The majority of people do matched betting in their spare time. It’s a great way to bring in a bit of extra money each month and can be done around a regular full-time job. That’s one of the most appealing aspects of matched betting – that it can be done at any time, from anywhere. It usually only takes a minute or two to back and lay a bet and so a spare few minutes here and there can allow you to take advantage of some offers and make a profit whenever you like.
If you’re someone who has stuck with matched betting after the new customer offers then it’s likely that you will have gained experience in a number of different matched betting strategies and methods. There are a range of different bookmaker offers out there such as your typical ‘Bet & Get’ offers, Money-Back Specials, ACCA Insurance, Advantage Play offers, Price Boosts etc and then there are casino offers which can be extremely profitable, Win-Only Dutching, Each Way Dutching, Extra Places…the list goes on. All of these offers have the potential to return a profit, are available every day and when you break them down into how much profit you can make from each of them on a daily basis, they can add up to a significant amount.
For some people, once they have realised how much profit can be made from matched betting on a regular basis, they begin to consider whether matched betting full-time is a viable option.
There are in fact many full-time matched bettors. Some who bring in more money than a regular full-time job would. However, deciding to quit your 9-5 job and do matched betting full-time shouldn’t be a rash decision and there are a few things to consider and keep in mind before you do so.
Are you ready to go full time?
Sure, we would all like to have the freedom of working from home, being our own boss and making a good amount of money from doing something that’s relatively easy to do. However, matched betting full-time should only be considered by those who have a lot of experience in matched betting and the various methods and strategies which can provide an income stream.
Many matched bettors make a good profit in their first month when taking advantage of the many new customer offers which are available. These are relatively straightforward to do, take a minimal amount of time and can return significant profits. However, they don’t last forever and your long-term profits shouldn’t be based on what you earn whilst doing these offers. A better indication of how much you can make from matched betting on a regular basis is the profit you are bringing in from existing customer offers. If you’re not making enough profit in months 5, 6, 7 etc then you’re not ready to go full-time yet.
You won’t be able to generate enough profit to go full-time from just free bet offers as there simply aren’t enough of these around. In order to bring in a full-time wage from matched betting, you’re going to have to get involved in additional strategies. Which strategies you choose to do is entirely up to you and depends on which ones you are most comfortable with and which ones bring in the greatest profit on a regular basis. It’s essential that you learn and gain experience in these additional strategies before you decide to go full time so that you have a rough idea of the channels your income is going to come from. Doing these additional strategies will also give an indication of how much time and effort is required for each one and as a whole.
How much can you make matched betting full time?
It’s important to sit down and work out how much you can expect to make matched betting full time. Bringing in £1,000 a month from sitting at your PC at home sounds pretty good but how much will you be left with after you pay your bills? How much do you spend going out for food and drinks or buying clothes? You need to work out your monthly outgoings and make sure you can regularly bring in more than that from matched betting. When matched betting full time, it’s likely that you’ll have months where you bring in a lot less than other months and you need to make sure you have backup funds to get through those times. Also, working from home may add additional expenses. you’ll be using more gas and electricity through heating and powering your PC and you may have to purchase additional equipment or upgrade your internet package.
How much you can expect to make will vary depending on how dedicated you are and how many offers you participate in. Some full-time matched bettors bring in several thousands of pounds per month on a regular basis. Profit Squad member Rob makes around £1.5k – £2k per month, dedicating roughly 40 hours per week to matched betting. Brian, on the other hand, puts in around 20-30 hours per week and brings in an average of £3k profit per month. Monthly profits will vary and if you have a month where you make double what you normally would, it’s a good idea to set this money aside to compensate for the not-so-good months that will inevitably come.
You may be able to get an idea of how much profit you can expect to make from full time matched betting by taking a look at how much you make part-time. That’s not to say that if you are making £1k a month from 10 hours per week that you will make £4k a month putting in 40 hours per week as you may already be doing all of the available offers which you are comfortable doing. Have a think about if you put in additional hours, how would they be used? Are there profitable opportunities that are available but you simply don’t have the time to do at the moment? If so, how much profit will they bring in on average and how much additional time will they take? If you work that out, it should give you a rough indication of a full time matched betting income.
One thing to remember is that matched betting profits are tax-free. This is a huge bonus as you are essentially making 20% more than if you were employed. For example, if you make £30,000 a year from matched betting, it is equivalent to a salary of £36,000 at a regular job. Keep in mind though that you won’t get any employer-based pension contributions, sick pay or any other benefits you may get with an employer.
Hours of work
Matched betting can take up a lot of your time. You may not be in front of the computer 24/7 but the time you do put in will likely span across the day, every day, which can be inconvenient at times when you have other commitments such as family, household tasks and social activities.
If you’re considering going full-time with matched betting then you’ll likely have an idea of what time of day the best opportunities arise. These may be looking for the days offers in the morning, horse racing refunds, dutching or extra places throughout the day and concentrating on football offers in the evening. Weekends are also a very busy time for matched bettors due to the number of sporting events that take place. Top-level football mainly takes place on weekends which brings a lot of free bet and other opportunities and there are a number of ITV horse races on Saturday’s which can be very profitable. Do your best to make a plan for the week. You probably won’t be able to stick to it to the minute but it may give you a rough idea of how many hours you are going to need to put in and also what hours of the day you will have free for other activities.
The Downside to Matched Betting Full Time
Matched betting full time is an attractive occupation for most people. You’re your own boss, you can work when you want and you’ll likely have the comforts of home while you work. However, there are risks and downsides to making the switch to full time.
Being Gubbed
Your bookmaker and casino accounts are your assets. Without them, matched betting isn’t possible and it’s no secret that bookies aren’t too keen on matched bettors due to us taking value away from them. It’s pretty much inevitable that you will experience a gubbing at some point in your matched betting journey. For many, this is a hindrance but for full-time matched bettors, this can be catastrophic. Some bookmaker accounts will make you more money than others. For example, a good offer which is available regularly may account for a large chunk of your monthly income. If you suddenly lose that account then you could see your profits plummet rapidly and will have to adapt to compensate for the lost funds in order to bring in enough to pay the bills. This is one of the reasons why it is important that you have experience in various profitable strategies so that if you are unable to profit from an offer that you were making money from, you have options elsewhere which you could dedicate that time to.
Losing Streaks
If you’re matched betting full time then it’s likely that you’ll be doing a lot of advantage play offers. These are offers which will not return a profit every time but as you have an edge, you will make a profit in the long term. ‘Money-Back If’ offers, Extra Places, Dutching and Casino offers are all examples of advantage play and it’s not uncommon for matched bettors to go through a bad streak where they don’t hit any refunds, extra places or wins on casino offers. This can be a problem when you rely on your matched betting profits to pay the bills. Your income each month will vary and you need to make sure that you can handle the bad months financially and mentally. Providing that you are only doing offers which have a positive Expected Value (+EV) then you will make money in the long-term. However, short-term profits can be unpredictable. Make sure that you have a large enough bank prior to going full-time to get by during these periods.
The Social Aspect
Even though matched betting can be done from anywhere at any time, it’s likely that you’ll spend most of your time at home in front of your PC or laptop. This can be a big change if you’re used to an office environment where you are interacting with colleagues throughout the day. Spending time in the comfort of your own home can be a distraction and so you need to be sure that you have the motivation to put in the time and effort to make money. Essentially, if you decide to do matched betting full time, you need to treat it as a business. Plan out what offers you are doing for the day and make sure you do them. Missed opportunities are lost profits and miss too many of them and it will show in your profit totals at the end of the month.
Sick Pay / Time Off
Working for a company does have benefits. Many will offer sick pay and paid holidays which is something that you won’t get when matched betting full time. You need to consider this as if you are ill for a lengthy period of time and are unable to dedicate time to matched betting, how are you going to pay your bills? Do you have enough funds to cover yourself if this happens and if so, for how long?
What will happen if your family want a holiday? It’s likely that you won’t be matched betting during this time and so it will be a period of not bringing in any income along with the cost of the holiday. You need to be making more money than you normally would from a full-time job in order to cover times like these.
Family Time
Matched betting isn’t always a 9-5 job. The majority of football matches either take place on weekday evenings or on weekends and some horse races can span outside of office hours also. This can have an effect on your family if you are working unsociable hours and it’s important to get the balance right.
Dedication & Organisation
This is probably the most important factor in matched betting full time and ensuring it is successful. If you’re not dedicated, it is easy to get lazy and enjoy the comforts of home too much. The best way to think about it is that it is your own business. In order to make a business successful, you need to be dedicated to it and be focussed. There is a lot of money to be made matched betting and if you’re reading this then you are one of the ones fortunate enough to have come across matched betting, understand it and take the time to apply it. Matched betting is an opportunity that doesn’t reach everyone, either because they don’t know about it or never bothered to follow through with it.
You will be your own boss and so it’s essential that you are focussed on what you are doing – making money to pay the bills and hopefully have some left for some luxuries. Make sure that matched betting comes first over things such as watching TV, playing computer games or browsing social media.
Remember, matched betting and your bookmaker/casino accounts may not be around forever so take full advantage of them while you can!
Having a starting bank
As your profits will vary each month, it’s a good idea to have a decent sized bank to start off with. This will not only allow you to get on more offers but will also be a safety net should your profits not reach your projected numbers. The size of your starting bank will vary depending on your current outgoings and what you need money for each month such as bills and food. If your profits exceed your projections one month, top your bank back up as you don’t know when you will need it. We recommend having a minimum of £5k to start with when going full time. You won’t need all of this for matched betting but it should give you some reassurance knowing that you will be able to pay your mortgage if you lose a couple of accounts or are unable to do matched betting for a period of time. If you don’t have a large starting bank then you can build one up by matched betting in your spare time whilst working a regular job. If you’re dedicated, you should be able to grow your bank relatively fast.
Full Time Offers & Routine
Each person will have a different daily routine and will focus on different offers. Do the ones that you’re most comfortable with and have the best return based on time taken. As time goes on, you’ll learn what the most profitable offers are that are available regularly and you can incorporate those offers into your daily routine. There will be new offers which arise and so it’s important that you’re a member of a matched betting site which finds all of these offers for you. You’ll have enough to be getting on with without having to scour the web for new offers. Profit Squad is the perfect matched betting site for full time matched bettors as all the latest bookmaker and casino offers are listed in the members’ area on a daily basis along with individual step-by-step guides on how you can profit from them. You’ll also have access to a range of matched betting tools which are essential when matched betting full time such as our matched betting calculator, horse racing matcher, each way dutcher and advanced casino calculator. Another excellent feature on Profit Squad is Discord. Discord is a chat application for members and a place for them to discuss matched betting, strategies, ask questions, interact with other members and be notified about new offers. There are many experienced matched bettors on Profit Squad, some of which made the move to go full time.