Matchbook betting exchange

Every Matched Bet consists of a back bet and a lay bet.

You will therefore use a betting exchange like Matchbook every time you place a Matched Bet.

It is really important that you get familiar with the site.

Matchbook is not a bookmaker. It is a betting exchange. A betting exchange makes it possible to lay a bet i.e. to bet on something to not happen e.g. Manchester United to not win.

You may have heard about Betfair, Smarkets or Betdaq, which are all betting exchanges.

Matchbook is a betting exchange directly available to punters in Austria and Switzerland. However, Matchbook charges 4% commission outside of the UK.  If you would still like to register with Matchbook, we would be grateful if you could register through this link.  Thank you!

You will also be able to sign up to other betting exchanges, notably Betfair White Label exchanges, through betting brokers.

Let’s get started and go to the Matchbook website

The image on the front-page changes all the time, so don’t worry if your screen looks slightly different.

Normally when you place a lay bet, you will be directed straight to the game
from the Oddsmatcher, however there is also a search function (in the red circle in the screenshot above), which is useful if for some reason you need to look up a game yourself.

Alternatively, you can look for the event manually in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen.

Finding your Matched Bet

Say you wanted to find the game Basel v. Manchester United, you can just type Manchester in the search box and select the game from the drop-down box.

Once you select a game, you will see the available selections and odds.

On the left-hand side, you can see the available selections in the match odds markets. That means you can choose either FC Basel or Manchester United to win or you can choose the draw.

The blue odds are the back bet odds. Remember a back bet is when we bet on something to happen. This is the bet that we place with the bookmaker.

The pink odds are the lay bet odds. A lay bet is when you bet on something to not happen e.g. if we place a lay bet on Manchester United, we bet on them to not win. If the result of the game was a draw or if FC Basel won the game, our lay bet would win.

The small numbers you see underneath the odds are the money available for each selection at the odds shown.

You can for example back Manchester United (although with Matched Betting we only use Matchbook to lay bets) to win at odds 2,02 with a maximum stake of €139. However, if you placed €140, part of your bet would be partially matched. That means that only part of your bet was placed as there is not enough money available. The €1 would remain unmatched until either someone chose to match it or the game starts. Any unmatched money will be returned to your account at the start of the game.

The below text is about liability and is from my Matched Betting Guide. If you have already read and understood it, then please go ahead and skip this section. Otherwise, please continue reading.

Liability

Liability is something that can cause confusion, especially when laying bets.

The liability is what you stand to lose if your bet loses.

Remember, if you lose the liability at the betting exchange, you will win that money at the bookmaker.

When you back a bet with a bookmaker, the liability is easy to calculate as it is equal to your stake.

So, if you bet €10 on a game, the amount you stand to lose is €10.

However, when we lay bets the liability looks different.

The formula looks like this: (stake x decimal odds) – stake = liability. Say you lay a bet at odds of 6 with a €10 stake, then your liability would be (10 x 6) – 10 = €50. You will note that the liability when laying a bet can be substantially higher than the back liability.

Don’t worry about this as the liability lost at the bookmaker will be won at the betting exchange and vice versa.

However, it is always important to check that you have enough money in your account to lay the bet before you place your back bet.

It is also because the liability is larger when you lay a bet that a bigger float is preferable to a small one.

The more money you have available in your Matchbook account, the more bets you can lay off at the same time and the more money you will earn from Matched Betting.

Placing bets on Matchbook

From the Bet365 sign up offer guide you will already be aware that the Oddsmatcher will do all the calculations for you and the built-in calculator will show you exactly how much money you need to bet on the back and lay bets.

So you just need to check that the stake and liability are the same as shown in the Oddsmatcher.

If the odds change, then you can just add the new odds to the Oddsmatcher and it will make a new calculation for you.