Pocket some money with Matched Betting ~ What do you need to do the job?

Match betting whilst can be very profitable long term is also hard work on the brain. You need a lot of concentration, organisational skills, ability to learn thoroughly and work very fast on the keyboard! I said this in the previous post but it's imporant so i'm saying it again! :-)

I tend to do this on a "seasonal" basis. I come on over autumn and winter when it's cold, dark and there is nothing better to do in the evenings! This is also in football season - I come in around October and I leave after Cheltenham in March. I find by the time March rolls around i've had enough and am getting a bit bored and brain fried. Thus I become less productive. It is also when gardening is in high need as things begin to kick off out there so I don't have the time to be indoors on the pc any way so it works well for me :-)

You will notice I called this a "Job" in the title. If your coming into this to make money you need to treat it like a job. Get down to the business! You can't faff around and say oh I just want a little bit of a flutter to see if I win. This is not how it works. Matched betting is about using a system that will make you money consistently and over and over when used properly.

Yea we've all heard of "systems" that make you money right LOL! Well this ain't one of them quick get rich in 5 minutes thing! Although that can be done ... I've made a few £100's in a few minutes work before but that is not consistent. This system is a way that you teach yourself about how it works and then apply that system every single time to make more money.

So what do you need for this "job"?

1 - Concentration: There is a lot to learn! And besides the learning you will be then having to apply what you have learnt in a changing second by second environment! Tricky at times! But do-able if you start low and on easier stuff but work your way up once you have perfected those skills. You need to be able to concentrate not just on one thing. There can be a lot of screen flipping between multiple screens for record keeping, and multiple accounting.

2 - Organisational Skills: When you are moving lots of money around you need to know where it all is! To aid this I use a spreadsheet. It tells me how much is in each bookiea and exchange. How much is in withdrawl from each bookie/exchange and where it is destined to - Eg: Bank, card, Paypal. When you complete lots of offers you also need know what those offers are, how much betting is left to do, at what odds and when any refunds or free bets are due in. Once again my spreadsheet tells me all of this too. Record keeping is essential. I have to do tabs and general notes. SIGNING UP TO BOOKIES: Always always read the free bet terms and conditions and save it to notepad and print screen sign up offers. Incase things end/ get changed then you have proof of what you joined under. I have a Matched betting folder on my laptop desktop. In this I have a file for every bookie I have signed up to. I save T&Cs, Free bet T&C's and screen shots of everything I sign up to. Most of the time I won't need them but a good few times I have called on them and sent them to customer services to prove I was in on something!

3 - Ability to learn thoroughly: It's not ok reading any guides through once and then diving in without fully understanding it. You can make easy mistakes this way: Betting on the wrong outcome/team at the bookie and the exchange, betting the wrong amounts, and even betting on the wrong matches on the wrong day/time! Take it slow. Read a bit one day for 20 mins or so digest it and then come back the next day and re-read. I had 3 reads one of which included a different site to get my head round it!

4 - Work very fast on the keyboard: Odds can change very quickly. You will also need to input data into spreadsheets, calculators and multiple websites at once So you need to be able to work fast, be able to concentrate and be organised ;-) The later 2 well help with the former!


What items do you need physically to do the "job"?

* A spreadsheet: I personally use the goons Ultimatcher. You can use a spreadsheet on excel or make your own via pen and paper!

* A odds matcher: This helps you to know how much you need to back and lay at the bookie and at the exchange. Again this can be done manually vie pen and paper or via a matching  program. Utimatcher has a tab for this - I also use a stand alone matcher as a exe file. There are basic excel ones kicking around the net and also websites that can aid in this.

* Forums: These are amazing and your main source of help! You can also find some facebook groups kicking around. I am also going to add paid matched betting sites to this.

* Bank Accounts/Online Wallets: Ideally to keep this clean and business like you would create a separate bank account for matched betting ingoings and outgoings. However if you are not in the dire straits and can mix your funds then a main account is ok. I tend to use my main one although I do have a spare! I love online wallets too as these are pretty much immediate. So I started off using what was Moneybookers (now Skrill). I used this for matched betting alone and nothing else. However I don't advise this anymore as they have a huge withdrawal fee and a lot of bookies have the terms that they won't give free bets out if you deposit with Skrill! Some might send out physical security keys. I would recommend getting these and if they don't then using the highest possible security - Eg 2 step security system like Paypal. You will need to end up with a lot of money you need to keep safe! :-)

* Email account: As with a seperate bank account is highly recommended to get a seperate email address for this alone. I have one and get a lot of mail that I would just hate to see in my main email. Would clutter it up too much for my liking!

And lastly ...

* A mobile phone: Some bookies have free bet on mobile offers. And some require that new accounts are validated as yours by sending a pin code via text to your phone to activate a new account.


So, What can go wrong??

~ The biggest thing to go wrong will be user error as I stated earlier. Betting at the wrong match, time, outcome.

~ Not having enough funds in the account to cover both out comes.

~ Bookies closing your accounts before you can complete an offer (called being gubbed!) Or limiting how much money you can bet on events.

~ Bookies not paying out a free bet (rare but has happened!)

~ Messing up odds - betting without double checking! - and either losing money or ... making money

How to avoid errors

* Always double and even triple check bets. Even get someone else to check if it helps! Esp when new.

* Never put any real bets on until you fully understand what you are doing - again get someone to check before putting a bet on.

* Check your figures and make sure you have money in your accounts - Especially before backing and laying! Nothing worse than having backed but not enough money to cover your lay!

* Don't always take the best odds, bet close to the off, or deposit the exact amount required. Throw in the odd bet here and there that is not related to the off you are doing. This is to make you look more like a real punter and thus more likely to not be gubbed!

* Bookies not paying out free bets: Use the one above this. Also it should also help protect from being limited or not receiving free bet reload offers.

So that is a preparation guide! I just wrote this as a first post and then thought actually I should write a what is matched betting before putting all this help up! So I shall go and write and post that prior to this ...