To ask a stupid question about matched betting?

[ConstantlyBewildered]

I am trying hard to wrap my little head around it all because I need to make a bit of cash.

I just don’t understand why there are 6 columns on Betfair! I realise this probably makes me a muppet.

For example, say the odds for England to win a football match are 1.95 on Coral. That’s the back bet, yes? So I understand that I then need a lay bet from an exchange such as Betfair. I think I must be fundamentally misunderstanding what a lay bet is though. I thought it was just the opposite - so in this case backing England to lose ? But isn’t that the same as backing Sweden to win?! But on Betfair there are these 6 columns, and I am so, so confused.

Please be gentle with my poor addled brain.

Haven’t done this for ages but no you are not backing them to lose. On coral you hey they will win. On the exchange you lay them, meaning won’t win. Ie lose or draw or otherwise not win. The 6 columns from memory will be 3 to back, 3 to lay in different colours and the various odds available with the liquidity under each.

• on coral you BET they will win. Stupid phone.

You need oddsmonkey or profit accumulator, one of those sites that will talk you through it with screenshots, it’s well worth the time outlay at first and you’ll get your head round it in no time.

Don't worry about the other columns! I never have.

Laying a bet is the opposite of backing it, and covers any outcome that isn't the one you backed.

England vs France - possible outcomes

Back England win vs Lay England win (which covers lose OR draw)
Back Draw vs Lay Draw (which covers a win by either side)

It's a bit more obvious with horses - if you lay a horse, it means that you take the cash if any other horse wins than the one you backed.

Are you using Profit Accumulator?

I was just about to say as above. I used profit accumulator and it guides you through step by step

With two outcomes laying A to win is the same as backing B to win, but there are three outcomes in football - A wins, B wins, draw. Hence lay (pink) England to win at exchange. Columns show how much liquidity available. So if your back bet needs to be £15 and there is only £12 available, the remaining £3 will be laid at fractionally poorer odds which show in the second column.

Thank you.

I’m on Team Profit. I swear I’ve watched the videos and everything and thought I understood it all. But when I came to do it, my mind started to give way.

I know there is the possibility of a draw, but in a sense you are sort of backing them to lose if you’re betting they’ll do otherwise than win? Is it the existence of the draw possibility that makes the lay bet on England not the same odds as a back bet on the other team?

Again, apologies for my density.

Thank you @titchy
Slight cross post. But I must admit I don’t understand what you said about liquidity.

Following with interest. I feel like the only idiot in the world who lost money doing matched betting.

I think it's easier to think of it as 3 columns, each with two boxes. Each column has a box to back and a box to lay. For a football match, it always goes from left to right: home team, draw, away team. Just remember that on Betfair, you will only be using the pink boxes - lay is always pink.

If you don't want to spend money on a premium service just yet, get on Team Profit, which is free, and read all their guides. It's easy really - honest (or at least, the basic stuff is easy).

Liquidity - the exchange, unlike a traditional bookies, is made up of people like you and me. There's only so much money we put on a particular lay bet at particular odds at an exchange.

Similar to a bookie, odds can change throughout the day and decent odds obviously get taken first.

If you go for big events and use PA or one of the other organisations to find lays and calculate them you don't need to worry.

Thank you 😊
Thing is, I have watched all the Team Profit videos 😂

Have a look at Orofit Accumulator. It's absolutely fool proof. Very simply explained. Sounds like maybe Team profit isn't

To be honest, I had made about a thousand pounds before I properly understood what laying was.

Just kept following the instructions - keep it up, you're doing fine!

Thanks everyone 👍
I think the first step is done - ie I’ve now got a free £20 bet to use on Coral - just don’t know what to put it on!

Profit accumulator has odds matching where it shows you beat bets. I assume team profit would have the same? I prefer horses because it goes fast and frees up exchange money quickly

PA or OM should tell you the best way to place your free bet. You want a bet that looks like something a normal punter would do, close lay and back odds, and long enough back odds to generate decent profit. You should aim for £18 from a free £20.

Thank you so much for helping.

I’m genuinely starting to think this whole thing is beyond me. I need to place my free bet (£20) and there isn’t a lot that meets the criteria tbh. I’ve found a cricket match - India v Australia women, happening on Friday.

Is anyone able to verify that I am getting this right?! Odds on India to win on Coral are 3.75, and lay bet looks like 4.1 on Betfair. This seems ok?

On the Team Profit calculator, it comes out as net profit £13.21, but liability is £41.79. As my liability is £41.79, does that mean I need to have that much in my Betfair account?

I might be better going on the game, tbf 🤷‍♀️

Yes, you need to cover the liability.
The profit is low because you are doing lower odds now. What's your betfair availability?

Also, I orefer smarkets for most (no commission but Betfair does sometimes have better odds)

I can see this possible with enough liquidit

Thank you.
I could put more money into Betfair- probably go up to £50 this week. I’m just being a bit pathetic about it all I think - I don’t have faith in my understanding of it all!

I am really concerned about how Team profit explains things after your posts🙈

To be honest I was totally beicking the first offers because I didn't believe it wasn't a scam. So don't worry about being bit "eh?" about it all.

Sometimes you have to take bit hit on profit if you don't have more money to put into your exchange, that's fine, we all started somewhere with not so much!

I think you should look at different website as well just to see if their way if explaining things will be better for you.

Have a look at PA Guides - a general guide here Profit accumulator

They have an intro to lay betting here

And betting exchanges here

I do think you need to understand more about what's going on particularly with fast moving markets like horses

That's quite a niche market to bet on - you'll lose your account. Go for horses. Or the womens final on Sunday - an under/over market should have decent odds. And go for longer odds - 7 or 8 for more profit. But yes you'd have to increase your bet fair liability.

I have to say that I am proper lucky because I bet on everything including Japanese football league and have not been dubbed anywhere (knock on wood).