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I’m not an expert, I’m a beginner who’s not long started out but I thought it would be a good idea to document this journey from the beginning, so you guys can see the whole journey rather than just following it once I’ve made a lot of money

I like to follow journeys from the start, it makes it more relatable for beginners and others like me who have just started out, or people who want to take the plunge but haven’t done so yet!

So what is matched betting?

Matched betting is betting with the use of free bet offers, bonuses and some other deals and offers that bookmakers give us when signing up to use their services. We use these offers to make profit. With the offers you ‘back’ and ‘lay’ bets.

Back = placing a bet to say something will happen (Savvy FC will win their football match)

Lay = placing a bet to say something will not happen (Savvy FC will not win their football match)

This may all seem confusing to you, but there are companies out there that explain everything to beginners to make the process easier. I use Outplayed (previously called Profit Accumulator) You can join them here*

They have a Facebook page dedicated to beginners, step by step guides AND software that finds all the bets for you, just making the whole process easier!

They offer a free 7 day trial* where you can make profit whilst in the trial period.
I made over £30 whilst on the free trial.

If you decide you want to carry on using their services, you can pay £29.99 per month. They don’t take any card details during the free trial, so the paid membership does not start automatically. You have to sign up to the paid membership after the free trial ends – fab that you don’t have to worry about money being taken if you choose not to carry on with them!

I am still on Outplayed’s easy sign up offers. I have spent around 50 minutes in total getting my head around the process and placing bets, and so far I’ve made £76.51!

I can pay for my first 2 months with that profit, and have some left over!

Is matched betting gambling?

No, it is not gambling, if done correctly, you cannot lose. I felt more confident that I was doing it correctly by closely following the steps laid out on Outplayed. You can only lose money if you make a mistake which is why it’s good to sign up to a company that helps you along the way.

How much can you make with matched betting?

There is no set amount, it’s different for everyone! I can only tell you what I make personally and you can also check out other money bloggers that do matched betting, to gauge what’s a realistic amount that you can earn with matched betting.

If it’s such a good money maker, why isn’t everyone doing it?

The first question my partner asked when I told him about matched betting…

There are many reasons for this. Many people think it’s too good to be true and don’t take the time to realise it is actually very real and you can make money from it!

It is also not great for people who have or have had gambling problems. Although matched betting isn’t gambling, it may bring back bad habits for some people so it’s best to steer clear.

You also need to have some of your own money in order to start, you can start with around £40-£100 but this does put people off.

How do I start?

I started by getting some time to myself to sign up to Outplayed’s* free trial and watched some of their tutorial videos.

You could do the same! There are other companies that have matched betting services but I use profit accumulator so I can only talk about my personal experience with them.

I decided to jump straight in (I learn by doing!) and did some bets straight away. With the first two bets on there, you can make up to £40 profit (I made just under that though).

The best thing about it…

Your winnings are tax-free!

I recently did an Instagram post about tax on side hustles, so don’t get matched betting confused with this! Essentially, it falls under the ‘gambling’ category so all your winnings do not need to be declared and are 100% tax free!