Matched Betting Guide

Matched betting is a low-risk technique that converts bookmaker signup bonuses and bonus bets into withdrawable cash. You back an outcome at a bookmaker (e.g. Sportsbet, Ladbrokes, BetEasy) and lay the same outcome at the Betfair Exchange, covering every result. Your first qualifying bet locks in a small, predictable loss (around 2–8%). The bookmaker then releases your bonus bet, which you repeat the same way to extract roughly 70–80% of its face value as profit. Everything is calculated in advance with our matched betting calculator — there is no prediction or guessing involved.

• Typical profit per Aus signup offer: $80 – $400
• Typical extraction rate from bonus bets: 70 – 80%
• Average qualifying loss per signup: 2 – 8% of stake
• Recommended starting bank: $300 – $500
• Time per offer once set up: 15 – 25 minutes
• Number of Australian bookmaker signups available: 20+
• Estimated first-three-month profit (full effort): $1,500 – $3,000

Below we will show you how to approach your first Matched Betting signup with BetEasy using Betfair Exchange.

We advise going through each step slowly and refer back to any of the guides as many times as needed. If at any time you are stuck or confused please feel free to contact us.

Click the link below and open an account with Betfair. Fill out all required information and then come back to this page.

Open an account with BetEasy using the link below and deposit $50. You may select a bigger bonus if you have the bank for it.

BetEasy will match your deposit with a $150 bonus bet once your first deposit of $50 has been made. This needs to be wagered one time together with our qualifying bet within 7 days from date of signing up.

Our bonus bets get credited immediately after depositing, but we still need to wager through our original deposit of $50 otherwise this cannot be withdrawn.

Click on the "Claim Offer Now" button as seen below.

Fill in your details on the signup form.

Once we have opened our Betfair and BetEasy accounts, we are ready to place our first ever bets! We suggest keeping both your Betfair and your BetEasy tabs open to make it easy to find the best possible matches.

We need to check the Ts & Cs of BetEasy before doing the offer, as seen below.

A few things to take from the terms & conditions:

• We need to use our bonus bet within 7 days
• Minimum odds are 1.50
• Wagering of our bonus bets winnings is 1x

They state we need to simply deposit $50 and will then receive $150 in bonus bets. We need to bet through our deposit of $50 as a qualifying bet in order to be able to withdraw any money once we are done with the offer.

With signups, we suggest sticking to major sporting events with slow moving odds such as major English and European soccer leagues, or popular AFL and NRL matches.

We suggest leaving horse racing for the now, as these odds tend to move faster and one needs to first get used to the techniques involved before attempting horse racing. This will be covered at a later stage.

Below we have found a English Premier League soccer match between West Ham and Brighton.

We see that the West Ham market odds are looking quite close. We are placing our qualifying bet so we will be going for the lower odds.

Next we enter these odds into our calculator and see what our qualifying loss would be, as shown below.

As we can see, at odds of 1.94 to back and 1.99 to lay our qualifying loss is $2.50 on a stake of $50. This is a loss of about 5%. We usually try minimise this loss as much as possible, but 5-8% is acceptable.

We are happy with this and proceed using this match.

Use our Matched Betting calculator to calculate the lay odds:

• Select "Qualifying Bet" at the top.
• The bookmaker stake is $50.
• Enter the BetEasy back odds.
• Enter the Betfair exchange lay odds.
• The lay commission is 5%.

The lay stake and the liability will be shown to you. The "liability" is the amount you need to deposit into the Betfair exchange. Deposit that amount.

Our lay stake at Betfair will be $50 on the dot.

So for our qualifying bet we need at least $49.50 in our Betfair account to cover our liability.

Our qualifying loss is $2.50, which is normal. (Remember every qualifying bet will have a loss – this is a normal part of Matched Betting.)

We will place our $50 back bet at BetEasy as shown below.

And place our lay bet at Betfair as shown below.

Now that our qualifying bet has been placed, we can go ahead and repeat the same process with our bonus bet!

When using our bonus bets, the process is exactly the same as when we place our qualifying bets.

The only difference is with our bonus bets we want to try find higher odds to maximise our profit.

We try to extract 70-80% profit off our bonus bet which in this case would be about $110 – $130.

For this example, let's say we have found a European soccer match between Real Madrid and Levante.

Levante are at odd of 5 on BetEasy, and on Betfair they are at 5.1. Let's enter these odds into our calculator.

Remember – this is a bonus bet so we change our mode to Bonus Bet (SNR). SNR means stake not returned. This will normally be case. This can always be found in each bookmaker's Ts & Cs.

As you can see above, our profit will be $112.87. This is about 75% of our $150 stake, which is good enough.

We now go ahead and place our bets exactly the same way as we did in Step 5.

In your bet slip on BetEasy you will see an option to use bonus bets when placing bets. Click on this then place your bet. Remember we are not using our own cash here, only bonus bets.

We have now completed our first Matched Betting signup offer. As you get more practice, the process of Matched Betting becomes easier and easier.

So our total profit from this offer is:

Profit from bonus bet: $112.87 Qualifying loss: ($2.50) Total profit: $110.37

So we extracted over 70% from our original stake of $150 which is acceptable.

Continue with more signups by clicking the button below.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact us!

PS – Remember to take your time, there is no rush!

• Back bet — A traditional bet that an outcome will happen, placed at a bookmaker.
• Lay bet — A bet that an outcome will NOT happen, placed at the Betfair Exchange.
• Qualifying bet — The first cash bet that unlocks a bookmaker bonus, normally producing a small (2–8%) locked-in loss.
• Bonus bet — A free bet credited by a bookmaker after the qualifying bet, used to extract profit.
• SNR (Stake Not Returned) — Bonus bet where only the winnings are paid out; the most common Australian format.
• SR (Stake Returned) — Bonus bet where the stake is also paid back if the bet wins.
• Liability — The amount needed in your Betfair account to cover a lay bet if it loses.
• Commission — The fee Betfair charges on net winnings, typically 5% in Australia.
• Mug bet — A small, recreational-looking bet placed to disguise matched betting activity from bookmakers.

Matched betting is mathematically distinct from both gambling and sports trading.

Matched betting removes variance by covering every outcome — profit is locked in before the event starts and comes from bonus value, not predictions.

Gambling relies on predicting outcomes; long-term expected value is negative because of the bookmaker margin (typically 105–110%).

Sports trading uses fluctuations in exchange odds to lock in profit on either side, similar to financial trading. It requires skill, market knowledge and tolerates losing trades.

If you want a fuller comparison, see our what is matched betting explainer and Betfair Exchange guide.

What is matched betting and is it legal in Australia?

Matched betting is a mathematical technique that turns bookmaker signup bonuses and bonus bets into withdrawable cash by covering both outcomes of an event — backing at a bookmaker and laying at a betting exchange like Betfair. It is legal in Australia for over-18s and is treated as a hobby for tax purposes (winnings from gambling are generally not taxable income for non-professional bettors).

How much money can you make matched betting in Australia?

Most Australian beginners extract $1,500–$3,000 in profit working through every available signup offer over their first few months. Ongoing reload offers, racing refunds and exchange promotions can add a further $500–$2,000 per month depending on the time you commit and which premium service you use.

Do I need a Betfair account to do matched betting?

Yes. Betfair is the only licensed betting exchange operating in Australia and is essential for laying bets. You cannot reliably do matched betting in Australia without a funded Betfair Exchange account.

How much money do I need to start matched betting?

A starting bank of $300–$500 is comfortable for the first few signup offers. You can technically start with as little as $100, but a larger bank lets you cover lay liabilities on bigger bonuses without waiting for funds to settle.

What is a qualifying bet?

A qualifying bet is the first cash bet you place to unlock a bookmaker's bonus. You back at the bookmaker and lay at Betfair, locking in a small loss (typically 2–8% of your stake) so the bonus bet is then released risk-free.

What is the difference between SNR and SR bonus bets?

SNR (Stake Not Returned) means you only keep the winnings if your bonus bet wins — the stake is not paid back. SR (Stake Returned) means winnings plus stake are paid out. SNR is by far the most common type used by Australian bookmakers and typically extracts 70–80% of face value.

How long does each signup offer take?

Once your bookmaker and Betfair accounts are funded, a single signup offer typically takes 15–25 minutes end-to-end: find odds, calculate stakes, place back bet, place lay bet, repeat with the bonus.

Can I get banned from bookmakers for matched betting?

Australian bookmakers can and do limit or restrict accounts they identify as bonus-only. Mug betting (placing small recreational-looking bets) and varying your bet sizes can extend account life. Once an account is restricted you can typically still bet at fixed odds on major markets.