We’ve found the perfect match for you. Best of all, it pairs you up with an experience that you’ll embrace enthusiastically.

There’s no worry of rejection, none of that awkward introduction texting and it comes with a money back guarantee.

Forget about eHarmony, Match.com and Tinder. The best hookup for your future happiness is matched betting.

Now without a doubt, the first questions that will come to mind with most people are what is matched betting and how does it work? In essence, it is a form of gambling. In reality, it is not.

It can’t be gambling if you can’t lose. And with matched betting, everyone who plays is a winner.

Taking Advantage Of What’s Given To You

If you’re not familiar with online sports betting sites, here’s what you need to know in order to begin matched betting. Almost every single online sportsbook will dangle some sort of signup bonus offer in order to attract new customers to their betting site.

These bonus offers often provide a matched deposit bonus. For instance, it could be a 100 percent match on your first deposit worth up to $200. In this example, that means if you were to make an initial deposit of $200, the sportsbook would match it with an additional $200 of free money.

Another popular option is what’s called a risk-free first bet. With this bonus, your first wager at the site is guaranteed. If you place a bet and it comes up a loser, then the online sports betting site will refund that amount, almost exclusively in the form of free bet coupons. Again, you can count on there being a maximum to the amount of the risk-free wager that will be covered, so be certain not to exceed that amount and you can’t lose.

A third and seldom-offered option is the delightful no-deposit bonus. This is, as Dire Straits once proclaimed in song, the proverbial money for nothing. Just sign up with a site and they’ll give you a small stipend – usually $25 or $50 – to begin your sports betting career.

Once you’ve joined a site and acquired these bonus offers, you’re ready to begin taking advantage of matched betting.

“A Man Watching Tennis Match on TV & Betting on it” by ATTRIBUTION: beatingbetting.co.uk is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Matched Betting: An Explanation Of How It Works

The gameplan behind matched betting is that it offers a mathematical guarantee of success by taking advantage of these free offers from online betting sites. If done correctly, matched betting is a no-risk proposition.

First of all, you’ll need to sign up with two of these online sports betting sites. One of them must be a site that allows a betting exchange option, such as Betfair. With a betting exchange, you’re able to wager against other bettors, as opposed to the traditional betting versus the house. You’ll also be permitted to lay bets, meaning bet against an outcome happening.

This is vital to the plan of success with match betting, so it’s mandatory to include a betting exchange among your sportsbooks.

Once you’ve joined the two betting sites, make your qualifying bet at the site that gives you the bonus to take 100 percent advantage of their bonus offer. For example, let’s say they’ve given you a $200 risk-free bet. You place that wager of $200 in the form of a moneyline wager on the Pittsburgh Steelers to beat the Houston Texans in an NFL game at odds of -136. Be sure to read through all the terms and conditions beforehand to ensure that you meet all the parameters to qualify for the risk-free bet offer.

Now, go to the betting exchange and place the lay bet on the opposite of this outcome, $200 on Pittsburgh to lose to Houston at odds of +144.

Let’s suppose that the Texans upset the Steelers 24-21. You’ve lost your risk-free bet but no matter, that money is going to be refunded to your account to bet again. On the other hand, your lay bet cashed and you won $488. That’s a $288 profit.

You bet $400 and when all was said and done, got $688 back. That’s a 58.1 percent return on your investment in the matter of the three hours or so it took to play that football game. And it was achieved with a guaranteed win no matter which way the game finished.

That’s how matched betting works. And you can repeat the process many times, because there’s no limit to how many sportsbooks you can join, and they all offer some sort of signup bonus. Some even offer reload deposit bonus matches, so you’ll be able to repeat this process at the same sportsbook.