I’ve glossed over this great little trick before, but here’s a way for you to turn your bookmaker bonuses into free cash. Because the industry is so competitive, bookmakers do offer generous bonuses for signing up with them, bonuses which are generally only functioned after a certain amount is first wagered.
You may be thinking . . . “so I have to wager a certain stake amount in order to activate my bonus. What if I lose? Yes I’ll still get my bonus but I’ll still be out of pocket.” Good point, but have you considered this:
Why Not Create a Risk-Free Bet And Then Still Collect Your Bookmaker Bonus?
Use your qualifying stake to back a certain horse. Lay the same horse on Betfair. Win or lose you will be back on parity and your bookmaker bonus will have been activated. This can also be applied to new Betfair account free bets. Lay the bet on Betfair and back the same horse with a bookmaker at similar odds. Either way you win, and more importantly, you have met the terms and conditions to activate your free bonus.
This is a skin and bones example of what’s available in the risk free betting world. There are more opportunities out there, but the potential to make headache free profits is certainly there, as this reader’s diary will attest:
Tony’s Trade Diary
“First of all, I would like to say anyone who is reading this that I am new to this as well. You must read through the e-books and fully understand everything before you trade. It is all relatively quite easy and is as simple as placing a total of 4 bets to complete a winning trade. You can trade on any sport you like but I tend to trade on the horses as it’s over in a few minutes. With the new football season there is plenty of action and trades. Just imagine placing your bet on a horse race or football and not even bothered about the outcome as you now how much you will get back whatever the outcome. It’s a great feeling!
Personally I prefer to trade on one bookie at a time per day as I want to keep track of my transactions and make sure monies are paid back into my bank account before moving onto the next one. You can trade more if you wanted to but keep track of your separate trades and accounts though.
My very first trade was on 13th July 2007 (see below). Having just finished reading the e-course I was eager to get my first trade done to see if it worked. You can learn from my mistakes. I forgot to use the money bet calculator for my first bet and stuck a lay bet on £50. Here’s what happened:
FRIDAY 13 JULY 2007
I opened an account with betinternet.com and deposited £50. At the time they are offering 50% match free bet on your initial deposit. To take full advantage I had to deposit and bet £50. Please read each bookies’ terms and conditions as they can vary. Most are quite similar in the fact that they require you to bet at least even money or higher to qualify for your free bet. I looked through the racing and comparing the price also on Betfair and found a suitable race.
York 2.15: Transmission currently at 15/8 so placed my £50 bet on that to win.Looked at the lay side on Betfair and I laid £50 to lose at 3.2 which meant a liability of £110. If I used the calculator it would have said lay it at £45.63 to get an even loss. However the horse lost, I got my £50 back minus 5% commission so current loss of £2.50.
Normally you could wait up to 24 hours before a free bet is credited to your account. Acting like a new punter and losing on my first bet I contacted the live support via their link. They checked my account and credited me with the free £25 bet within the hour. Once I new the £25 quid had been credited I looked for another race and found a suitable one.
Newmarket 3.45: Laureldean Gale odds at the time 7/4 and placed my free £25 bet on that to win. (Remember the free bet is not returned as money, you only get the profits should it win) I wasn’t using the calculator at this point and stuck a lay bet of £25 on the same horse to lose. It was playing on my mind it didn’t add up after I placed the bet. Luckily this was a few hours beforehand and using the calculator before the race start I realised my mistake. I should have laid £15.56 for a liability of £28.96. I managed to back it at £10 before the race started.
The horse won so my profit was £43.75 less liability £28.96 = £14.79 less £2.50 for first trade = RISK FREE profit for today £12.29! I made a mistake by laying the whole £25 on Laureldean Gale to lose. Luckily I quickly rectified this before race started by backing it back at £10. Please do not try and jump the gun like I did and use the calculator. I thought I had it all sussed and didn’t really bother with the calculator and it could’ve cost me.
MONDAY 16 JULY 2007
Opened an account with betdirect.net as they are offering £50 free bet BUT you only get £25 free bet initially and then when you place a further 10 bets of £25 you then get the next £25. I decided to take advantage of the initial £25 and could come back later for the rest once my list of bookies have been used up. Once you have placed your first bet of £25 the free £25 gets credited into your account quite quickly so ideal for a quick complete trade. First bet I found was the Newton Abbot 2.15: Ruby Dante £25 to win and laid £25 to lose at 3.4 with Betfair. The horse won so I was down (£56.25 profit less £60.00 liability) £3.75.
Second bet used free bet at the 2.45 Newton Abbot, horse Penny Pictures 5/2 to win, laid £17 at 3.75. The horse lost. So £17 less 0.85 commission and £3.75 first trade loss leaves £12.40 RISK FREE profit.
TUESDAY 17 JULY
Betfred.com are offering £50 free bet for an initial stake of £50. The free bet will be credited up to 24 hours. First bet was Brighton 3.30 Ten on Line to win at 6/5 for £50. Managed to lay this at 2.2 for £50. The horse lost so received £50 from lay bet less commission of £2.50.
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY
A £50 free bet is credited into my account. Used free bet at Lingfield 2.20: Dresdon Doll at 15/8, laid on Betfair at 2.98 for £31.78. The horse lost so received £31.78 less £2.50 for a RISK FREE profit of £29.28.
WEDNESDAY 18 JULY
I opened another account to trade for today with totesport.com. The free bet you get is credited instantly once you place your £25 stake. First bet Uttoxeter 3.10: Too Posh To Share backed £25 at 7/4, laid at 2.72 for £25. Yes I got a lower price than I backed it (due to the fact once I backed it the price started shortening so got a better price on Betfair). The horse won so profit £43.75 less liability of £43 profit of 0.75 pence.
Next bet used free £25 bet at Lingfield 3.20: Montpellier backed at 15/8, laid it at 3.10 for £15.62. Horse lost so received 15.62 less 0.78 commission plus previous profit of 0.75 makes RISK FREE profit
of £15.59.
MONDAY 23 JULY
Opened account with vcbet.co.uk with £50 for a free £50 bet. Yarmouth 2.30: Grand Art backed £50 at 7/4, laid on Betfair at 2.86 for £48.93 which would mean a loss of £3.51 whatever the outcome. Grand Art won so current loss of £3.51 (profit of £87.5 less liability £91.00).
TUESDAY 24 JULY
Free bet credited to my vcbet account. Found an ideal race 2.30 Yarmouth: Bret Maverick early price 9/2. Betfair trading on lay 5.8 so quick calculation with calculator. Placed £50 to win with vcbet at 9/2, laid £39.13 at 5.8 with Betfair. Either outcome for a profit of £37.17. Horse lost so received £39.13 from lay bet less commission £1.96. Leaves £37.17 less previous day loss of £3.51. Risk Free
Profit £33.66!
TIP: I have been playing about with the calculator and found out that if using the free bet, try and look for bets with odds around 3/1 or more, as you tend to get a better return. I initially was going to back an odds on so my liability was low, but the returns were very small at around 100% less than what you can get from a longer shot horse. E.g: Say 8/11 shot backed at £50 will return profit only of £36.36; to lay that on Betfair would be around 1.86 mark, so the calc says I should lay for £20.08. That would give a profit of £19.08 before taking out first trade losses. Compare that to profit I got above by backing and laying a 9/2 shot!”
What Really WINS Money View
From a personal point of view, traditional arbitrage is viable but it’s just not for me. I really don’t want to spend countless hours scouring markets on betting exchanges and obscure bookmakers, depositing funds and winning tuppence risk free. BUT I know there are those of you who want to investigate this phenomenon further and may wish to replicate the reader. http://www.freebetsarbitrage.com offer a variety of methods to make risk free gains from advanced strategies and how to ensure you profit with bookmaker incentives. Some of their methods marry traditional bookmakers and the betting exchanges ability to lay in new and unique ways, and most importantly, for profit.
This is a reader recommendation and I wanted to share it with you. He has benefited and has negotiated a discount for WRWM readers, so if you are interested go to www.freebetsarbitrage.com/wrwm or email me and I will liaise with the reader in question to answer your queries.