In 2017, matched betting became my full-time hobby. I used it as a lucrative sideline to bolster the travel pot my wife, Hannah, and I were building. But after years of success and tens of thousands of pounds in profit, I took a break from matched betting in 2022 when we left the UK to travel the world permanently.
As any seasoned matched bettor will know, the amount you can expect to generate starts to taper off after a year or two. Betting sites prevent you from receiving free bets or outright ban you from their platforms. This, plus the difficulty gaining access from outside the UK, were my main reasons for stopping.
The varying time difference, long travel days, and unpredictable ‘work’ times made managing numerous matched betting accounts just not feasible. But whilst home in the UK for 3 months, and after a 3-year break from the action, I checked into the matched betting world to see what was going on. Here’s how it went.
Getting Back in the Game
When I stopped matched betting in 2022, I belonged to every betting website in the UK, literally hundreds of them. I had been gubbed (stopped from receiving free bets) from around 75% of them, but still had a couple of accounts that would reward me for placing bets.
The great thing about the insane UK betting scene is that new bookies are opening up all the time. There was a host of fresh bookmakers offering free bets for signing up. I decided to take it slow, doing one sign-up at a time. I loaded up the exchange and a spare bank account with a £200 bankroll.
Spotting the Differences
The first thing I noticed was that a free bet wasn’t as straightforward as it once was. Whereas previously, most sign-up deals would offer a free bet that could be used on anything, a lot of bookies now, perhaps wise to the matched betting system, have started to make things a little trickier.
The free bet is now often divided into as many as 4 different parts – 4 x £5 free bets. The trickiness doesn’t stop there! Each of these bets must now be used for different things. For example, one on a 4-fold accumulator, one on a bet builder, one on horse racing, and one on football.
While this can make it less profitable, there is still cash to be made. The horse racing and football bets are easy to lay off, and even accas can be cash cows. However, accas take a little more effort. You will need to belong to a platform like Outplayed to help with the maths as the legs of the acca conclude.
Bet builders, on the other hand, are difficult to lay off. But I found that by simply gambling your free bet on reasonable odds around 4.0, you can expect to occasionally win one, banking a sweet windfall. I won 3 of my 7 bet builders during my return to matched betting, returning a tidy profit.
Terms and Conditions
Seasoned match bettors know to read the terms and conditions of any sign-up offer or promotion carefully. Nothing has changed in this regard. However, I did notice a few new betting sites are hot on restricting the number of free bets allowed within their network.
Although they may look completely different, swathes of online bookies are owned by the same company. I never recall this being an issue when I started matched betting. Essentially, this means that although you may see 10 bookies with sign-up offers, you will only be able to benefit from 1.
I learned this the hard way, well, kind of, by signing up for a website, placing the qualifying bet, and making a 65p loss in doing so. Awaiting my free bet to justify the loss and net a profit, it never arrived. I belonged to another website within their network and was ineligible for any promotions.
While this was annoying, it sharpened my gaze to other similar websites that operate within a close-knit organization. Always remember to read the terms and conditions carefully. Here are my ten important tips all matched bettors should follow.
Steady Profits
With a dozen new bookies available to me and several of my old accounts still active, I produced decent profits. My return to matched betting tied in nicely with the Cheltenham Festival, which is always a bonanza for betting activity.
Another bonus was that a couple of the big websites that had gubbed me had deleted my profile. This allowed me to rejoin them and claim the hefty sign-up bonuses again. I did this tentatively as I feared they would catch me halfway through a promotion and seize any funds. Thankfully, this didn’t happen.
I played a few of the free games too, like picking 6 winners from selected horse races and predicting football results. Though these games didn’t directly win me money, they did get me free spins, and I spun these into cash. Never overlook the free spins, they add up!
Going Solo
Having done matched betting for almost 8 years, I consider myself an advanced bettor. However, there were times when I thought about rejoining Outplayed. The site is dedicated to matched betting and, as well as teaching you exactly how to do it, their Odds Matching software is the best around.
I am pretty handy at finding free bets myself, and I simply use a free online matched betting calculator to do the maths. However, if you are serious about getting into matched betting and making thousands of pounds in tax-free, risk-free, legal cash, then a platform like Outplayed is a must.
If I had been back in the UK for longer, I would have had no hesitation in rejoining. They do all the legwork for you and provide a network of help and support to guide you to financial success through matched betting.
Final Figures
I have no qualms talking about the sums of money I have made from matched betting in the past. I’m in the £20k club and proud to be there. On my return to the matched betting scene, I took it slowly and worked my way steadily through sign-up offers and promotions, usually doing 3-5 a week.
Over the space of 2 months or so, I added around £350 to my matched betting tally. It’s not a life-changing sum of money, but it paid for a few meals and days out while we were home, and it only took me a few hours every week to earn it. I was very happy with this amount after 3 years away.
I will certainly check back in with the matched betting world whenever I am back in the UK. New bookies are always keen to sign people up, and I am yet to be gubbed of any of the new ones I joined during my recent spell back at it.
Final Thoughts on Matched Betting
Matched betting was a game-changer for me. Discovering how to make cash appear from nowhere is the dream, right? The cash it brings in is probably not enough to live on, but it certainly goes a massive way to taking the edge off bills or topping up savings pots and travel funds.
I can’t imagine my life without it and highly recommend matched betting to anyone who will listen. If you are interested in becoming a matched bettor, head over to our dedicated Matched Betting Page, where you will find a host of information to help you get started.
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