The short version
- 2017: an article pointed me to MoneySavingExpert, which pointed me to OddsMonkey. About 90% of the online money ideas I'd tried before that had flopped. This one didn't.
- First four weeks: about £1,000 from sign-up offers at Betfred, Coral, Ladbrokes and Bet365.
- Reloads: acca insurance and the rest, aiming to keep about 80% of every free bet. Bet365's 2-up promo was a tremendous earner, and a big share of the total.
- +EV plays: casino offers worked on RTP, and each-way no-lay on horse racing, including Lucky 15s. Almost £5k on one Lucky 15 and over £1,000 on several others. One £4k day got that account closed.
- Shop runs, near the end: Betfred slips, each-way no-lay and Bookie Bashing. Once I had trouble getting paid out.
- 2020: gubbed by nearly every bookie, including Bet365. Covid shut the shops and the sport, so I stopped and cancelled my tools.
- Since: I've taught matched betting to beginners.
I averaged four figures a month. I don't have a tidy profit-and-loss sheet, and exchange statements wouldn't tell the story anyway, because the profit is spread across dozens of bookmaker and exchange accounts. So instead of screenshots of totals, this site proves it the hard way: worked examples on real offers, calculators that show their formulas, and walkthroughs of exactly how each play works.
What I believe
Matched betting is pure mathematics using sign-up bonuses. People hear the word "betting" and their eyes glaze over. Fair enough. But the first stage of this has a known outcome before a ball is kicked.
The later stuff, each-way no-lay, Lucky 15s, casino offers, is different. It's positive expected value, and it swings. I'll always tell you which is which. And I've no time for gurus selling £1,000 courses for something you can learn free.
How this site works
- Every page is mine. Pages are built from recorded interviews with me. A draft is written from my own words and sources, an editor checks it, and nothing goes live until I've read it and signed it off.
- Every number has a source: a link, a dated screenshot, or "my own figures".
- Every page is dated, with an update log at the bottom. Money pages are re-checked monthly.
- UK only. UK offers, UK bookmakers, odds in the formats you'll see here.
How it makes money
I'm an OddsMonkey affiliate. If you subscribe through a link on this site I earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. Those links are marked "Ad". It never changes the maths, and where OddsMonkey loses on price I'll say so. Full affiliate disclosure.
Elsewhere
- Medium, where I first wrote "How I made 50k beating the bookies at their own game" (2024).
Get in touch: contact page.