If you do not have a bankroll and would like to build it up from scratch with zero risk I will advise you using a smart technique called matched betting. It really is one of a very few occurrences where one could say that free dinners still exist.
In a nutshell it is utilizing bookmakers sign up and reload offers.In essence all you have to do is lay the same bet at Betfair (or at any other exchange) as many times until all the roll over requirements have been completed.
Here I will share with you an example where I cashed in a 100 euro reload bonus from one of the estonian bookmakers.
I received a notification directly to my mailbox that I have a new offer. As you can see once you have opened as many bookmakers as possible your inbox gets flooded with the offers. Our job is to take as many offers and utilize them.
It is in Estonian but the offer was the following: Make at least a 20 euro deposit and you will receive a 50% bonus from the deposited sum. The maximum bonus sum that will be credited is 100 eur. So a little calculation and it is clear that when i deposit 200 euro then the bookmaker will credit another 100 eur.
The roll over requirements: You have to roll over your bonus amount (100€) exactly 4 times and the minimum price of the selection cannot be lower than 1.5. So in essence 400€ turnover is needed before they convert the bonus money into the real withdrawable money. Not a big deal when you have an exchange where you can lay off the same bet you are placing with a traditional bookmaker 🙂
Next step is to find a suitable selection where the spread difference ( the gap between back and lay prices is minimal). I happened to find a match between Bournemouth and Liverpool where Liverpool was priced at 1.73 at PAF (the bookmaker) and at 1.77 at Betfair (the lay price of the same selection). So you can see the spread was only 4 ticks and the aim is to find a selection where the spread difference is minimal.
Next step is to use a very handy matched betting calculator at Smarkets and work out your bets just like I did:next step is to use a very handy matched betting calculator at Smarkets and work out your bets just like I did:
You can see that regardless of the fact if Liverpool is winning or losing we will lose 13.34€ from our 300 euro bet. However we have to keep in mind that from that 300€ 100€ is bookmakers bonus money.
Liverpool won this match and we lost our stake in Betfair and our total stake was 300- 13.34=286.66€ which equates to our original stake 200€ and 86.66 of the money that is remaining from the bonus.
But our selection won at the bookmaker:
And the rollover requirement was almost completed
So I repeated the same step one last time with a 100€ bet to complete the final fourth of a rollover requirement:
And layed off the same selection at Betfair:
This time I got really lucky as back prices are almost always lower than the lay prices but sometimes you can find a selection where bookies have priced up the selections higher than the lay prices of the exchanges for the same selections which means that laying at a lower price then a back price will generate a little profit (It really is like an arbitrage bet in this given example. However keep in mind that those situations are not very rare where you can lay a selection at a lower price than a back bet and most of the times it is vice versa and you will always lose a little money because of the spread difference).
Arsenal won which meant that I lost at Betfair and won the same selection at the bookmaker.
So after the roll over requirement had been met I had lost -13.34€ from the first round of the bets and gained +1.86€ from the second round of the bets. The total loss was 11.5€.
So from my original deposit of 200€ my account received a 100€ bonus which I rolled over four times and due to laying off the same selections from an exchange I lost 11.5€ to spread differences. Now my monetary balance is 288.5€ which is fully withdrawable as the bonus has been converted to real money. Total profit from a 200 euro deposit has been 88.5€ which equates to staggering 44% ROI. Please keep in mind that you need some kind of a bankroll to start using matched betting techniques as you have to a) deposit money to a bookmaker account to receive a bonus and b) you have to have enough money in your exchange account to lay off the same selections.
The final word:
In essence there are two types of bonus offers: a) The sign up bonus which is a one time bonus and b) the reload bonuses which will be credited depending on the activity of your account.
Please only engage in bonus utilizing only and only then when you have read the roll over requirements of the bonus. If the roll over requirements are ridiculously bad e.g 20 times roll over with minimum price of the selection at least 2.0 LEAVE IT as it is not worth the hustle.
Only open bookmakers that have been regulated in your country. You do not want a dispute with a bookie. You certainly do not want your funds being frozen.
I will give you an example which can be achieved with matched betting. Currently there are 15 bookmakers in the Estonian market that combined offer 2500€ bonus money when you sign up with them. Let’s say some of the roll over requirements are hard to fulfil and you only open an account in half of them where rollover requirements are very realistic to achieve. You subtract around 25% from the bonuses because of the spread differences. You will still end up around 1000€ cashed in money from the bonus offers AND now you have accounts that will be credited with a frequent reload and special event offers such as Champions League offers. The very maximum I have cashed in just from reload bonuses were around 3000ish euros in a single year.
Now you can take that money you just made from matched betting (which is even sweeter is that this money is taken straight from the house 🙂 and now you can fund your Betfair trading account with that money. Honestly what better deal can you get? You already are in a winning position.
Why not give WTAtrades a try and join our community. We have come a long way and built up an arsenal of strategies and techniques that can be deployed in literally every WTA match that is taking place around the globe. Matched betting as described above is indeed a very clever way of making money but the SERIOUS money is made through Betfair trading and here we got you covered 🙂
