Bank Management
My banking set up for matched betting
Firstly the most important thing is to separate your betting funds from your day to day expenses.
So get a new everyday current account that will come with a debit card. Avoid all prepaid set ups which can set off flags with bookies and get a visa debit card.
You should be able to apply for one of these online with all the major banks.
Having an account solely for your betting makes it much much easier to track your overall betting capital and ongoing profits.
Capital
I recommend you have at least a £500 betting bank/fund.
Ideally if you can set aside £1500 you’re going to find doing matched betting and following my bets a whole lot easier since you will not need to move money about so much and could also help keep your accounts unrestricted for longer.
You will probably want a good chunk of that in Smarkets so you can lay of bets where we are just qualifying for a freebet etc, and also in case of an opportunity to hedge.
Bear in mind also that we may have around £100 – £200 invested in antepost bets for upto 10 months.
Drawdowns
Since we are betting with the the odds stacked in our favour drawdowns or losing runs isn’t something we really need to worry about. But if you’re new to this you need to be aware that often we are taking value prices with our own funds not free bets, and we can lose as well as win over the short term.
So over time we can expect drawdowns of upto £150 or more to occur – these will be rare but you should be prepared to accept them as part of the overall process.
Staking (Advantage Play Bets)
I will advise all bets in £ – my actual stakes in GBP
And the advised bets will be between £1 – £50
Although the vast majority will be between £1 and £25.
Very occasionally when we are placing an opposing lay bet to guarantee a profit from a free bet, you may need up to £350 in your Smarkets account (or Betfair) to cover liability, this is never at risk however.
Sometimes we may be risking upto £100 over the course of a weekend, if you’re not comfortable risking such an amount then you should reduce stakes accordingly or not take part in the offers that require you to risk your own funds.
Staking (Each Way Bets)
Where I am listing bets in actual £ stakes, this is based on £25 = 1pt.
You may of course bet higher (many will do) but bear in mind betting these selections on valued accounts may result in you losing access to free bets faster. So spreading your stakes about is key.
My recommended bank is 20pts using my advised staking between 0.1pt and 1pt each/way. Sticking to this setup has stood the test of time without ever threatening to bust the bank. However risk management is a skill and you may feel more comfortable with your bank divided by a higher divisor or a lower divisor.
Guidelines:
20pts – lowest advisable bank, medium risk.
30pts – Safe.
40pts – Very safe/using for other low risk betting as well.
Winnings!
You should look to withdraw your profits periodically. I tend to take them once or twice a year only. Normally once the Ante-post markets settle and the off season begins.
Safe gambling
Even with the best intentions and a winning strategy, we are all human. If you don’t feel that you are in control of your gambling or are worried about your habits -please do speak to someone. You can log into your members dash and self exclude at any time by opting out of daily emails.
If you need help with this please contact me and I will be happy to assist without judgement.
You can get confidential advice and support here.