A Simple Guide To Making Money From Sports Betting
Table of Contents
What if you could turn sports betting into a steady source of income with proven profitable strategies?
Believe it or not, these strategies do exist. Over the years, I’ve used simple, low-risk methods that I will teach you in this article to earn over £50,000 in profit. These strategies helped me pay for a house deposit, fund holidays, and even buy gifts for my family. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the exact steps to start making money from sports betting, which work for even complete beginners!
Tax Free ✔
Simple To Learn ✔
Low Risk ✔
What is matched betting?
First off let’s take a look at matched betting!
“Matched betting is a clever, risk-free way to profit from sports betting by taking advantage of bookmaker promotions. By using free bet offers and betting exchanges, you can cover all possible outcomes of a sporting event—ensuring a guaranteed profit, no matter the result.”
Here’s how it works in simple terms:
- Place a Back Bet: This is your traditional bet, where you bet on a specific outcome (e.g., Team A to win).
- Place a Lay Bet: Using a betting exchange, you bet against the same outcome (e.g., Team A not to win).
By carefully balancing these bets, you eliminate risk and lock in a profit. Let’s break it down with an example to make it crystal clear.
Matched Betting Example?
Matched betting involves using bookmaker free bet offers, combined with betting exchanges. This methods allows you to guarantee that a profit is made no matter the outcome of a sporting event.
We can do this by covering all outcomes of an event.
(Above is a video example going through the process of 4 matched betting examples)
The easiest way to explain this is with an example.
1. Free Bet Offer:
The sign up offer is bet £50 at odds over 1.5 and get £20 free.
I open my Pokerstars account and look to make a bet of £50.
2. Placing The Bet:
For this initial bet I am looking to find a close odds match between Pokerstars and the betting exchange that I use Matchbook.
I find a close match in odds. In a game between Wolves and Norwich City.
The odds of Wolves to win with Pokerstars are 1.62, this is above 1.5 so it qualifies for this offer.
I place a bet of £50 to return £80.77 , which should Wolves win pays out winnings of £30.77.
3.Placing the Lay Bet:
Then I go over to Matchbook to place a lay bet.
A lay bet is when you effectively take on the role of a bookmaker.
With this lay bet I am saying that should Wolves win I will pay out £32.03 however should Wolves fail to win then a profit of £49 would be made.
Lay bets are options only available with a betting exchange.
If you don’t have a betting exchange account.
My recommendation is Matchbook (They are currently offering a £50 free bet through this link)
4.Possible Outcomes:
Lets look at the three possible outcomes of the game.
1. Wolves win – £30.77 is won with Betstars, £32.03 is lost with Matchbook
A total loss of -£1.26 is made.
2/3 Wolves draw or lose – £50.00 is lost with Betstars, £49.00 is won from Matchbook
A total loss of -£1.00 is made
The £20 free bet will be credited from Betstars no matter the outcome of the game.
Using a Free Bet Example
The Wolves vs Norwich match ended up being a draw.
£49.00 was won in Matchbook and £50.00 was lost in Betstars.
The £20 free bet was credited straight after the game.
Now we go through the same process as before and look for a close odds match between Betstars and Matchbook.
However due to this being a free bet I look at higher odds in order to make as much profit as possible from the free bet.
I find a close odds match between Betstars and Matchbook at high odds.
Atletico Madrid were taking on FC Copenhagen in the Europa League that night.
FC Copenhagen were priced 16.00 with Betstars and 17.00 with Matchbook.
Free Bet Process
Backed FC Copenhagen for £20 to win £300 with free bet.
I placed my lay bet on Matchbook risking £280 to win £17.50
Free Bet Profit
Lets look at the three possible outcomes for this game.
FC Kopenhagen win – £300 is won with Betstars, £280 is lost on Matchbook.
A total of £20 profit is made.
Atletico Madrid win or the match is a draw – £17.50 is won on Matchbook, £0.00 is lost on Betstars as it was a free bet.
A total profit of £17.50 is made.
Taking into account the initial £1.00 lost on the qualifying bet with Wolves and Norwich.
You can see I am guaranteed to make either £16.50 or £19.00 from this process.
Where Can I Find Matched Betting Offers?
There are lots of these sign up offers where you can follow the same process.
New casinos and bookmakers appear quite frequently.
A quick google search for bookmaker sign up offers will bring up hundreds of results.
However my advice would be to join a matched betting service such as Oddsmonkey. They take out all the hard work and give you step by step instructions for each offer.
This will save you so much time in the long run and also should stop you making any errors which could cost you.
Want To Start Making Money With Matched Betting Now!
Matched Betting free trials:
UK Bettors – Oddsmonkey (Free trial available)
Usa/Canada Bettors – Oddsjam (Free Trial Available)
International – Bet Hero (Free trial available)
Oddsmonkey (read the review) is a company that has long been providing matched betting and arbitrage software for other companies.
They now however have their own dedicated service.
Offering an extremely in depth and content rich service that also offers arbitrage and value betting software.
It gives you all the tools that you need to succeed in matched betting.
How Much Money Can Be Made From Matched Betting?
It is possible to make a lot of money matched betting.
In my first two years using various strategies I made just over £49,000 in profit. Since that time I have continued with these strategies along with others in the making a million series and depending on your country of origin the opportunities will be different (US/Canada currently the best), however if you have access to bookmakers, then there is profit to made.
Even if you don’t want to invest much time you should still be able to clear +£1000 total profit doing the easiest offers.
We have taken a good look at making money from sports betting through matched betting.
Now lets take a look at another method which will enable you to make more long term profits.
What is Arbitrage Betting?
Arbitrage betting, or ‘arbing,’ is a low-risk strategy that takes advantage of differences in odds offered by different bookmakers. By placing bets on all possible outcomes of a sporting event across multiple platforms, you can lock in a guaranteed profit—regardless of the result
Here’s how it works:
- Find an Arbitrage Opportunity: Look for a sporting event where the odds between two or more bookmakers differ significantly. For example, one bookmaker might offer higher odds on Team A to win, while another offers better odds on Team B.
- Place Your Bets: Bet on all possible outcomes (e.g., Team A wins, Team B wins, or a draw) using the different bookmakers.
- Lock in a Profit: By carefully calculating your stakes, you ensure that the total payout from one bookmaker covers your total bets, leaving you with a profit.
Personally I like to use arbitrage betting with bookmakers that either.
1. Don’t offer regular bonuses.
2. Have banned me from bonus offers but will still allow me to bet.
Arbitrage Example
To find arbitrage bets effectively, using software is essential. In this example, I’ll demonstrate with the Oddsmatcher tool from Oddsmonkey. I’ve identified a 3.44% arbitrage opportunity for the Chile vs. Ecuador match, involving Paddypower and the betting exchange Smarkets (which supports lay bets, similar to Matchbook).
(Which allows lay bets and functions like Matchbook)
Chile vs Ecuador is showing as a 3.44% arbitrage bet.
Step 1: Verify Odds on Paddypower
I log in to my Paddypower account to confirm the odds on Chile are accurate.
Step 2: Check Odds and Staking on Smarkets
Next, I head to my Smarkets account to ensure the odds are available and calculate my staking. The odds are still live, with £189 available to lay. For this bet, I’m laying under 1.5 goals (betting that there won’t be fewer than 1.5 goals).
Step 3: Choose a Strategy
I now have two options:
Back and Lay for a Single Outcome Profit
I can back under 1.5 goals at odds of 3.0 and lay it at 2.9. If the game ends with under 1.5 goals, I’ll win £10. If it’s over 1.5 goals, I’ll break even (£0).Adjust Staking for Guaranteed Profit
Alternatively, I can adjust my stakes to secure a smaller, guaranteed profit regardless of the outcome. Using the Oddsmonkey calculator, I see that with a £100 stake, I’d make a £3.45 profit across all outcomes. Larger stakes would yield higher profits.
Personally, I prefer focusing my profits on one outcome, as it’s quicker and often aligns with the value side of the bet at the soft bookmaker. However, if you prefer consistent, smaller profits, adjusting your stake is the better strategy.
You might be thinking wow this is awesome. Free money for the rest of my life!
Unfortunately bookmakers will eventually limit your account to pennies if you are arbing. Even in some cases close your account.
However sometimes this can take years. Given that bookmakers only want losing players then it makes sense to hammer them for as much profit as possible. Before those limitations come.
These are two simple low risk methods that will allow you to potentially make tens of thousands of pounds profit from the sports betting markets.
Tools to Simplify Matched Betting And Arbitrage
The best way to start profiting from matched betting arbitrage is by using tools designed specifically to help you make the most profit and highlight the biggest opportunities available. Below we have linked the best software available depending on the country you live in.
Best for UK Bettors – Oddsmonkey (Free trial available)
Usa/Canada Bettors – Oddsjam (Free Trial Available)
International Bettor- Bet Hero (Free trial available)