Best Sites for No Risk Matched Betting
Matched betting (or ‘double betting’) is a way to leverage bonus offers from sportsbooks to ensure a winning outcome. In other words, you aren’t betting against the house—you’re betting against another sportsbook. When done correctly, it’s one of the most seamless ways to pull a profit and cover potential losses.
Think you can cover all possible outcomes with matched betting sites? Keep reading for more information on matched betting USA and how to get started today.
Top Matched Betting Sites
Here at oddschecker, we connect bettors to the US’s top sportsbooks and their latest offers. We work with brands that are legal, established, and highly rated by users. And for those interested in matched betting, these deals and sportsbooks are even more important.
So, what is matched betting and why does it involve bonuses from sportsbooks? As mentioned above, matched betting is a way to work sign-up bonuses and other promotions from sportsbooks to exploit odds and bring home a profit according to a proven formula. As such, it’s important to get to know which companies offer which types of promotions, and what the terms and conditions for each are. When it comes to matched betting bonus bets, the top offers are deposit matches. These tend to be the easiest to apply toward double bets.
Keep reading for a breakdown of the most competitive and successful sportsbooks on oddschecker, all of which offer matched betting bonus bets:
- BetMGM: As an established brand based in Las Vegas, BetMGM benefits from decades of experience with American sports bettors. Their offers are incredibly varied and competitive, from sign-up offers to seasonal, league-specific deals.
- DraftKings: Once focused solely on Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS), DraftKings is now a nationwide sportsbook that offers lines on a variety of US markets, as well as fantasy sports. Even better, their welcome bonus is one of the most aggressive on offer in the US and can be used for matched betting USA.
- FOX Bet: As a branch of the long-standing broadcasting group, FOX Bet sportsbook has all the tools to create a seamless betting experience. Their mobile app is top-rated, while their betting guides are comprehensive.
- FanDuel: Similar to DraftKings, FanDuel was one of the earliest sportsbooks with brand recognition in the US. This has helped catapult the group to new heights, while their diverse markets and stellar welcome bonus have helped build a loyal following—including no matched betting.
- Caesar’s Sportsbook: Though BetMGM beat Caesar’s in expanding across the US, the group has since become a popular choice for bettors. Their markets are incredibly varied and competitive, while their mobile app is one of the quickest and most reliable in the game.
- PointsBet: An Australia-based sportsbook, PointsBet has expanded into the US with great success thanks to its NFL, NBA, and NCAA-specific markets. Coupled with a unique non-fixed odds model and a betting academy for newcomers, there’s plenty for bettors to explore with PointsBet.
What is Matched Betting and how does it work?
Now that we’ve covered the basics of sportsbooks, let’s dive back into matched betting. Matched betting is a way to leverage offers from sportsbooks against the house (or sportsbook) in order to ensure a profit. You don’t bet on your gut, computer picks, or pundit analysis—instead, you use matched betting bonus bets strictly to make money.
Typically, punters ‘line shop’ to see which sportsbook has the most competitive odds for a given match or event. However, in matched betting, bettors apply deposit matches and similar welcome deals to wager on separate outcomes of the same event. From a mathematical perspective, this guarantees a payout.
To take advantage of matched betting, a user simply signs up with a new sportsbook to take advantage of their welcome offer. They find odds that are attractive, then use their bonus deal to wager on a specific outcome; then, they’ll wager on the opposite outcome with another platform, thus ensuring they’re covered in either case. Obviously, matched betting is dependent on promos from sportsbooks—but with oddsmakers vying for position in the US betting market, there are always promos on offer. Do matched betting sites sound too good to be true? Keep reading for more caveats on the pros and cons of matched betting USA, as well as strategy guides for bets with more than two possible outcomes.
Matched Betting for Beginners
For the most part, matched betting is only as good as the promos on offer. While there are countless bonuses that make signing up worth it, bettors must be careful to read the fine print. After all, bonus offers always come with rules attached, from qualifying losses to time restraints.
So, what is matched betting from a beginner’s perspective? Keep reading for basic vocabulary used on matched betting sites, as well as the pros and cons of this type of punting.
So, what is matched betting from a beginner’s perspective? Keep reading for basic vocabulary used on matched betting sites, as well as the pros and cons of this type of punting.
Pros of Matched Betting:
- The ability to win money without any risk (when done correctly)
- Allows bettors to ‘build a bankroll’ before betting on moneylines, point spreads, etc at traditional sportsbooks
- Allows sports bettors to take advantage of and exploit underdog odds from sportsbooks
Cons of Matched Betting:
- Mitigated risk means winnings are comparatively modest
- Requires time and attention to detail, especially when related to the terms and conditions applied to sign-up offers
- Less entertainment in terms of sports analysis and the application of sports statistics
Common Terms used on Matched Betting Sites:
- Back bet: the team/player bet upon to win. If you back a team to win, and they win, you’ve won your back bet.
- Lay bet: the team/player bet upon to lose. Rather than betting on the backed team to lose, a lay bet covers the backed team ‘to not win’, which also includes draws. In matched betting, a lay bet is used to cancel out the risk of the back bet.
- Lay commission: a lay commission is an aspect of a betting exchange (covered below). The lay commission is the percentage of winnings paid out to the betting exchange, similar to ‘vig’ or ‘juice’ on odds from traditional sportsbooks.
- Matched betting calculator: a program that helps bettors calculate how much to wager on each bet in order to cover potential losses and cut a profit. This is what makes matched betting (slightly) risk-free.
- Liability: the potential loss on a lay bet.
- Qualifying Loss: some sportsbooks require a user to lose a certain amount of money before they can access a bonus bet. Typically, this is a tiny percentage of the bonus bet, such as betting $1 to access a $25 deal.
Betting with Prophet Exchange
A betting exchange is a company that allows users to engage with one another for the purpose of matched betting on a single platform. Prophet Exchange, based in New Jersey, is one of the first US matched betting sites. Though matched betting is popular around the world, it’s new to the US—just like Prophet Exchange.
By using Prophet Exchange or another matched betting platform, users can post their own odds (lay a bet) and let other bettors take them up on those odds (backing a bet). In other words, a sports bettor can become a bookie themselves.
- Just follow the steps below to get started with the Prophet Exchange browser page or mobile app today.
- Head to the Prophet Exchange website and create an account.
- Read carefully through the terms and conditions, upload relevant identification and banking verifications, and wait for Prophet Exchange to process this information.
- Make a deposit based on the amount you’d like to bet or lay on, then find the associated market.
- Simply click ‘back’ or ‘lay’ on a given wager to start matched betting today.
How do Betting Exchanges work?
A betting exchange like Prophet Exchange may not seem like a huge departure from typical sportsbooks. However, as mentioned above, betting exchanges are a popular aspect of betting culture around the world and are what allow punters to pursue matched betting.
When someone bets with a sportsbook, they’re ‘backing’ a bet on offer from oddsmakers. A betting exchange lets a user be on the ‘lay’ side. In other words, they decide what the outcome of a bet will be—even if there’s more than one possibility. For example, most regular-season league games, from the NBA to the Premier League to the NFL, have the potential for a draw. Those who back a bet win only if their team wins; those who lay a bet win if the backed team loses or draws. Remember, the lay bet isn’t simply betting on which team will lose, but which team won’t win.
Betting exchanges are the primary way that punters handle their matched betting projects. Users select a betting exchange to lay on odds that they’re backing with a sportsbook. In other words, a matched bettor will use a sign-up offer to wager on a sportsbook’s odds, then go onto a betting exchange to lay on the same bet, thus covering themselves for every possible outcome—win, lose, or draw.Wondering how betting exchanges make money? Like sportsbooks keep their vig, betting exchanges will take home up to 5% of total winnings (though averages are lower).
Is matched betting legal?
Though not as common in the US compared to regions like Europe, taking advantage of matched betting bonus bets is absolutely legal. After all, no one can control the outcome of a match or game. However, matched bettors will need to rely on attention to detail if they want to make a profit.
How much money do you need to start with matched betting?
In theory, a sports bettor doesn’t need to start with any money to succeed in matched betting. However, this depends on the funds needed to kickstart a promotion.
As mentioned above, some offers have qualifying loss requirements, which means a user will need to lose a certain amount before they’re able to access deals. Others qualify as ‘deposit matches’, which means sportsbooks match what a user deposits for the first time. Depending on the deal, a bettor might need to deposit and lose a certain amount in a bet. However, these amounts are often minimal.
How to maximize profit with matched betting?
Those looking to maximize profit with matched betting can follow a few handy tricks. Keep in mind that the most crucial way to maximize profits in matched betting is to calculate potential losses and winnings, then stick to a formula.
Aside from this, matched bettors can:
- Shop around for the most competitive bonus offers in order to leverage them
- Take advantage of matched betting calculators to optimize bets• Rely on betting exchanges to lay on odds from sportsbooks
- Double-check their work to prevent simple mistakes
