Anything with ‘betting’ in the name, does sound potentially risky. So is <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a> risk-free? The short answer is yes it can be. But crucially, you can choose your own level of risk.

Profitable&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;offers range from those that are completely risk-free to others that carry a risk but are still worthwhile doing. The beauty is that you can choose which to take.

If you’d prefer no risk at all, then you can stick to simple&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;offers with guaranteed risk-free profits. Alternatively, you can take on more advanced&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;techniques which carry a slight risk but with potentially higher returns.

The key is knowing what to do and how to do it, and there’s a whole range of guides, tools and calculators out there to help you.

So, let’s take a look at how you can make money from&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;and how to choose the risk level that best suits you.

What Are The Potential Risks Of Matched Betting?

Losing money is undoubtedly one of, if not the, biggest concern when it comes to starting any side-hustle. If you’re looking for extra ways to make money, then the last thing you want to do is end up out of pocket.

It’s not the only potential risk though,&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;can come with other concerns, so we’ll take a look at each of these in detail below.

When doing risk-free offers such as bet and gets or free bets, the simple answer is no, but only if you follow the process exactly.

If you don’t follow the guides, don’t place enough bets or decide to take on some more advanced&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;techniques, then there are some risks, but these are minimal.

There are three main costs associated with&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;and we’ll go into these and the risks attached below.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-much-do-you-need-to-start-matched-betting">Matched Betting&nbsp;can be started from as little as £50</a>. So straight away, that makes it more affordable than most <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/side-hustle-ideas">side hustles</a> out there.

The start-up money is not a sign-up fee though. It doesn’t go to a third-party to allow you access to sites or tools, it’s simply your first investment into&nbsp;Matched Betting.

That initial investment allows you to place your first bookie and exchange bets, which in turn means you receive your first offer, which results in you making profit.

If you place those bets correctly, you are guaranteed to receive the full 100% of your start-up money back, plus profit, so it is therefore risk-free.

In order to keep making profits, you need to keep ‘reinvesting’ that money into bets which in turn creates more profit as you go. At no point will that start-up money be at risk, as long as you place the right bets.

One thing to mention here is that although you can start from £50, the more money you start with the quicker the profits will come.

That’s simply because starting with more money allows you to place more bets quickly instead of having to wait for each result, withdrawing money and then reinvesting it. No matter how much you start with, all start-up money in&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;is risk-free if you follow the process correctly.

The best start you can give yourself in&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;is to join a free trial.

The trial by&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed</a>&nbsp;is a completely free service, giving you step-by-step guides on how to place the bets, what bookies to use and what offers to take to lock in risk-free profits.

If you decide to pursue&nbsp;Matched Betting, then the best way to maximise profits is to sign up to a&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;company such as <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed</a>.

These not only find all of the offers for you, but they give you detailed instructions on placing the bets, and more importantly give you&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;tools including odds finders and&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;calculators.

They do come with a fee though, so you have to make sure that you’re going to commit to&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;in order to cover this fee.

The good news is that you can pay annually or monthly and you can stop the monthly payments anytime you choose.

Plus, if you follow the guides and offers they provide, you will easily make the monthly fee back and plus lots more profit each month so the risk is extremely low.

Once you are more familiar with the basics of&nbsp;Matched Betting, there are more complex offers you can start playing with. With the more advanced offers, comes an added risk, but in return the rewards are better.

The risk is also minimised with something called +EV. This means that every offer is analysed, tried and tested to make sure that on the whole you can expect a positive <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-expected-value">expected value</a> from it.

These advanced offers should only be tried by experienced matched bettors who understand them well enough and have the budget to do them. So this poses no risk to new matched bettors.

Can You Make Money From Matched Betting If You Know Nothing About Sports Or Betting?

Sports betting is simply the tool that is used in order to make profit. Much like an artist needs a canvas to create a masterpiece or a chef needs a kitchen to cook.

The sport, the outcome of the sport, or your knowledge of the sport bears no significance on how much profit you can make from&nbsp;Matched Betting.

In order to be a successful matched bettor you just need to be able to follow instructions and be organised.

I mentioned earlier that in some cases it might even be an advantage if you don’t know sport or sports betting. What I meant by that is&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;is just about the data.

You place bets based on the statistics and the amount of profit you will make. You don’t place bets based on knowledge, experience, emotional attachment, or whether you fancy a team to win, or a player to score.

The less personal association you have, the more clinical and data-led you can be. Of course, you can still do these things, even if you love sports and betting, it’s just not an essential part of&nbsp;Matched Betting.

Not knowing about sports and sports betting is therefore not a risk when it comes to&nbsp;Matched Betting.

What Happens If You Make A Mistake When Matched Betting?

We’re all human and mistakes happen, whether we’re Matched Betting or not. Of course, if you place an incorrect matched bet then there is a risk of losing money.

However, there are ways to minimise this risk. If you place an incorrect bet with a bookie, say you accidentally bet £50 instead of £5, there are a few ways to correct this.

Firstly, many bookies will offer you an instant cash out for the full amount so you can cancel it off immediately.

Secondly, because&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;involves you placing two bets – one with the bookie and one with the exchange, if you place the incorrect bookie bet you can alter your exchange bet accordingly so that it balances out.

The best way to minimise this risk is to read through each guide and watch all of the video tutorials until you fully understand it.

The great thing about joining a&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;company such as&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed</a>, is that they provide a strong <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-get-matched-betting-support">support team</a>, forum and social media network who can help problem solve and rectify mistakes before they lead to issues.

Outplayed are the only Matched Betting service to provide live chat and phone support so you can speak to an experienced expert who can help you through any mistakes.

This minimises the risk considerably and means you become part of a&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;community that works well to provide advice and guidance if you need it.

How Much Time Do You Have To Give To Matched Betting?

Matched Betting is one of the smallest time-steelers when it comes to making additional money.

While many side-hustles involve you physically driving around delivering, filling in endless surveys, sales, tutoring, supplying products or services,&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;can be done whenever and wherever you choose, even from a mobile phone.

Matched Betting&nbsp;is fully flexible and can be done around your other commitments and most importantly, you can do as little or as much as you like.

For many, it is an hour every morning, some do it over lunchtime, while others prefer evenings or weekends. Some matched bettors do no more than a couple of hours a week while others will do it almost full-time. The offers are there every day, so it’s up to you how much you choose to do.

Matched Betting&nbsp;therefore offers little or no risk to your precious time to spend with family and friends.

It is true that a lot of&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;offers are for new customer sign-ups.

Bookmakers entice new customers with valuable offers of free bets and free casino spins. For some potential matched bettors, this is a risk, because once you’ve exhausted all of the initial welcome offers, they believe the money dries up.

However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The sign-up offers are often the easiest and quickest promotions to do, for sure, but in many cases the bigger value offers come after the initial sign-up.

After all, the bookies are in constant competition with each other to come up with the biggest and best offers to retain customers. So why not make the most of it?

As long as the sports betting companies continue to offer promotions, there will always be opportunities to make money from&nbsp;Matched Betting. Many matched bettors I know have been doing it for several years.

Will Matched Betting Affect My Credit Score?

The quick answer is no. When you sign up to a bookmaker or exchange, no hard credit checks take place. This means that there is no record on file of you&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;or depositing money into bookmakers with regard to credit checks.

However, it is important to say that when applying for a mortgage or a loan, often it is necessary to provide three to six months of bank statements. In this scenario, a series of deposits and withdrawals with bookmakers on your statement may come under scrutiny.

Although you would know it was for&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;and not gambling, the mortgage lender would not be able to distinguish the difference and may interpret it negatively.

It is therefore always advisable to set up a separate bank account used solely for&nbsp;Matched Betting. This means all of your&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;transactions are completely separate from your usual incomings and outgoings and will therefore leave no trace whatsoever on your main financial records.

Absolutely not. In fact, the majority of Matched Bettors I know are firmly against gambling. It sounds crazy, right? But often matched bettors are so focused on taking as much value as they can from the bookies, that it wouldn’t occur to them to place a bet without some guaranteed profit.

Matched Betting is not about taking risks, making punts or trying to predict outcomes of sporting events. It’s actually the exact opposite. It’s about using and manipulating the bookmakers’ promotions so that you can take guaranteed profits regardless of the outcome of the sport.

Therefore, there is no inherent risk to&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;if done correctly. No matter the result or score of a sporting event, you win anyway.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/news/matched-betting/is-matched-betting-legal">Matched Betting is 100% legal</a> and can earn you significant amounts of tax-free cash. There are no legal implications whatsoever to&nbsp;Matched Betting,&nbsp;so you don’t have to worry.

There are, however, some unhappy parties as a result of&nbsp;Matched Betting, which are, yes you’ve guessed it, the bookies themselves.

Bookmakers want punters to lose, it’s their business model. Yes, they want some winners along the way to keep people happy and to shout about to entice more customers in. But ultimately, they want the majority of customers to lose.

Matched bettors don’t lose. They might look like they're losing when the bookie bet doesn’t come off, but in that scenario it means the exchange bet has won anyway.

But if a bookmaker believes that a customer is taking too much value from them in terms of winnings or offers, then they can refuse further promotions or even close the account.

When this happens, it doesn’t mean that you lose your money. If a bookie decides to close your account, they will advise you to withdraw all funds first. If not, there is a comprehensive appeal process that ensures you won’t lose out.

If they prevent you from taking part in promotions, which is often referred to as ‘gubbing’, it doesn’t necessarily mean&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;has to stop. It just means you sometimes have to get more creative and that’s when the more advanced&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;techniques can come into play.

To summarise, a large proportion of&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;is risk-free. Certainly, if you follow the guidelines exactly and stick to the basic&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;offers such as welcome offers and ‘bet and gets’ then you can do it completely safely.

In other areas, you can minimise the risks considerably by opening up a separate bank account and joining a&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;company such as&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed</a>&nbsp;to take advantage of their support team and&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;tools and calculators.

Once you are more familiar with&nbsp;Matched Betting, you might want to take on more complex bets which increase your risks but deliver bigger rewards, but this is a choice. Even then, it is a strategic risk which has been analysed as providing a positive <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-expected-value">expected value</a>.

Ultimately, no part of&nbsp;Matched Betting&nbsp;is about taking risks. In fact, it is fundamentally about removing risk so that you can use offers to your advantage to make guaranteed risk-free profits.

Lynsey

Is Matched Betting Risk Free?

Slingo (sometimes also called Prizelines) is a popular online casino game that combines elements of both Slots and Bingo - hence the name Slingo!

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-casinos">Casinos</a> often run promotions that involve wagering or free spins on Slingo games, so it's a good idea to have an understanding of how they work in order to make the most profit from these <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-casino-offers-explained-in-a-nutshell">casino offers</a>.

How to properly play these games can be a little unclear when you load them up for the first time, but we're here to help!

Here, we'll go through all the information you need to know about playing Slingo and the best strategy to to help maximise your profits.

Slingo can come in a few different shapes and sizes, but we'll take a look at the most popular style of Slingo game to get you familiar with it.

When you load up most Slingo games, they'll look something like this:

On the left hand side, you'll see a place to adjust the game’s stake and also a paytable, which shows the different potential prizes for that stake size.

On the right is a button to start the game. It will also display how many spins a game involves (in the case of the above image, the game involves 11 spins).

In the centre is a 5×5 grid of numbers, which acts a bit like a Bingo Card - you're looking to make lines, or even better, the holy grail of a full house!

When the game begins, numbers will be drawn. Your aim is to match up as many of these numbers to your grid as possible. The numbers drawn are displayed along the bottom, like this:

If a number that's drawn matches a number in your grid, then it's crossed off.

Crossing off as many numbers as possible to&nbsp;complete lines is the aim of the game. A win line is a set of 5 numbers in a row; these can be horizontal, vertical, or diagonal lines.

On the standard 5×5 Slingo Grid, there are 12 Win Lines. The more lines you complete, the bigger the prize that you can win.

As you complete whole win lines, you'll start to see your progress towards prizes:

While playing some Slingo Games, you may see other special symbols that impact the gameplay:

Joker&nbsp;- Allows you to cross off any number of your choosing in the column above the joker - a very powerful symbol.

In some Slingo Games, getting 3 or more jokers in a single spin will award a Joker Bonus for an instant cash prize!

Super Joker - Allows you to cross off any number of your choosing in the entire grid - an even more useful version of the Joker symbol.

Devil - A blocking symbol that effectively just means no win from that spin - you want to avoid these!

Free Spin - Adds an extra spin to your game.

Coin Award - Gives an instant cash prize.

The Return To Player, or RTP, of an online casino game is how much you, as a player, can expect to get back, on average, over thousands and thousands of spins of that game.

For example, if a game has an RTP of 97% it would mean that, on average, over millions of spins, for every £100 you spend, you would expect to get back £97. In this example, the casino would expect to make a £3 profit on average for every £100 you spent. This margin, 3% in this example, is the casino’s house edge.

Most Slingo Games have an RTP of approximately 95%.&nbsp;The variance, speed of gameplay, and stake sizes can vary, so some versions of Slingo can be better for offers than others. We'll take a look at some of the good options below.

In the following table, I've compared the key characteristics of some of the different Slingo games. Other games are also available.

Slingo Extreme is a good option to choose for Slingo offers if it's available, due to the easy way the game plays and its lower variance. Slingo Starburst is also a great choice due to its high RTP.

The jokers and super jokers give us a choice of which numbers to select. Your choices will impact the RTP of Slingo Games so it's&nbsp;important to have some understanding of the best strategy. You don't want the house to have a bigger edge!

The jokers and super jokers should always be used where they will move you closest to completing a win line. Where many positions will achieve this, the preference should be to select the number that covers the most win lines.

If there's no clear line to complete, you want to select a number in the best possible general position. But what is that position?

Centre Number – The number in the very centre of the grid should be prioritised. This covers four win lines: horizontal, vertical and two diagonals.

Diagonal Numbers – Next the numbers on the diagonal lines should be prioritised. These cover three win lines: horizontal, vertical and one diagonal.

Other numbers – These only cover two win lines: horizontal and vertical so are the lowest priority.

Before we get into what purchasing additional balls even means, I'll give the advice on it right away. Don't do it.

With that off my chest, I can actually tell you what the extra purchase is all about.

Once you've completed your set number of spins and any free spins that you won along the way, you may be presented with a choice. This choice is to either end the game immediately and collect any prizes you've won, or buy yourself some extra balls for the opportunity to complete more win lines.

The price of the spin will depend on how many numbers you have left to complete, and how close you are to extra prizes. You may feel tempted to buy extra balls, but I would recommend avoiding this. It can get very costly.

When purchasing extra spins, as you get close to prizes, the cost of an extra spin can get extremely expensive, and you could end up with very large losses. Purchasing extra spins will also often reduce the RTP of your gameplay, giving the casino a larger edge, which is never a good thing!

You'll now have a firm grasp on the weird and wonderful game of Slingo. Unlike conventional slots or bingo, your decisions can have an impact on the profitability of the game, so it's important to have learned how to do that.

Pick the correct positions, don't buy those extra balls, and you're all set!

Interested In Getting Started Matched Betting?

You can&nbsp;<a href="https://www.outplayed.com/">start learning for free with our free trial and make your first profits today!</a>

Ollie

What Is Slingo?

If you’ve ever fancied a spin on the slots, or a chance to try your luck at the tables, then no doubt you’ve considered joining a casino.

Casinos, specifically online casinos, are one of the biggest growth industries in the world right now and the UK is a major player.

<a href="https://www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk/statistics-and-research/publication/industry-statistics-february-2024-correction#feedbackstatsresearch">UK Gambling Commission</a> statistics show that between April 2022 – March 2023, an incredible £4 billion was spent on online casino games in the UK alone, £3.2 billion of which was on slot games.

Current projections show this figure rising to just under £5 billion this year and by 2028, the UK is expected to have around 20.6 million online casino users. That’s almost a third of the population!

So what is it that makes casinos so appealing? How do online casinos work? Are they regulated? And is it possible to beat the casino? We’ll take a look at all of these things below in our ultimate guide to casinos.

Believe it or not, the first casino dates all the way back to 1638 when the Casino di Venezia opened on the Grand Canal in Venice. Without a single hint of neon in sight (!), it was built in the wing of a theatre so that guests could gamble during the intermission.

Of course, casinos have come a long way since then. 1931 saw the emergence of Las Vegas as the gambling capital of the world, the first online casinos were introduced in 1994 and casinos went mobile in 2023.

These days online casinos are more accessible than ever so if you’re thinking of giving them a go, then it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with the basics to get off to a great start.

There are two types of casinos – land-based casinos and online casinos and both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Land-based casinos are the brick-and-mortar buildings that you physically go to in order to gamble. They have limited numbers of games depending on their size and set opening hours.

Many casino players prefer visiting land-based casinos for the social element. The lights, the sounds, the feeling of going somewhere special, meeting other people and sitting around a live table with other players is what makes it appealing.

Online casinos are something you access remotely either from a PC or mobile device. There are no limitations to how many games they offer and they are available 24/7.

The popularity of online casinos comes from their convenience and accessibility. No matter where you are or what you’re doing you can log into your account and play casino games at any time and from anywhere.

Many online casinos try to recreate the social element of land-based casinos by offering live dealer games with chat functions to make it more interactive.

Casinos offer something that a lot of other entertainment can’t – the chance to win.

Whether you love being able to use your skills at the poker table, the sights and sounds of a slot machine or chancing your luck at a roulette wheel, casinos have one inherent quality – possibility!

Of course, you’re not always guaranteed to win, but the hope and the opportunity to hit a jackpot are omnipresent. It’s the same as buying a lottery ticket.

But, with casinos, there are ways you can improve your chances of winning. By using strategies and advantage gambling it is possible to gain an edge over the casino which we’ll cover later.

Casinos are exciting, full of potential, entertaining and, let’s be honest, a bit sexy. If you don’t agree, go and watch <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casino_Royale_(2006_film)">Casino Royale</a>!

Casino games can be divided into two categories – slot games and table games. While many players will play a cross-section of both, you’ll also find many players who have a favourite casino game and they stick to it.

Slots, sometimes called fruit machines or one-arm bandits, depending on your age, have been around since the 1890’s. In Australia they are called pokies which always makes me smile.

Traditional slot games are mostly based on a three-reel system and you have to line up the symbols on one line to win. While modern video slots come in hundreds of styles and themes and often have up to 50 paylines, or even more in the case of Megaways games.

Advanced technology has brought increasingly impressive online slot games with better graphics, superior bonus features and new ways to win such as progressive jackpots.

Common bonus features in slot games include free games, wheel spins, hold and spins, multiplying wilds and expanding reels. The bigger and louder the better really.

It is true that there isn’t really a skill to playing slots. It’s a case of pressing the spin button and seeing what lands. There are, though, strategies and tactics you can use to improve your chances.

Some of the most popular slot games in the UK online casino industry include:

Table games are those that involve cards, dice or chips and usually take place on a table-top. Of course, when it comes to online casinos, the table is just a graphic on the screen, but it usually still has that familiar green or blue cloth backdrop.

Some table games involve skill, particularly poker and, in a way, blackjack too. While others are more about luck such as roulette, craps or baccarat.

Due to their popularity, table games have hundreds of variations, especially online. If you look at a game like roulette in an online casino, you’ll find several versions such as Lightning Roulette, Mega Roulette, Quantum Roulette, Football Roulette, and even Sticky Bandits Roulette.

Most online casinos offer two types of table games – electronic and live dealer. However, some just have one of these options on offer.

Live dealer table games involve you watching a live dealer on video stream who is dealing cards or spinning the roulette wheel. You place bets virtually but can often interact with the dealer via a chat function.

Meanwhile, electronic table games involve you effectively playing against the casino in a computer simulated version of the live table game.

In very basic terms, there are usually two parties involved in making online slots possible – the operator and the games provider.

The operator is the actual casino brand that you’re playing in e.g. Betfred, Paddy Power, Foxy Games etc.

The games provider is the company that provides the game, software and technology to ensure the games functionality on the operators site e.g. Microgaming, Playtech, NetEnt etc.

When you sign-up to an online casino and browse the library you can often see games from many different providers.

Each game comes with its own format, rules, features and pay scales. This information should be available on the website for you to browse but often comes with abbreviations and terminology.

With that in mind, here’s some common casino terminology and what it actually means to players to help you understand how they work.

Random Number Generator relates to the format of slot machines. It effectively means that every spin is completely random and cannot be predicted.

This is the Return to Player percentage of each game. The average RTP of online games is usually between 90 – 97%.

This means that as an average, for every £100 put into a game, players might expect to receive £90 - £97 back. However, this average is taken over a significant number of spins and is not applicable to each individual player. You can still come away with nothing.

The RTP, therefore, is more of a guide than a guarantee when it comes to casino play. The general advice, though, is that the higher RTP the more chance you have of minimising losses and maximising wins.

Volatility or variance refers to how volatile a game can be. Think of it like a rollercoaster.

A high volatile game would be one with a fairly slow and non-eventful ride but at one point on the track there is a huge loop-de-loop that throws you upside down, jiggles you about and then drops you 50 feet before carrying on slowly.

A low volatile game is the opposite. It’s a rollercoaster ride with lots of twists and turns, a few jumps up and down and keeps you entertained with regular intervals but doesn’t necessarily have that stomach wrenching wow moment.

High volatile slots pay infrequently but when they do they tend to have bigger payouts. A low volatility slot will pay out frequently with regular wins but not necessarily pay that well.

In terms of casino play, blackjack is a good example of a low volatility game as you can use strategy and low stakes to ensure regular wins. Conversely, poker would be considered high volatility due to the unpredictability of each hand, the high chance of losing but the big potential payout.

Slots can be both low and high volatility depending on the game. It just depends what type of ride you prefer.

House Edge refers to the mathematical advantage that the casino has over the player and is mostly used in table games. It is the reasoning behind the statement ‘the house always wins’.

The house edge gives a measure of the percentage that a casino would expect to keep, on average, from each hand or spin, given normal patterns of play.

Blackjack is commonly known to have the lowest house edge of between 0.5% – 2%. This means that for every £100 bet, the casino would keep £0.50 - £2.00.

The main reason for blackjack house edge is because the player acts first before the dealer. So, there is a chance the player can bust out before the dealer has even played.

The house edge for roulette varies depending on which version you play. European Roulette has 36 numbers and a single zero, which means there are 37 outcomes in total. This has an average house edge of 2.70%.

American Roulette has 36 numbers, a single zero and a double zero, meaning there are 38 outcomes and that increases the average house edge to 5.26%.

Casino bonuses are offers and promotions used to entice, reignite and reward casino players. They come in many forms, but ultimately have one goal, which is to get players to interact with the casino.

Below we’ll take a look at the most common casino bonuses and how they work.

Most casinos offer some kind of introductory offer to entice new customers in. This can be a free bet, a matched deposit bonus, or some free spins. To obtain the offer, players often have to make a first deposit, or spend a specific amount in the casino, but this isn’t always the case.

The idea is that the player will join to receive the initial welcome offer and then continue to play at that casino, making further deposits and playing more frequently.

There is often a competition between casinos to offer the biggest and best welcome offers. This is a good thing for players as long as the terms and conditions are reasonable.

These are bonuses offered to players once the initial welcome bonus has been used. It can apply to a second or third deposit or just whenever the casino wants to offer it.

Reload offers usually have a ‘bet and get’ dynamic, which is along the lines of ‘Wager £10 in the casino and receive 20 free spins’. Or it can be ‘Deposit £5 and receive 50 free spins’.

However, often they come with wagering requirements which is when you have to play through the winnings from your free spins a set number of times in the casino before withdrawal. Reload offers can still provide great value, just check the terms first so you know what’s required.

The Ultimate Guide to Casinos 2024

Expected value (also known as EV) is the average outcome of a bet or event after factoring all possible outcomes and their probabilities.

Expected value essentially tells you whether a bet or other investment is a good and profitable decision. It is often used in both the gambling industry and in finance to help determine if an investment or bet is worthwhile by assessing potential risks and returns.

It might sound complicated at first, but you can use expected value to help you profit from <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a> to ensure you make the right decision for each bet you place.

In this article, you’ll learn why we use expected value in betting, how to easily find positive expected value bets and discover the best strategies that can help you make huge profits this year.

In betting, the expected value (EV) is a measure of the potential value or profit that a bet can make over the long run, taking into account both the probability of winning the bet and the potential payout.

Put simply - it helps you know if a particular bet is worth it or not.

This doesn’t mean every good value bet will win and likewise, it doesn’t mean that every poor value bet will lose.

Profitable sports bettors know and understand this - A positive expected value (+EV) bet means that you would expect to make money on the bet in the long term. While a negative expected value bet (-EV) means you would expect to lose money in the long term.

Expected value is how bookmakers and <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-casinos">casinos</a> make money - the majority of bets they offer are -EV to punters meaning the bookies and casinos are taking the opposite +EV bets. They don't mind if they lose in the short term because they know with mathematical certainty that they’ll profit in the long run by taking a large number of +EV bets.

How To Calculate Expected Value In Betting

When Matched Betting you’ll never need to calculate the expected value yourself as this is all done for you with <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register#1">Outplayed</a>. However, it’s helpful to see where the value comes from.

To calculate the expected value, you multiply each possible outcome of an event by its probability of occurring, then add up all those results. This will give you the average outcome you can expect if you were to repeat the event many times.

Let's say you're playing a game where a fair coin is tossed and if it lands on heads, you win £10 and if it lands on tails you lose £5.

There’s an even chance of winning and losing - you have a 50% chance of it landing on heads and winning and a 50% chance of landing on tails and losing.

You can calculate the expected value of this game by doing the following:

EV = (0.5 x £10) + (0.5 x -£5) = £5 - £2.50 = £2.50

The EV for this game is £2.50. As this is a positive number, you have a +EV opportunity.

This doesn’t mean you’d win £2.50 every time you played in the short term but if you played this game an infinite amount of times you would expect to make an average of £2.50 each time you play it.

Latest Posts