Comprehensive Guide to Esports Matched Betting

Firstly, let's talk about what esports matched betting really is. Esports matched betting is a technique that gamblers use to make a risk-free bet on an esports event. In theory, a matched bet will result in zero loss if you do things right.

In simple terms, esports matched betting works when you use a free bet on one outcome for an esports event and then use another platform to place a bet with your own money on the other outcome of the same event.

If the first outcome occurs, you lose the paid bet, but you get the reward from the free bet. If the second outcome occurs, you lose the free bet, but you win the bet for the first outcome.

So, it's essentially a win-win situation. However, the actual process of placing a matched bet on esports is a bit more complicated.

Before we go in-depth on esports matched betting, here are some important esports betting terms that you should know:

Esports Betting Odds

Betting odds are a way to express the likely hood of an outcome happening. Odds also determine how much reward you will get if the outcome actually happens. There are several ways to represent odds, but the most popular one for esports betting is decimal odds.

For example, let's say you place a 10 U.S. dollar bet on team A winning with decimal odds of 2.4. If team A wins, you get 24 U.S. dollars, which is 10 times 2.4.

Esports Bookmaker or Sportsbook

An esports bookmaker (online bookmaker, esports sportsbook) is an online platform that offers betting markets for gamblers to place bets.

Back Bet

A back bet is a bet on a certain outcome happening. For example, if you place a back bet on team A that is competing in an esports event, you will win if team A wins. You will lose if there is any other outcome like the match ending with a draw or team A losing.

Esports Betting Exchanges

An esports betting exchange is a platform that allows other people to act as bookmakers, and it is also the only place where you can place lay bets.

Lay Bet

Lay bets are bets on an outcome not happening. For example, if you place a lay bet on Team A, you will win if Team A does not win. You also win if the match draws because it falls under the category of team A "NOT" winning.

Liability

When you make a lay bet, you are liable to pay the extra amount if you lose. If you place a 10 U.S. dollar lay bet on team A with odds of 2 and team A wins, you lose the 10 U.S. dollars. However, you also have to pay the extra 10 U.S. dollars because the odds were 2.

For this reason, you have to keep 20 U.S. dollars at an exchange if you want to place a 10 U.S. dollar lay bet with odds of 2. You will need to keep 30 U.S. dollars if the odds are 3.

For esports matched betting, you need two platforms, with the first one being an esports online bookmaker and the second one being an esports exchange. The bookmaker will allow you to place a back bet, which means that a certain team will win the match, and the exchange will allow you to make a lay bet, which means that the same team will not win the match.

You will use the free bet on the bookmaker to place the back bet on an event and your own money to place a lay bet at the exchange. To make things easier to understand, here is a step-by-step guide on how to use esports matched betting.

Esports Matched Betting Step-by-Step Guide

1. Select an online bookmaker.
2. Select an esports betting exchange.
3. Open the main page of the online bookmaker or sportsbook.
4. Claim the free bet that the bookmaker offers.
5. Select an esports event with the match-winner betting market. (Make sure this event is available at the esports betting exchange you selected and that the esports betting exchange offers similar odds for this event)
6. Use the free bet you just claimed to place a back bet on the esports event.
7. Open the esports betting exchange.
8. Select the same esports event on which you placed a back bet.
9. Place a lay bet worth the same amount you placed a back bet. (Make sure you have enough balance at your exchange that covers the liability)
10. Wait for the event to end and claim your winnings.

When choosing an online esports bookmaker and an esports betting exchange, the one thing that you to make sure of, which will allow esports matched betting to work, is whether both platforms cover the same event that you want to place bets on. Another thing that is required for esports matched betting to work is a free bet. Make sure that the online bookmaker you are selecting offers free bets.

However, it doesn't matter whether both of them have the same esports event or not if either the online bookmaker or the exchange is not legitimate or has several security issues. There are tons of reports on the internet of people getting scammed at an online bookmaker or esports betting exchange.

For this reason, make sure both platforms are legitimate and have proper security measures like website encryption. You can also look at subjective features, like what deposit methods they have and what games they cover.

To explain how esports-matched betting works, here is an example.

• Let's say you have found an online bookmaker that offers a free bet worth 20 U.S. dollars. You also found an esports betting exchange that covers the same esports event that the online bookmaker covers.
• The bookmaker offers odds of 2 for team A to win, and the esports exchange offers odds of 2 as well for team A to not win. You use your 20 U.S. dollar free bet to place a back bet on team A.
• After that, you deposit 40 U.S. dollars on the exchange, 20 U.S. dollars for the lay bet, and 20 U.S. dollars for the liability. Then, you make a lay bet on team A for 20 U.S. dollars.
• If team A does not win the match, you lose the free bet, but you get to keep the 20 U.S. dollars from the lay bet and the 20 U.S. dollars of the liability. You also get a 20 U.S. dollar reward. You spent 40 U.S. dollars and got 60 U.S. dollars in return.
• On the other hand, if team A wins, you lose the 40 U.S. dollars from the lay bet, but you win the free bet and get 40. U.S. dollars. You spent 40 U.S dollars and got 40 U.S. dollars. You didn't win anything, but you didn't lose anything either, which is why esports-matched betting is risk-free.