by ANNIE DALE EVERY expert pundit will acknowledge you have to take the rough with the smooth when betting on the nags. There are so many things that can go wrong whether you’re a keen student of form, a racing statistician or receiving insider information. You hope the good runs outweigh the bad and you can be one of the few who finish ahead of the bookmaker.

And yet, there are thousands of people who wouldn’t know a fetlock or a furlong but do know how matched betting can give you a 100% chance of a win in horse racing.

Most racing enthusiasts are aware of the important relationship between bookmaking and the sport, both in terms of sponsorship and the revenues the industry helps raise to towards its financial well-being. Betting is a huge part of the racing scene and most punters are on the lookout for ways to beat the bookie. There is only one sure way to do it and that is to take advantage of their generosity by turning free bets and bonuses into cold, hard cash.

Betting exchanges have given punters the opportunity to play at being bookmakers and it is the ability to lay horses to lose that allows matched bettors to cover all outcomes of a bet. In doing so, they can obtain a free bet for little or no cost and in turn, extract most of the free bet value in cash to provide a risk-free profit.

The strategy has been around since the turn of the century but many sites have made it more accessible by providing odds matching software and tools such as this matched bet calculator to find the best bets and calculate the ideal stakes, which ensure you make a similar profit regardless of the result.

Here’s an example:

Take a look at how matched betting is used to make a guaranteed profit from a bookmaker welcome offer. In this example, we’ll receive a £50 free bet after placing a £50 bet with our own money. We’ll use nominal odds of 6/4 (2.5) for the first bet and 9/2 (5.5) for the free bet.

First, place the qualifying bet in order to earn a free bet:

Bet £50 with the bookmaker on your horse to win at 2.5, giving a potential win of £75
Lay £50.40 on the same horse to lose on Smarkets exchange at 2.5, for a potential loss of £75.60

If the horse wins, you win £75 from the bookmaker less £75.60 loss on the exchange for an overall loss of 60p
If the horse loses, you lose £50 to the bookmaker  and win £49.40 (£50.40 less 2% commission) for an overall loss of 60p

Therefore it costs 60p to receive a £50 free bet.

To make a profit from the free bet:

Place the £50 free bet on a horse to win at 5.5 for a potential win of £225
Lay £41.06 on the same horse to lose on the exchange at 5.5 for a potential loss of £184.77

If the horse wins, you win £224 from the bookmaker less £184.77 loss on the exchange for an overall profit of £40.23
If the horse loses, you lose nothing to the bookmaker as the bet is free and win £41.06 on the exchange less 2% commission giving an overall profit of £40.24

The total profit from the offer is £40.24 (or £40.23) less 60p loss on the qualifying bet

There are around 90 UK licensed online bookmakers and exploiting their sign up offers in this way is an easy way to make money. There’s more to be made by doing money back offers, price boosts, enhanced place terms and other betting promotions.  There’s no longer a need to ride peaks and troughs when using a strategy with 100% chance to win.