I find that Middle’s are useful as part of a wider portfolio of MB activities. On their own, they can quickly get accounts flagged. You also need to play with high bet values, and high volume of bets to make any significant profits which isn’t a good idea for beginners.

That being said, I found Bonusbank very good at finding these opportunities when they do exist. If you’ve progressed to advanced strategies and have a sizeable bankroll, there’s definitely good money to be made.

1. How long’s a piece of string?! The bookies are incentivised to prevent matched bettors because we are always searching for value bets (as close to the real odds as possible). Unlike regular gamblers, we aren’t willing to take terrible odds. That means we simply aren’t very profitable in the long term. However, there are steps you can take to reduce this risk. I wrote a post about 20 methods to prevent gubbing, with Bonusbank having a few more specific recommendations based on individual bookies.

I always see it as a long-term or short-term venture. If short-term, hammer them for as much profit as you can and they’ll ban you quick. If long-term, look after your account and you’ll probably make it last years and make more profit but it’ll take longer.

2. For most people, honestly it’ll never replace your day job (especially in an expensive city like Sydney). $1k a month is reasonable for relatively minimal effort. Pushing it to $2k+ a month can definitely be done. A few matched bettors use advanced techniques and can clear $100k+ a year (tax free!) but it becomes a full time obsession, it’s certainly not a ‘get rich quick’ scheme.

You often can’t just increase your stakes because bookie offers are aimed at your average punter putting on $25 and $50 bets. There’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach here, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to start slow and build up. If you’re the kind of person who would be very good at applying advanced techniques and putting many hours of effort in, all credit to you. It can certainly be lucrative.

Hi David!

Thank you for your kind words about my site, I’m glad you have found the concept of matched betting intriguing.

As to whether it would be suitable for your personal scenario, I’m hesitant to give you specific advice based on your circumstances. However, I can say there is no good reason why you wouldn’t be able to earn some useful money from applying the basics of matched betting. I would have a few pieces of advice that you should consider in particular:

• Take it slow and be careful with your bets. Take on the sign-up bonuses one at a time. This means you can have a smaller amount of money kept in betting accounts, plus you’re less likely to make mistakes.
• Start with betting on AFL, NRL, Premier League as they are much simpler and give you the time to practise your bets before actually placing them
• Double check everything. The only way you can lose money is if you make a mistake. I’m still guilty of this, especially when I’m rushing so I would advise always double checking that your bet has been placed correctly.

There’s ultimately no harm in giving it a try with one bookmaker (and Betfair). If you then decide Matched Betting is not right for you, then it’s incredibly easy to withdraw your money. If you have any further questions, I’m always available at david@ozprofit.com.

sincerely,

David.