It is still possible to do matched betting without free bets. You’ll find many ways to make money from bookmakers aside from free bets or bonuses.
After completing the signup offers you can move on to reload offers. These daily offers will continue to hit your inbox. Let’s run through the main reloads:
Bet X Get Y offers: These are the most simple offers. For example, bet £10 to earn a £5 free bet. Your bread and butter.
Low-risk casino reloads: Back and lay a sports matched bet to get a casino bonus. You’d typically take a minimal qualifying loss for a chance at a big casino win.
Dutching: Placing bets at different bookmakers to cover all outcomes. Dutch betting opportunities are often arbs. Another string to your matched betting bow.
Reload offers tips
The multitude of reload offers can appear confusing at first glance. How should you approach these reload offers?
Organisation skills
Make a list of your most important daily offers and work through them one by one.
If you lack time, then prioritise the offers according to your goals. Try the highest EV offers first, or the lowest risk.
Flexibility
Some offers can seem not worth your time. Double-check the terms before deciding whether to do an offer.
Use a matched betting service
OddsMonkey or Profit Accumulator have tools to help maximise your profits.
These tools can make offers quick and easy to complete.
Also, use the advanced tools for extra place offers, each way betting, dutching and more.
Extra matched betting strategies
Let’s look at advanced profit-making tactics.
Arbitrage betting
Arbitrage betting is betting on high odds with a bookie, then laying at lower odds on a betting exchange.
Try to avoid arbing on your unrestriced matched betting accounts. Arbing will often lead to accounts restrictions.
Arbing is usually done with gubbed accounts, which don’t receive betting offers anyway. Use an oddsmatcher tool at a matched betting service. Look for a 100% or higher rating for an arbitrage opportunity.
Price Boosts and enhanced odds
Price boosts are always on offer and are often arbs. The bookmaker is actively Bookies are always offering new price boosts, which ae often arbs. This is different to arbing when the bookie doesn’t intentionally offer the out of line odds.
It’s important to ensure that a price boost is good value. The back odds need to be higher than the lay odds, then we can lock in a profit.
Extra Places
Extra places can be a great method for matched betting with no free bets involved.
A bookmaker will offer to pay an extra place (or extra places) on each-way bets.
Place an each-way bet at the bookie, then lay at the exchange. You’re hoping that your selection finishes in the extra place. If you don’t hit the extra place, you’ll take a small qualifying loss. Clearly, the profit potential can be massive when extra places do trigger.
Look out for extra places on horse racing and golf.
Casino and gaming offers
Casino offers are generally not risk-free.
A typical casino promotion would be: Bet X to get Y bonus or free spins.
With casino offers you’re relying on the maths of positive expected value to aim for long term profit. There will be ups and downs along the way, the key is to look at your outcomes over 1,000+ offers.
The majority of casino offers fall under the ‘advantage play’ category – a topic discussed below.
Advantage play
As matched betting has gone mainstream, matched bettors are finding fewer risk-free opportunities. So the trend is toward advantage play betting.
Advantage play is when you have a mathematical advantage over a bookmaker. This might be a casino offer where you’re likely to make a profit across 1,000 or more bets. Or a price boosts at odds of 6.0 when the true odds is 4.7.
Final thoughts
We can still make money from bookmakers without free bets. Try reload offers, arbing, price boosts, extra places, and advantage play betting.