placed.

Ladbrokes should credit your account with the £50 free bet immediately after placing the qualifying bet. (It’s worth nothing some other bookmakers won’t until it’s settled.)

So you can move onto the next free bet stage straight away, by clicking the ‘Continue to free bet’ button.

If you need the money back first you can wait until the event has finished, and then continue the offer from your Offer Tracker. If your Ladbrokes bet won, click the ‘Back Bet Won’ button. If your Betfair lay bet won, click the ‘Lay Bet Won’ button.

8. Find an event for your Free Bet

We’re simply now going to repeat the same process we followed for the qualifying bet! The Oddsmatcher now shows you the best events to bet on for your free bet. The only difference is they’re now ranked by which will make you the most profit.

You might also notice the odds are a bit higher, and this helps us squeeze as much of the £50 free bet out as possible. Typically you can expect to end up with 70% of the free bet amount as cash, so around £35 for this offer.

Again, let’s stick with Betfair as our exchange for now. Click the blue ‘Filter’ button and uncheck ‘Smarkets’ then click ‘Apply’.

In my example, I’m going to bet on a draw in the Hull v Bournemouth game for a guaranteed profit of £32.56.

Click the green ‘Start’ button to continue.

9. Confirm Betfair deposit

The next page displays the details for the selected matched bet, and prompts you to deposit to cover the calculated liability amount.

If your qualifying bet won on Betfair, you may have some funds which are accounted for here.

In my example above, the liability is £87.44 and I need to deposit £93.

Remember, because we’re matching the bet we’ll be getting this back whatever happens!

Hint: If the liability is too high for you, you could go back and choose an event with lower odds, though your profit will be a little less too.

Click ‘Confirm’ once you’ve made the deposit.

10. Place your Back bet

Go back to Ladbrokes and search for the event shown, and the selection (market).

Check that the odds on Ladbrokes match those on your offer flow. If the odds have changed then update them on this step.

Click on the odds on Ladbrokes to open up the betting slip. Make sure it’s using the £50 free bet! Then click ‘Place Bet’.

Click ‘Confirm’ on the offer flow.

11. Place your Lay bet

Now you need to lay that same bet on Betfair, to cancel out the risk.

Click the event link to be taken directly to the market on Betfair (if not simply search for it).

If the odds on Betfair have changed, update them here before doing anything else, because the other figures will also change.

On Betfair, click on the red box containing the lay odds for the bet. This will open the bet slip.

Enter the ‘Backers Stake’ as shown on the offer flow. The ‘Liability’ on the slip will be updated as expected.

In my case, the Backer’s Stake is £34.29 and my liability is confirmed as being £87.44.

Click ‘Place Bet’ and voila… bet matched!

12. Wait for the bets to settle, and withdraw winnings

After clicking ‘Confirm’ on the flow, you’ll see a summary of both bets you’ve placed.

Sit back, and simply wait for your free bet to settle (it could be a few days). Then go to your Offer Tracker and click ‘Details’ to review your offer and confirm the outcomes of your outstanding bets (check your Ladbrokes and Betfair accounts).

You’re then ready to withdraw your winnings from wherever your money ends up! Clicking ‘Confirm’ will update your Balance Tracker (which has also tracked every transaction throughout the flow).

Whatever the outcome, your overall profit will be the same thanks to your matched betting!

High five! Your Dashboard will have updated to reflect your profit from this offer. Feels good doesn’t it?

In my case, the overall profit from this offer was £30.65.

Rinse and repeat the above for every bookmaker!

The matched betting strategy applies for all the offers we list, and our offer flows will guide you through each one!

However you’ll soon notice not all are ‘Bet A Get Y’ as with Ladbrokes. The next guide will introduce you to key offer flows you’ll come across.

Got a question? See FAQs, contact us or ask here 🙂