What to do if you make a Matched Betting mistake
I know many people are anxious about making a Matched Betting mistake – but if you are careful and cautious then this is less likely to happen. Personally, the only time I have made a mistake was when I was much more confident and as a result I didn’t double check as carefully as I should.
I really could have kicked myself. However, I managed to rectify the situation and come out with my original intended profit.
Depending on the nature of the error, here’s how you can prevent a costly matched betting mistake.
Laying the wrong bet when Matched Betting
This has happened to me. I was browsing the odds matcher in Profit Accumulator and found a better oddsmatch than the bet I was originally going for.
Unfortunately it was already loaded up on the bookies website waiting for me to press “bet now”. I forgot to change it so I used a free bet on one result, e.g. Man Utd to win; and laid a completely different bet, e.g. against under 1.5 goals.
How to fix your matched betting mistake
Firstly, check if there are still any signup offers or reloads you are eligible for, this is your best bet to turn the situation around (excuse the pun).
Using the best offer you can find, make a bet that matches the bet you have already laid (e.g. under 1.5 goals).
As usual, this may result in a small loss if this is a qualifying bet, but this would be the case anyway. This also ensures you don’t lose your liability if the exchange loses (In my case I would have lost £27 in liability instead of making £5.87), and you get another free bet out of it.
Obviously if you don’t have any sign ups or suitable reload offers you can still do the above to make a small loss instead of losing your liability.
How to not waste your original free bet (In this case Man Utd to Win)
If there is still time before the event and you have the funds, you could lay this bet on the exchange as originally intended to get the profit you originally calculated.
This is what I was able to do to ensure I was back at square one – I made my original intended profit on my free bet, I had just now gone through two offers simultaneously.
Of course I was lucky I had the time (and the extra funds transferred from my bank) before the match to fix it – this might not always be the case.
Here are some other common mistakes you can make with Matched Betting where prevention is the best measure:
Read the T&Cs
A service like Profit Accumulator usually digests all this for you which is one of the reasons I recommend using it.
One recurring condition in most bookmakers T&Cs is not to transfer funds from PayPal, Skrill or other online payment services when opening a new account as this often disqualifies you from the sign up offers.
This can often be missed with new matched bettors, especially if you are using Paypal funds from another side hustle to fund your matched betting bank in the beginning.
Making sure the odds are no higher / lower than the offer requires is another area where offers can be invalidated.
Make sure you are focused when Matched Betting
If the kids are running around or you are in the middle of watching Coronation Street or browsing Amazon in another tab, this is when mistakes are likely to be made!
Multitasking is never a good idea when it comes to matched betting.
Don’t forget to lay the bet!
This is a matched betting mistake that seems very common on forums. It is always best to do both bets at the same time, especially as the odds can change meaning your calculated profit could be affected.
Keep a record of when free bets expire
There’s nothing worse than going through the leg work of placing your qualifying bet only for your free bet to expire in the meantime.
Personally I use a spreadsheet to keep track of all my bets including the profits but if there is a short turnaround on an expiry date I would leave myself a note or add it on my phone as an alarm reminder.
If you are an experienced Matched bettor, what do you think of these tips? Is there anything you would add? Have you ever made a mistake with it? Let me know in the comments.
You May Also Like These Posts:
Complete Beginner’s Guide to Matched Betting
How to Start Matched Betting with Existing Accounts
Ultimate Guide to Matched Betting at the Cheltenham Festival
