Understand the concept of backing and laying bets.
A back bet is exactly what you think of as a 'normal bet'. When you place a back bet with a bookmaker like Bet365 or William Hill, you are betting FOR something to happen.
If your prediction is correct, you win money. If your prediction is wrong, you lose the money you staked.
Back bets are available with all traditional bookmakers. The bookmaker sets the odds and takes the risk - if you win, they pay you out from their own money. If you lose, they keep your stake.
A lay bet is completely different. When you place a lay bet, you are betting AGAINST something happening. You become the bookmaker and take on the risk.
If the event doesn't happen, you keep the other person's stake. If the event does happen, you have to pay out - just like a bookmaker would.
Lay bets are only available on betting exchanges like Betfair, Smarkets, Matchbook or Betdaq.
Here's the key difference: with bookmakers, you can only back outcomes (the bookmaker acts as the layer). But on betting exchanges, you can choose to be either the backer OR the layer. The exchange simply connects backers with layers and takes a small commission on winning bets.
The key difference is your position: with back bets you're the customer, with lay bets you're acting like the bookmaker.
Notice how the outcomes are completely opposite. This is exactly what makes matched betting possible - you can cover both sides of the same bet.
Matched betting is simple: you back an outcome with a bookmaker and lay the same outcome on an exchange. This covers all possible results, eliminating risk while extracting profit from free bets.
The magic happens because bookmakers give you free bets to attract customers, but you can use back and lay bets to turn these free bets into guaranteed cash.
You repeat this process with different bookmaker promotions. Each free bet converts into a small, mostly-known profit, and since there are loads of bookmakers offering promotions, the opportunities are extensive.
There are also many other ways to make money from matched betting. For example, if the back odds on the bookmaker are higher than the lay odds on the exchange, you can actually make an easy profit.
