Matched betting isn't all about free bets and bonuses. It's actually possible to generate a profit without either of those by taking advantage of bookmaker promotions such as price boosts.
Generally, price boosts won't return a huge profit when matched betting but they are worth doing as they are offered by numbers bookmakers on a regular basis and those small profits can add up to a worthwhile amount. Profiting from price boosts is also extremely easy to do and consists of a simple back and lay bet.
what are price boosts?
Price boosts are offered by bookmakers for various events and are basically odds which have been boosted.
For example, if Ladbrokes were normally offering odds of 2/1 for Man Utd to beat Liverpool, they may offer a price boost of 3/1 instead.
You may find price boosts offered on a range of sporting events such as Football & Horse Racing and even on multiples. Skybet are a bookmaker who regularly offer price boosts on football, usually on weekends and their boosts can be very generous.
The image above shows an example of a price boost from Skybet where the odds for Liverpool, Middlesbrough & Birmingham all to win have been boosted from 5/1 to 10/1.
How to profit price boosts?
Profiting from price boosts is easy and involves simply placing a bet on the price boost and laying the same bet on the betting exchange.
As the odds of the bet have been boosted at the bookmaker, it is very likely that they are going to be higher than the lay odds on the betting exchange. Therefore, you should be able to make a profit whether or not the price boost wins or loses.
When the back odds of a bet are higher than the lay odds it is called an arb. Sometimes it is possible to find arbs without price boosts when the bookmaker is offering higher odds than the exchange. It is generally recommended to avoid arbs when matched betting but in the case of price boosts where the bookmaker has boosted the odds for a special promotion, it is considered safe and acceptable.
EXAMPLE:
The price boost to the left shows Betfred have boosted the odds of Everton to score against Burnley from 1/2 (1.5) to evens (2.0)
As the odds were originally 1.5, the lay odds on the betting exchange would be close to that. Let's say they were 1.53.
The maximum bet for this price boost is £10 and so we need to work out our ideal lay stakes based on our back stake and the odds.
When we're calculating our lay stakes for price boosts, it's important to remember to enter the boosted odds and not the standard odds. Based on a £10 stake and 2% exchange commission, we can see from the calculations above that we would make a £2.98 profit from this price boost whether Everton scored or not.
£2.98 may not seem like much of a profit but price boosts like this are extremely quick and easy to do and are offered by numerous bookmakers throughout the week and so you can see how the small profits can add up to worthwhile amounts over the course of a month.
overlaying & Underlaying price boosts (for more profit!)
If you decide that small profits aren't worth your time, you have another option which will return a higher profit. We do this by either underlaying or overlaying our bet.
By underlaying or overlaying our bet, we are able to return a profit on one outcome of the price boost and break even on the other.
For example, if we underlay the example used above, we would make an overall profit of £4.59 if the price boost won and break even if it didn't. If we overlay the price boost, we would break even if the price boost won and make a profit of £8.49 if it didn't.
Overlaying and underlaying price boosts are favoured by many matched bettors. In particular when the profits of a standard lay are small. It gives you the chance to make a bigger profit and break even if not.
Price boosts conclusion
Overall, price boosts are a great way to give your profits a boost throughout the month. They may not be the biggest earners but they are quick and easy to do and there are lots of them about at various bookmakers.
The best ways to find available price boosts are: