Definitions for the 30 most-asked matched-betting terms — used across our calculators, oddsmatcher, and blog. Each entry leads with the atomic answer, then a worked example with real numbers.
Last updated 9 May 2026 · 15 entries
Acca insurance is a bookmaker promotion that refunds your stake on a losing accumulator if exactly one leg lets you down.
Henry Bramwell
A back bet is a wager FOR a selection to happen — the standard form of bet at any bookmaker, and one half of every matched bet you'll ever place.
Sophie Hughes
Best Odds Guaranteed is a horse-racing promotion that pays out winning bets at the higher of the price you took or the SP (starting price).
Tom Whitfield
A bonus bet is bookmaker credit similar to a free bet but with wagering or rollover requirements attached — much harder to extract cleanly.
Tom Whitfield
An extra place offer pays out each-way bets on more places than the standard market — e.g., 5 places instead of 4 in a horse race.
Tom Whitfield
A free bet is a token issued by a bookmaker that you can stake on a market without using your own money — the engine of matched betting.
Sophie Hughes
A lay bet is a wager AGAINST a selection — at a betting exchange you win if the selection does NOT happen, which is what makes matched betting work.
Sophie Hughes
The lay stake is the amount you stake AGAINST a selection at the exchange — what you keep if the selection doesn't happen, before commission.
James Cooper
Liability is the amount the exchange holds back from your account when you place a lay bet — what you'd pay out if the laid selection wins.
James Cooper
A qualifying bet is the real-money bet you place to unlock a bookmaker's free-bet promotion — typically £5–£20 at the published terms.
Sophie Hughes
The qualifying loss is the small net loss from placing the qualifying bet — typically £0.20–£0.50 on a £10 stake.
Sophie Hughes
A reload offer is a promotion sent to existing bookmaker customers — money-back specials, profit boosts, acca insurance, and the like.
Henry Bramwell
A stake-not-returned free bet pays out only the winnings if it wins — the stake itself is kept by the bookmaker, which is the dominant UK free-bet structure.
Tom Whitfield
A stake-returned free bet pays winnings AND returns the stake — a much cleaner extraction than the more common stake-not-returned (SNR) variant.
Tom Whitfield
A welcome offer is the introductory promotion a bookmaker advertises to new customers, usually structured as bet £X, get £Y in free bets.
Tom Whitfield
The free tutorial steps you through every term that matters in the welcome offers — qualifying bets, lay odds, exact stakes — at every UK bookmaker we cover.
