Matched Betting vs Arbitrage Betting: The Differences Explained

Matched betting and arbitrage betting are two closely related ways to profit from betting — but they get there by different routes. Both involve covering every possible outcome of a sporting event, and both aim for a guaranteed profit. The difference is where that profit comes from. - With matched betting, the goal is to cash in the free bets and promotions that bookmakers hand out. You usually take a small, deliberate loss on the bet itself, but the value extracted from the bonus dwarfs it. - With arbitrage betting, the goal is to lock in a guaranteed profit on its own, with no bonus required. Let’s look at each in turn.

How Matched Betting Works

You start by depositing, and the bookmaker credits your account with a bonus. That bonus comes with a turnover requirement — you can’t simply withdraw the deposit and bonus, so you have to wager them on a sporting event. To keep things simple, say you put it all on one event. At the same time, you place an opposing bet on a betting exchange (or a second bookmaker). When the bet settles, one of two things happens:

1. You lose your deposit and bonus money at the bookmaker, and win at the exchange. This is the best case: your money is effectively "transferred" from the bookmaker to the exchange. Everyone’s happy — the bookmaker booked its margin, the exchange earned its commission, and you withdraw the net winnings from your exchange account. There’s a good chance the bookmaker, pleased with the action, offers you another bonus to keep betting — so you simply repeat the process.
2. You win at the bookmaker and lose at the exchange. You still come out ahead thanks to the bonus money. You keep betting until the turnover requirement is met. Your balance may end up at the exchange, but more often you finish the turnover with money sitting in your bookmaker account. Now you withdraw from the bookmaker and repeat the whole process at the next bookmaker offering a bonus.

Whatever the outcome, you’ll often receive reload bonuses that bring you back later. Most bookmakers run regular promotions for every customer who isn’t "blacklisted" purely for bonus-hunting — and that’s exactly why a small loss on matched betting is usually worth it: it keeps you looking like a customer the bookmaker wants to win back.

How Arbitrage Betting Works

Arbitrage betting — also called sports arbitrage or surebetting — means spotting discrepancies in odds between bookmakers and backing every outcome so you profit no matter what happens. You find a mismatch between the prices different bookmakers offer, cover both sides, and the result is a guaranteed return regardless of the event’s outcome. The big advantage over matched betting is that arbitrage doesn’t depend on a promotion. In theory the profits are unlimited, because the opportunities are effectively endless. That’s also why bookmakers have tools and routines to shut arbers down: sooner or later your account gets restricted, "gubbed", or limited, at which point it’s all but useless and you’ll only be allowed to stake pennies. In short — matched betting profits from free bets and promotions, while arbitrage betting profits from odds discrepancies between bookmakers.

So which should I do — arbitrage or matched betting?

It depends on several factors, but the biggest one is how generous the bookmakers in your region are with bonuses for new and returning players. In most countries bonuses are plentiful these days, which makes matched betting the stronger approach. You can, of course, combine the two: if you’re mainly chasing bonuses through matched betting, you’re constantly hunting for good turnover bets that lose a little but not too much — and slipping in the occasional arbitrage bet won’t put your account at risk. Whichever you choose, an exchange-style bookmaker such as Orbit Exchange or Betfair is essential for both matched betting and surebetting. Read our review of the ultimate matched betting suite, BFB247, here.

Which countries can you do matched betting from?