You may have heard of the classic side income method that is Matched Betting before, but is it really a good idea still for 2021?
In this post, we will cover the pros and cons of matched betting and my personal opinions on what will happen in 2021 for this tax-free income stream.
What Has Matched Betting Been Like Up Until Now?
Well, matched bettors have been getting great profits from the site sign up offers and ongoing offers from the bookmakers.
In fact, Paddy Power seems to just keep pumping out the offers left right, and center for new and existing members.
Since the season has restarted due to the Covid pandemic they have obviously been really keen to get punters betting again due to the closure of many high street bookies due to lockdowns etc.
People have been turning to online bookmakers more and more now and many of them are cashing in by trying to lure new members in with these offers.
Now, obviously as a matched better you simply use the free bet to extra cash so you are in a win-win situation.
Take this above bet for example.
Paddy Power is offering a free £5 bet to anyone (existing or new members).
The punter would just take his chance and pick a bet from the hundreds of markets available for this match and take his chance. This is just gambling of course.
The savvy matched bettor would simply pick a close odds market from the bookie and the exchange and lay the “free bet” off so they guarantee a profit whatever the outcome of the match.
So, you can see in this example above whatever the outcome of the match Mr. Savvy Matched Bettor is going to make £3.43 whatever the outcome.
These types of bets do come around now and then. If you are signed up to loads of bookmakers, then you will get them sent to you via the notifications such as a text or email.
So, matched betting has been good up until now yes. Exceptionally good in fact.
But does it last?
Unfortunately not. Eventually, the offers do stop, or you may even find yourself getting “gubbed”. This is the term for when you no longer receive the offers from the bookmakers.
After a while, they know what you are doing. They track and see patterns in peoples betting styles. Whilst this does not mean you are going to be banned from using the bookie it does mean that you will not get any more free bets so basically the hope is you will just gamble and lose.
87% of gamblers lose over the long term. Just remember that.
That is why matched betting should not be considered as gambling. It is not.
You are simply extracting the free offers and positioning yourself, so you make money whatever the outcome.
Sure, you need to familiarise yourself with a betting exchange and a bookmaker and understand the basics of backing and laying but once you get to grips with that you can use this across hundreds of bookmakers to build yourself a nice pot.
But it does not last. You are unlikely to be able to make a living from matched betting due to the limits of the offers and the eventual “gubbing” of accounts.
This is why you need a system if you want to make profits from gambling in the long term.
The Pros of Matched Betting Are:
- Risk Free
- Tax Free
- The initial sign up offers are usually quite simple
- Can start with a small bank and build it up
The Cons of Matched Betting Are:
- The offers eventually run out
- You will get gubbed on some bookmakers accounts
- It can take time if you start with a small bank
- The “existing” offers to members can be quite complex to extract from
For me it really should be considered a good short term income stream.
So, How Do I Make Money From Gambling Long Term?
This really is the holy grail and million-dollar question.
To put it simply you need to have an edge.
An edge is basically where you think or even know that the odds of something on the bookmaker or the exchange is wrong.
If a horse for example is priced at an outsiders chance of 7/1 but you know the yard or even the trainers and they have advised you that the price is long and really it should be at least 5/1 then you have an edge because the market has not caught up with you yet.
But, of course, scenarios like this are few and far between so you will often need a system you are familiar with and one that you can work with.
In football, for example, there are many punters who study form, average goals, data, when goals are scored, etc and they pick their selections based on data.
Many sites offer up this type of data now such as:
When traders or bettors are using these sites to pick their bets they try to take the emotion out of it. Many bettors or traders will even bet against their “supported” team if the stats will back it up. They treat it like a professional business.
Emotion does not come into it. Or very little.
If you have the edge then you need to work with that.
Take the latest 2020 US Presidential Election.
Do you think people had an edge on predicting this?
Well, we don’t want to speculate obviously but there was over HALF A BILLION pounds traded on this just in the UK alone.
You can see here too that this person, (all be it small) has locked in a profit no matter what the outcome. Look at the green returns under each candidate.
But we are talking about sports mainly.
To have an edge means you know of a team selection maybe, an injury that perhaps the bookies have overlooked?
But again, these are rare, and it’s very unusual to get one up on the bookies or betting exchanges when it comes to this type of thing.
The other way you can grasp an edge though is by using a system.
One system that has had proven results is the System 89p which I have on the site here.
I won’t go into too much of the details here but if you are interested you can Check out System89p here!
Here is what a few people have said about it:
“I have grown my starting capital by 40% in 4 months. For anyone with discipline, patience and a decent bank to start with then it is definitely a worthwhile investment based on my experience to date.”
– Andy Carey – Email
“I am going back to ‘System 89p’ where I was making a small profit.”
– Iain Jack – Glasgow
“It is very clearly explained and an excellent introduction.”
– Alan Thompson – Devon
“As a matter of interest, I started using 89p on June 20th (on paper) and after seven days, at £50 per point the system is showing a healthy profit of just over £600. The month was played strictly according to the letter and the system worked. At the end of the month’s trial it was showing a profit of £2,519.00 – This is quite remarkable. The creator of this system was no mean scholar: it is obviously based on a complex system of mathematical probability, but he must have put in months feeding sufficient data into a computer to get it down to the simple form in which it exists… The best bit is that those b……s at H.M. Revenue & Customs can never get their grubby little claws on a penny of it!”
– D.A Wilcocks – Norfolk
“Very profitable.”
– John C Bateman – Worcester
“I am doing well with 89p system, I am a few grand in profit at the moment.”
– Paul Tozer – Somerset
Like I mention in this post, you either need to consistently find an edge or have a well-developed system to see decent long term results with betting or sports trading of any kind.
