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.

Is women’s cricket really niche?

There was literally nothing on the horses that had reasonable odds as well as liquidity above about £2 🤷‍♀️

Horses tend to get bets half an hour or so before the start of the race. Never earlier because non-runners don't get notified till then.

I’m honestly feeling so down about it, which I realise is silly. I just didn’t think it’d be difficult. I probably sound like a right muppet - honestly, I am an intelligent human being! I have two degrees (admittedly not in maths…),

I thought I understood the concept before I started, but now I’m not so sure. The whole thing now baffles me in fact; if you’re betting on both outcomes, and the odds need to be similar, how do you make a profit?! Don’t the bets just cancel each other out? 🙁

You make profit by basically turning the free bets - imaginary money into withdrawable real money

That makes sense, yes. But If I win on my free bet on Coral, I have to pay a similar amount out on my lay bet on Betfair, don’t I? So why is that necessarily a net profit?

If you were always betting on both outcomes with your own money, you'll (nearly) always lose because the odds will (nearly) always be higher to lay than to back.

Matched betting works because you have a matched bet i.e. you do a £10 bet with a bookmaker and they give you another £10 bet in return.

So bet 1, you bet £10 with the bookmaker on an outcome at 2.0. If it wins you get £20 back (£10 stake + £10 winnings), if it loses you've lost £10. You lay the outcome for £9.52 on betfair at 2.10. If the lay bet wins you have £9.52 profit (ignoring commission for simplicity), if it loses you've lost £10.47.

Either you're +£10 at bookmaker and -£10.47 at Befair, or -£10 at bookmaker and +£9.52 at Betfair. So a net -£0.47 or -£0.48. Clearly you lose slightly either way.

The way you make a profit is that now you have a free £10 bet with the bookmaker. Using the same odds, you back something with the £10 free bet at 2.0. You lay £4.76 at 2.1. If the back bet wins, you're up £10 at the bookmaker and down £5.24 at Betfair. If the lay bet wins, you're even at the bookmaker (because it was a free bet) and £4.76 up on Betfair. So either way, you've made £4.76, more than making up for your previous small loss.

I used this calculator:
www.oddsmonkey.com/Tools/Calculator.aspx

Enter Bet Type as "Normal" for your first bet (with real money at bookmaker) and "Free Bet (SNR)" (stake not returned) for the free bet. Remember to put in your Betfair commission percentage into the "Lay Commission" box. This calculator will show you the amount to lay to give you the best outcome.

But If I win on my free bet on Coral, I have to pay a similar amount out on my lay bet on Betfair, don’t I? So why is that necessarily a net profit?

Because if the free bet is £10, you'd only ever lay a fraction of that amount. Realistically you should expect no more than 40% profit on an individual bet, often less. So if the free bet is £10, making £3 or £4 profit is a good outcome.

You don't make big money on an individual bet, the profit comes by doing it lots of times.

I have to disagree with the low figures. If you can take the time and not rush, you can eaaily wait for £8+ pound profit on £10. I usually take £8.50 minimum.
HOWEVER, that requires money in exchange to be able to take higher odds.

That's way too low a profit! You should aim for 80%, so a free £10 should get you an £8 profit. That's why you do longer odds with the free bets - higher profit.

Try it out with the calculator!

Have just started doing this too. As a total newbie to any form of betting or betting exchange I absolutely needed the tutorials on PA. Mostly because I got anxious about doing the wrong thing and mucking up (more.on which below...). I'm sure there are many free tools as well. I'm trying to pick common markets (football, English games, within a few days) but I can see the horses might be better as quicker bet settling and I can back a few random nags to make me look more plausible!

I think a lot of gendered workplace issues transfer over into this sort of thing. I had terrible impostor syndrome at work and always thought I was going to muck up, or things were too good to be true, questioning everything.

I've found myself applying the same unhelpful beliefs during my first forays into this matched betting business, which is very unhelpful and annoying.

But underneath I do know think that anyone who can operate a website should be able to do this, and that includes me and you. I've got a good GCSE in maths dammit, and I know how to operate a spreadsheet.

I apologise if I'm overstepping and am just projecting but I know at least 5 women who have started this sort of thing and said similar. I know men who do it with gay abandon because someone once told them they were great at maths... Grr.

I'd agree @Goawayangryman - I deal with complex data at work, am post grad educated with an A level in Maths. Still couldn't get my head around what laying meant Once the penny dropped though I made a mint so well worth starting!

The lay bet is backing them not to win. So to lose or draw

Join profit accumulator and make sure ypu understand everything before putting bets down. There is a Facebook group too where you will get quick answers to your questions

I did some match betting a couple of years ago but found it tedious. I moved to Casino and made £8k before they all gubbed me 😢

The profit accumulator forum is also handy.

I just did acca with mix of english, Icelandic and US football😂 till not gubbed yay

Very similar story and work situation.... I've just made my first profits from free bets on first couple of signups...

Waiting for it all to go wrong...

Sorry that was to @titchy

Give it time

And keep a spreadsheet showing all deposits/withdrawals/balances. Update the profit once a week making sure nothing is tied up in exchange liability (which shows your exchange balance as lower than it actually is).

Just set myself a spreadsheet up.

I always think I will remember details like this and then... I can't even remember where I've parked my car in the multi storey or any of my account passwords so... Yes, a spreadsheet seems vital. I've even got a pivot and a chart going 😁

And REALLY be proper with the soreadsheet. I was once lax and spent hour looking for 30 quid I forgot to withdraw in one bookie 🙄
I have now
Date/bookie/exchange/sum/bookie ods/excahnge sum/exchange odds/profit/loss/total/details (like which horse and when)

And separate bit with
Date/bookie/deposit/withdrawal