Why Matched Betting Is Great For Football Fans

For many a football fan, myself included, placing a few pre-match bets is all part of the match-day experience. Having a ‘punt’ is a great way to add extra interest to a game, whether you like to back your own team to win, have a stab at the first goalscorer or even try to predict the correct score. Sometimes it may not even be your team that’s playing but you want to have a flutter to add some spice to a televised game.

Whatever matches you like to bet on, it’s great when you win but naturally there is the downside of losing your cash. Matched betting allows you to keep something riding on the game but for a reduced cost, so you can have your cake and eat it. There are stacks of football betting offers among online bookmakers and you can exploit the majority these to work in your favour for a long-term profit.

Paddy Power’s latest offer of a free bet refund if your team is losing at half-time is a prime example of a match betting-friendly promotion. Then there’s 888Sport’s Goals Mean More, bet365’s Bore Draw Refund and Betfred’s Double Delight Hat-Trick Heaven to name a few more. On top of this there are offers that reward your pre-match bet with a free in-play bet. Plus, each high-profile match will produce a myriad of event-specific offers as the bookies clamour for your business around the big game.

By placing an applicable bet with the bookmaker and laying the same selection at a betting exchange, you can qualify for free bet refunds and bonuses. This stage of the process will incur a small qualifying loss which will be a mere fraction of your usual bet. You can then sit back and enjoy the match with a genuine chance of winning a few free bets which can be converted into real cash profits.

How To Make Money From Football Offers

Let’s use the Paddy Power offer as an example and say it applies to Chelsea v Manchester United. The free bet in this offer is relative to your pre-match stake and capped at £25. Manchester United are the outsiders as they are away from home and are therefore more likely to be losing at half time – this is the condition on which you will receive the free bet.

You back Manchester United at Paddy Power with a £25.00 bet at decimal odds of 3.30. You then lay Manchester United for £24.41 at odds of 3.40 at Smarkets – don’t worry about how this stake caclulated, it comes from the matchedbets.com calculator, which does all of the maths for you. Now whatever the outcome of the match, the most you stand to lose is £1.08 – this is your qualifying loss. If Manchester United are losing at half-time, you’ll get a £25 free bet which can be converted into around £20 cash by repeating the process on a different match for a total profit of £18.92.

In the example, if you consider the qualifying loss of £1.08 as a stake and £18.92 as the potential return, it gives theoretical odds of just over 17.50. Compare this to the actual odds of 3.05 for Chelsea to be winning at half-time and it becomes clear that you have placed a value bet. Continuing with this approach on multiple football offers over the course of the season gives you a considerable edge and is known to match bettors as advantage play. You won’t get a free bet every time but you will make money in the long run, while still being able to enjoy the unpredictable nature of the beautiful game.