Traditional Matched Betting
Method 2: Back and Lay
Once you have mastered Method 1, then you want to move on to Method 2 as soon as you feel comfortable enough to. Method 2 is the same as traditional Matched Betting, where you use backing and laying to release and convert free bets into money. You can view resources on this page (Step 3 of the Free Bet Challenge, the £500+ club) to learn what "Laying" is.
Backing is the same as betting, where you bet on something you think will happen and you win if it does happen. Laying is the complete opposite to backing, where you bet on something you think will not happen. It means you just need to place 2 bets to release and convert free bets, instead of 3 like you have been doing. Also, you can now bet on any event as opposed to just football. This opens up horse racing for example, where you can bet on (Back) a horse winning at the bookmaker and it losing (Lay) at a bet exchange like smarkets or betfair. This can be used to get free bets and to convert them into money.
Step 1 of 2 - Qualifying Bet
A qualifying bet is the term given to a bet made with a bookmaker to unlock their free bet. You make a small loss at this stage, to get your free bet.
You will generally be using the "Normal (Qualifier/Arb)" Matched Betting Calculator (Equivalent to using the Free Bet Getter Calculator in method 1) to enter the bookmaker odds and bookmaker stake, along with the bet exchange odds and commission. Betfair is 5% commission, Smarkets is 2% commission. The liability is the amount you need in your bet exchange account to place the lay bet. The closer the back and lay odds are, the better. You will want to generally place this qualifying bet at odds of 2.0 or greater. This bet is done to get access to your free bet.
Step 2 of 2 - Convert Free Bet into Money
Step 2 is to convert the free bet into money. We essentially do the same thing, but this time with the free bets. Also, because the free bet stake is not returned (SNR) then we use the Free Bet SNR (Stake not returned) side of the Matched Betting Calculator (Equivalent to using the Free Bet to Money Converter Calculator in method 1) to tell you how much to lay to convert the free bet into money. To make more money from a Free Bet where the stake is not returned, you want to bet at higher odds, say at least 4.0 if you can afford the liability in the bet exchange to do so.