You can start matched betting for free. You don't need a paid service for your first sign up offers: a betting exchange account, £100 to £200 to cover your bets, and a free calculator are enough. Each offer starts with a small qualifying loss, then a free bet you lay at an exchange to keep most of its value. In the example worked through below, a £10 bet and a £10 free bet leave about £7.12 profit.
What "free" means in matched betting
Matched betting is free in the sense that you don't have to pay anyone to do it. You still need money in your bookmaker and exchange accounts to place the bets, but that money comes back to you as the bets settle.
Paid services such as OddsMonkey and Outplayed list offers and find prices for you. They save time, but everything they do can be done by hand with free tools while you learn.
The free matched betting tools you need to start
- A betting exchange account at Betfair, Smarkets or Matchbook. Opening one is free.
- A free matched betting calculator to work out each lay stake. Ours runs in your browser with no sign up.
- A simple record of every bet. A free spreadsheet is fine.
- Our free guides, starting with our matched betting guide and the step by step checklist for beginners.
Free calculators for matched betting:Matched betting calculatorFree bet calculatorLay bet calculator
How much money you need to start: £100 to £200
For small sign up offers, £100 to £200 in total is usually enough. It covers the qualifying bet at the bookmaker and the liability on your lay at the exchange. You get it back as each bet settles, so you can move on to the next offer.
Only use money you can afford to have tied up for a few days. Keep it separate from your everyday money, ideally on one card or account used only for betting.
Your first sign up offer, worked through with example odds
Say a bookmaker offers a £10 free bet when you bet £10. Using example odds, first place the qualifying bet: back £10 at 3.0 at the bookmaker and lay £9.74 at 3.1 at the exchange, with 2% commission. Whatever happens, you lose about £0.45.
Then use the free bet. Back the £10 free bet at 5.0 and lay £7.72 at 5.2. The free bet doesn't return its stake, so the calculator works out a smaller lay. Whatever happens, you keep about £7.57.
| Step | Back | Lay | Result either way |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualifying bet | £10 at 3.0 | £9.74 at 3.1 | -£0.45 |
| Free bet (stake not returned) | £10 free bet at 5.0 | £7.72 at 5.2 | £7.57 |
| Total | £7.12 |
Which offers to do first: simple sign up offers, then reloads
- Start with simple "bet £10, get a £10 free bet" sign up offers on big football or racing markets, where exchange prices are close to the bookmaker's.
- Do one offer at a time until the steps feel routine.
- Read every offer's terms before you bet: minimum odds, qualifying markets and when the free bet expires.
- Move on to reload offers, such as refunds and extra places, once you've done the main sign up offers.
Our guides to refund offers and each way matched betting cover the next steps.
Free calculators or a paid matched betting service
You can do every offer with just our free calculators. You find the offer, check the prices yourself and let the calculator work out the stakes.
If you'd rather pay to have the offers and best prices found for you, a matched betting service does that with offer lists and an oddsmatcher. A service saves the most time once the easy sign up offers are done. OddsMonkey has a 14 day money back guarantee, and Outplayed costs £29.99 a month.
Matched betting services we've reviewed
Use matched betting to build a bank for value betting
Value betting tools such as RebelBetting and Trademate Sports need a bigger bank, about £2,000 to £3,000 for Trademate. Matched betting is a common way to build that bank first, because the result of each bet doesn't decide whether you make money.
Questions people ask
Can you do matched betting for free?
Yes. You don't need a paid service. A free exchange account, a free calculator and £100 to £200 to cover your bets are enough for your first sign up offers.
How much money do you need for matched betting?
About £100 to £200 for small sign up offers. It covers the bookmaker bet and the exchange liability, and you get it back as the bets settle.
Do I need OddsMonkey or Outplayed to start?
No. They save time by listing offers and finding prices, but you can do your first offers by hand with free tools.
How much can you make from a sign up offer?
It depends on the offer. In our worked example, a £10 bet and a £10 free bet leave about £7.12 after a small qualifying loss.
Is matched betting legal?
Yes. Matched betting is legal in the UK. You're placing normal bets with offers the bookmakers chose to give.