Using Free Bets

It's a good idea to try and generate a profit from the free bets that bookies offer. As long as you follow the process below it's perfectly possible that your free bet will generate a profit.

The process is called matched betting and basically means that you are betting on both outcomes of a bet that only has two outcomes, meaning you don't lose.

Matched betting means that both your bets cancel each other out, leaving you with neither a profit nor a loss on either - just the free bet that you received when joined the bookie.

Using Free Bets

When placing a bet with an online bookie, you place what is know as a stake (the amount you bet) on the outcome of a particular event at certain betting odds.

Lets take the example of using free bets on football. If you were to place £10 on a football team to win a match at 4/1 and they won, you would win £40 (plus your original stake of £10).

However, if they lost the match, the online bookie would keep your £10 and you'd get nothing.

Now imagine that YOU are the online bookie offering the same odds to someone for the same outcome, if the bet loses you gain their £10, but if the bet wins you have to pay out £40.

This is known as 'laying' and is something which can be done at online betting exchanges. Some of the best exchanges you can join are probably either Betfair Exchange or BetDAQ.

Lets say you were to place a bet with an online bookie and then lay the same bet at the same odds at an online betting exchange. No matter what the outcome of the match was, you wouldn't lose any money due to the two bets cancelling each other out.

Qualifying Bets

(The bet you must make to claim your free bet)

Team A wins:
You win £40.
Your 'lay' bet loses (with the betting exchange) meaning you lose £40.
Therefore you're left with the following £40 (winnings) - £40 ('lay' bet) = £0.

Team A Doesn't Win:
You lose £10 (your stake).
Your 'lay' bet wins (with the betting exchange) meaning you win £10.
Therefore you would be left with the following £10 ('lay' bet) - £10 (stake) = £0.

So by placing your bet and 'lay' you neither win nor lose any money.

Now lets look at how to extract some profit from free bets. For the example below we've used the Ladbrokes free bet offer and Betfair Exchange's free bet offer for new customers.

Placing a Free Bet

(How to use your free bet to extract a profit)

Team A wins:
You use the free bet of £10 at 4/1.
You win £50 without risking your own money on the stake.
Your 'lay' bet loses (with the betting exchange) meaning you lose £40.
Therefore you would be left with the following £50 - £40 ('lay' bet) = £10 profit.

Team A Doesn't Win:
You use the free bet of £10 at 4/1.
You lose the £10 free bet.
Your 'lay' bet wins (with the betting exchange) meaning you win £10.
Therefore you would be left with the following £10 ('lay' bet) = £10 profit.

Using the above technique it's perfectly possible to place a qualifying bet with no risk whatsoever, in return you'll receive a free bet which, if used as in the second example, will guarantee a £10 profit!

The great thing about matched betting and free bets is that it can be done as many times as you want for each of the bookies offers.

Step by Step Guide

Follow our simple step-by-step guide below on how to succeed with the matched betting process and you'll be turning online bookies free bets into profit before you know it!

Step 1 - Decide which free bet offers you want to take advantage of.

Step 2 - Open an account and find out what type of free bet it is and the conditions of using it. Some online bookies have stake returned free bets and other online bookies require that the free bet can only be placed on a particular sport or category of event.

Step 3 - Open a new betting exchange account, click on either of these two links to sign-up for a free account with either Betfair Exchange or BetDAQ. Both usually have free bet offers for new accounts - just check their promotions pages for their latest deals.

Step 4 - Now you'll need to find a good match to use for the qualifying bet. To produce the lowest loss in the qualifying bet aim to place a back bet that has the closest odds to that of your chosen betting exchange.

Step 5 - Deposit money at your online bookie and also at your betting exchange.

Step 6 - Once you have money in both accounts you'll now place the two bets. It's best to take your time with this part of the process so that you reduce the risk of making a costly mistake.

First place the bet at the online bookie you got your free bet with. Next lay the odds at the betting exchange for the exact same bet. Both the bet and the 'lay' bets have now been placed.

Step 7 - Now repeat the process discussed earlier using free bet to extract your profit! Once you've mastered the technique detailed above, you'll be able ton repeat the process to extract profit from other online bookies free bet offers!