Bonus Abuse: How Gamblers Use “Matched Betting” To Guarantee Profits
Matched betting is a technique that allows people to profit from free bet promotions offered by betting companies. By leveraging these promotions and placing bets in a strategic way, bettors can guarantee a profit regardless of the outcome of the event.
Here’s a breakdown of how matched betting works and an example to show how it guarantees profit.
How Matched Betting Works
- Find a Free Bet Offer: Bookmakers often offer free bets as a way to attract new customers. For example, “Bet $10, Get a $30 Free Bet.”
- Place Two Opposing Bets: Matched betting involves placing two bets:
- A back bet (betting on an outcome to happen) with the bookmaker offering the promotion.
- A lay bet (betting on the outcome not to happen) with a betting exchange (like Betfair Exchange).
This ensures that no matter what happens, you win one bet and lose the other.
- Qualifying Bet: To unlock the free bet, you may need to place an initial “qualifying” bet with your own money. The purpose here is to trigger the free bet. By backing and laying the same outcome, you minimize the potential loss on this initial bet.
- Using the Free Bet: Once the free bet is available, you repeat the process: place the free bet with the bookmaker and lay the same outcome at the betting exchange. Since the free bet is at no cost to you, the outcome is guaranteed profit.
Example of Matched Betting
Imagine a bookmaker offers a promotion: “Bet $10, Get a $30 Free Bet.”
- Step 1: Place a Qualifying Bet
- Let’s say you place a $10 back bet on Team A to win with the bookmaker at odds of 2.0 (even odds).
- You then place a lay bet on Team A not to win at a betting exchange at similar odds of 2.0.
- This qualifying bet may cost you a small amount (typically a few cents or a dollar), which is an acceptable loss to unlock the $30 free bet.
- Step 2: Use the Free Bet
- You now have a $30 free bet from the bookmaker.
- Place the $30 free bet on Team B to win at odds of 3.0 with the bookmaker.
- Simultaneously, place a lay bet at the exchange on Team B not to win at similar odds.
- Step 3: Calculate the Guaranteed Profit
- Because the $30 free bet is essentially free, your only investment was the small loss from the qualifying bet.
- By strategically setting your lay bet, you’ll cover all possible outcomes so that you win one of the two bets (either the back bet or the lay bet), resulting in a guaranteed profit from the free bet amount minus any exchange fees.
Why It Works and Guarantees Profit
In matched betting, the key is to use the free bet amount to your advantage, leveraging it across all possible outcomes. Since you’re covering both the win and lose scenarios through the back and lay bets, you essentially “hedge” the result. By repeating this process, matched bettors consistently make small profits with minimal risk, which adds up over time.
Matched Betting: Bonus Abuse, Or Legal?
Matched betting is technically legal and often operates within the terms and conditions of bookmaker promotions. However, some betting companies consider it a form of “bonus abuse” or “promotion abuse” because it takes advantage of promotional offers in ways they didn’t fully anticipate, potentially impacting their bottom line.
Why Some Bookmakers See Matched Betting as Bonus Abuse
- Non-Recreational Activity: Promotions are designed to attract recreational bettors who might continue betting and eventually lose money. Matched bettors, on the other hand, typically aren’t interested in betting for recreation but use calculated strategies to consistently extract profit without taking risks.
- Not Aligned with Bookmaker Intentions: Bookmakers offer free bets and other promotions to attract new customers and encourage ongoing betting activity. Matched betting “short-circuits” this process, leading to users who only use the bonuses and leave.
- Limits and Restrictions: Many betting companies now impose restrictions on accounts that they suspect are engaging in matched betting, such as:
- Limiting or “gubbing” accounts, which restricts the bettor’s ability to place promotional or high-stakes bets.
- Excluding accounts from future bonuses or free bets if matched betting is detected.
- Strict Terms and Conditions: Some bookmakers explicitly state that offers are for recreational use only and that they reserve the right to limit or exclude bettors suspected of abusing promotions. In this context, they may categorize matched betting as bonus abuse even though it doesn’t break laws.
How Matched Bettors Approach It
Most matched bettors work within the terms and conditions of promotions and don’t consider their activity abusive, seeing it instead as a legitimate, strategic use of promotions. However, given that bookmakers may restrict accounts or limit access to promotions, many bettors adopt cautious methods, such as:
- Using multiple accounts across different bookmakers.
- Avoiding high-risk patterns that bookmakers can easily detect.
Legal and Ethical Considerations
While matched betting isn’t illegal in most places, it occupies a grey area in terms of ethics and is often discouraged by bookmakers. Betting companies may even share information with each other on suspected bonus abusers to prevent what they view as exploitation of promotions.