Should I Back or Lay First? – This is a vital lesson for you to learn in Matched Betting.
If you don’t have time for the full breakdown, including the examples;
You should always place the Back Bet first, when Matched Betting.
It’s vital when you are matched betting to always place your back bet with the bookmaker, before you place the lay bet with the betting exchange.
If you Lay before hand you can face multiple issues. We will be going into these issues below.
The Correct Way to Back and Lay Bets
You must always back first, then lay later. To perfect the practice, it’s best to lay immediately after.
When you’re learning, it’s best to open up both the bookmaker and the exchange up on your computer screen. This means that you can place your back bet, then immediately lay it right after.
The Correct Process is as follows:
- Ensure you’re logged in at both the bookmakers, and the betting exchange.
- Navigate to the correct markets, with the correct market open. Put the bets in your betslip.
- Place the Back bet.
- Place the Lay bet, using the odds on the Matched Betting Calculator.
This is the complete method. It sounds like a hard process, but you’ll be doing it in no time.
Now, let’s take a look at the potential issues, of doing it incorrectly.
The potential issue with Laying Bets first
In this example, we are going to be completing a qualifying offer ‘Bet £50, Get £50 promotion’.
So with the Calculator set to standard, we find a bet that’s 2.6 to back, 2.68 to lay. This has been implemented below using Profit Accumulators Matched betting calculator.
You opt to make the £49.43 lay, instead of placing the £50 back bet first. Your lay bet matches successfully.
However, you return to the bookmaker, to find that they’ve reduced their odds.
They’re now only offering 2.5 for your team. It’s now that panic mode sets in, as we’ve now got to do extra working out.
If you leave this too close to the game kicking off, you might not actually be able to recover this fully.
If you place your back bet first, you can completely stop this manic event from occuring. Yes, the lay might move whilst you place the back bet, but that’s easy to change on the calculator.
Let’s look at the Matched Betting Calculator difference between 2.6 odds and 2.5.
This mistake would have cost you an extra £1.85. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s something that’s completely avoidable.
You need to ensure you place your back bets first, as this will increase your profitability overall.