Matched Betting Glossary

Back bet

When you place a bet on an outcome of an event at a Bookmaker, e.g. Germany to win. If Germany wins, your bet wins. But if they lose or draw, your bet loses.

Betting Exchange / Exchange

Betting Exchanges offer the opportunity for anyone to both back and lay a bet, e.g. bet on Germany to not win. If Germany loses or draws, your bet wins, but if they win, your bet loses. In a Betting Exchange, you bet against other people rather than a Bookmaker.

Bookmaker / Bookie

A company that accepts bets either online or in shops. Bet365 is an example of a Bookmaker.

Commission

Commission is what the Betting Exchange charges for using its service.

Float/Bank Roll

Is the money you have available to place bets.

Free Bet

These are our bread and butter in Matched Betting. You normally have to place a qualifying bet to receive a free bet. If your free bet loses, you will not have lost any money.

Lay Bet

Is betting against something. In Matched Betting we lay our bets to ensure they are risk-free. We lay bets at a Betting Exchange after we have placed the first bet (the back bet) at a Bookmaker.

Liability

Is the amount of money you lose on a lay bet if your bet loses. Remember, in Matched Betting – if you lose at the Betting Exchange you will win at the Bookmaker.

Liquidity

Liquidity is the amount of money available in the market at the Betting Exchange. For example, if you need to lay €10 on a bet, but there is only €8 in the market, your bet will only be partially matched. If there is more than €10, then there is enough to get your bet matched.

Matched Betting / MB

A betting technique designed to extract the most value out of Bookmakers’ promotions.

Qualifying Bet

A bet placed at a Bookmaker in order to receive a free bet or qualify for a promotional offer.

Qualifying Loss / QL

The amount of money you will lose when qualifying for a promotion. It is important to keep the QL as low as possible.

Sign up offer

An initial offer from a Bookmaker when you sign up for the first time.

Single

A bet on a single game.

Stake

The amount of money you bet.

Stake not returned (SNR)

A free bet where the stake, i.e. the free bet, is not included in your winnings. 95% of your free bets will be of this kind.

Wagering Requirement (WR)

The amount of money you will need to bet in order to release your bonus winnings. E.g. if you are given a €5 free bet with a 10 x wagering requirement, you need to wager €50 before you can withdraw the money.