As a student, you may have thought about getting a part-time job online to make extra cash. Whether it’s for your daily allowance or for paying student loans, it’s not bad to have spare cash when you need it.
One of the best ways to earn money as a student is through matched betting. You can make as much as £1,000 a month with little to no risk. It sounds too good to be true but it’s actually possible when you’ve mastered the process.
What is Matched Betting?
Matched betting is a system where you bet on both outcomes to guarantee a win and rake in profits. It’s generally risk-free because its foundation is based on mathematical equations rather than pure chance.
What makes this extra profitable is the free bet offered by bookmakers as a sign-up bonus. You use this to make more bets and compound your winnings.
Matched betting is perfectly legal. In addition to this, earnings from matched betting are tax-free. Your credit rating also won’t be affected by your earnings or losses in the game.
There are many jargons in matched betting you’ll get to know as you get more familiar with the system. But before making your first bet, there are basically 2 types of bets you must know:
- Back bet
This is betting for an outcome to be true. For instance, it’s a backing bet when you wager on a football team to win.
- Lay bet
This is where you’re betting against an outcome to come true. For instance, you’re doing a lay bet when you wager for a football team to lose. If the team loses the game, you win the bet.
Theoretically, you’ll always win because you’re betting on both sides. You’re neutralizing the risk on the back bet by putting a lay bet.
You don’t have to know the game or sport you’re betting on to be successful at matched betting. It’s more of following instructions and organizing your bets to avoid mistakes that would cost you money.
The Mechanics
When signing up on a betting exchange, make sure you read their Terms & Conditions. They may have an age requirement in addition to betting restrictions.
To get your signing bonus, you’ll usually be required to bet a certain amount of money first which is often around £5. You may also be required to bet within a week or two after account creation to be eligible to receive the signing bonus. These free bets cannot be cashed out and must be spent within the next few days after receiving them.
The minimum deposit for matched betting ranges from £5 to hundreds, depending on the platform you registered to. The amount of free bet you’ll get also varies, but it’s typically around the same amount as your minimum deposit.
Minimum odds typically are at 1.50, but some exchanges offer as small as 1.01.
Whenever you win the wager, you get to keep 95% of your profits; the betting exchange takes 5% as commission.
Matched betting can be done anywhere, anytime, as long as you have an internet connection. There’s no commitment whatsoever that will force you to bet and spend money regularly. It’s up to you how much and how often you’d like to make a bet.
The opportunities that matched betting offers seem like it was really made for students and people who have little capital but have the time and patience to understand how the system works. All you have to do is be organized and keep track of your money to avoid making betting errors.
Making Your First Bet
The concept of matched betting is quite simple but managing bets and odds can be tricky.
Although matched betting is virtually risk-free, you can still lose if you don’t know how to manage your money on each bet. Greed might tempt you to bet more than what you can handle. There’s also the possibility of making a mistake in playing odds wherein you forget to match your bet on the other end.
If you’re excited to earn money as a student using this system, it’s best to learn it through experience. Here are the steps to follow for your first matched bet:
- Choose a bookmaker with a free bet offer. For instance, the bookmaker may offer a £40 free bet when you place an initial bet of £10.
- Place a back bet of £10 (or whatever’s the minimum amount) on the exchange and select the odds for the wager. Pick lower odds since you’re still trying to get a feel of how things work.
- Place a lay bet of £10 on another exchange. Select odds close to the one you played on your back bet to minimize losses.
- Wait for the result of the wager and collect your profits.
Since you’ve wagered the minimum amount required by the bookmaker, you’ll receive credits for free betting. You can now use this free money to repeat the process and play the odds in your favor.
As you get used to the process, you can start picking greater odds to maximize profits. Be careful, though, since over-betting can ruin your account.
Bookmakers such as Bet365 always offer free betting promotions to entice new customers to sign up. Use this to your advantage by signing up on the exchange platform of every bookmaker. There are literally hundreds of them offering free bets online.
You might be worried that the happy days will be gone once you’ve exhausted all the bookmakers offering bonus bets to new members. Good thing they reload offers to make the system more viable for the long haul.
Start Betting
Matched betting is one of the safest and surest ways to earn money online.
If you have the time and patience to learn the mechanics, it can make you money in a matter of minutes. Aside from that, it’s perfectly legal, hassle-free, tax-free, and risk-free – that’s a lot of ‘free’ from just signing up to earn that free bet.