(Newswire.net — April 26, 2023) — The extremely intense competition in the sports wagering industry has forced bookmakers to introduce more promotional offers than ever. And with such a flow of free bets, it is not very surprising that matched betting Ireland strategies became trending in the region. However, before engaging in the process, it is important to find out all the details about it. In particular, the damage it deals to the sportsbooks, and the benefits the players might get from using the strategies.
What is matched betting?
Matched wagering is a strategy that is designed to redeem a free bet or a portion of a free bet with no risk. Most matched betting Ireland strategies require the user to find two sports wagering platforms: one with a free bet and another one with competitive odds. Then, these players are selecting an event, in which the odds for the opposite outcomes exceed x2.0.
The free bet is used to submit a prediction on one of these outcomes on the original sportsbook, while the second bet of the same amount is placed on the opposite outcome on the second wagering website. As a result, the player wins no matter what happens in the game, enabling them to redeem from 50% to 100% of their free bets with no risk.
How does it affect bookmakers?
Before, the effect of matched betting Ireland strategies was so insignificant that the bookmakers did not really pay attention to the players engaging in them. The simple reason behind it is the low quantity of free bets issued by the sportsbooks. There were not enough offers for the strategy to become massive, so the small scale of the issue allowed the bookmakers to ignore it for quite a while.
However, in 2023, the competition in the industry constantly forces betting websites to issue more and more promotions. As the quantity of free bets in the market increases, so does the total value of profits made from matched bets. It is hard to say the issue is already critical for the bookmakers, but the trend is clear and it is not in their favor.
Just like with arbitrage betting strategies, the damages to the sports wagering platform might not be as obvious. The players simply use their free bet, so there seems to be no reason for the platform to suspect them of forbidden activities. Moreover, matched betting in Ireland strategies are still not listed as forbidden methods in the Terms and Conditions of most sportsbooks in the country.
What will happen in the future?
It is rather easy to predict the following course of events, as the same situation has already happened with arbitrage betting. When the strategy only emerged, it was not bad enough for the bookmakers to issue any sanctions. However, as the number of punters engaging in it increased, so did the overall damage. It became a money-printing machine for many punters at the expense of bookmakers, so they obviously had to stop it.
The situation with matched wagering is not as critical yet. First of all, there are still not so many punters using the strategy. Secondly, every individual player is limited to the number of such wagers they can place. With arbitrage betting, the punters could submit multiple bets of the kind every day. With matched wagering, it is limited to the quantity of Free Bets issued by the bookmaker.
Nevertheless, in case the situation continues to develop and the strategy becomes more popular, there will clearly be updates to the Terms of Service. The sportsbooks will likely start listing it as a prohibited strategy, punishing the punters who engage in it accordingly. Right now, it is still possible to match free bets, but it is important to keep up with the news to avoid getting the account suspended.