A back bet says "Team A will win". A lay bet says "Team A will not win". Try both sides with pretend money first. The full offer exercise is there when this part makes sense.
Try one back and one lay
Imagine Team A playing Team B. Both bets in this exercise are about Team A to win the match. At odds of 2.0, a winning £10 bet pays £20 in total. We'll ignore exchange fees for this first run.
Back Team A at the bookmaker
You put £10 on Team A to win. If Team A wins, you get your £10 stake back plus £10 profit.
Lay Team A at the exchange
A lay wins if Team A does not win. The exchange holds £10 in case Team A wins. That held money is called liability.
See what happens
One bet wins and the other loses. Pick a result to see where the money goes.
Both bets must be about the same team to win, the same kind of bet and the same rules for deciding the result. This example uses matching odds and no exchange fee so you can see how the two sides work. The full offer below adds different odds, a fee and a free bet.
Next levelTry a full matched betting offerQualifying bet, exchange liability, free bet, changed odds and final balances
The fictional offer and starting money
Back £10 at minimum decimal odds of 2.0 and receive a £10 stake-not-returned (SNR) free bet after the qualifying bet settles. For this exercise, you start with £20 cash at the bookmaker and £50 at the exchange. Your combined starting balance is £70. The free bet is a token, not another £10 of cash.
Assume you are eligible, the qualifying market counts, both sides have identical settlement rules, and exchange commission is 2% on lay winnings. A real offer needs those checks against its current terms. The two betting stages use separate selections so each can settle either way.
Check the two pairs
The fixtures are invented. Each bookmaker back and exchange lay must name the same selection in the same 90-minute result market. A bet on a team to qualify is a different market.
Qualifying pair
Team A v Team B · 90-minute result
£10 cash at 2.0
Team A v Team B · 90-minute result
Lay odds 2.1
Free-bet pair
Team C v Team D · 90-minute result
£10 SNR token at 5.0
Team C v Team D · 90-minute result
Lay odds 5.2
Try the whole offer
Nothing here connects to a bookmaker or exchange. Place each simulated slip, see what money is tied up, then settle both pairs.
Exchange liability is held while a lay is open. It has not been lost unless the lay loses.
Place the qualifying pair
Start with the bookmaker back. We'll work out the lay stake together before you place it.
Place the back bet to open the exchange slip.
Settle the qualifier and check the reward
Choose either result. The bookmaker and exchange balances update from the £20 and £50 you started with.
Check your account before the second pair. Was the £10 SNR free bet actually awarded?
Place the free-bet pair
Back the free bet at 5.0. The matching lay is available at 5.2, again with 2% commission. SNR means the £10 token does not return as cash if the bookmaker bet wins.
Use the token to open the exchange slip.
Assume the lay is fully matched at 5.2. How does this second pair settle?
OptionalWhat if the lay changes?Changed odds and a lay that only partly matches.
These are separate what-if checks. The balances above use the original £9.62 lay fully matched at 2.1.
Check the worked result
The table keeps the standard £9.62 qualifying lay and £7.72 free-bet lay. Each row is a possible pair of settled results. This exercise rounds each exchange settlement to pennies before updating the balance. An exchange's own rounding and commission rules can change a result by a penny.
| Qualifying result | Free-bet result | Final bookmaker cash | Final exchange cash | Change from £70 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back wins | Back wins | £70.00 | £7.00 | +£7.00 |
| Back wins | Lay wins | £30.00 | £46.99 | +£6.99 |
| Lay wins | Back wins | £50.00 | £27.01 | +£7.01 |
| Lay wins | Lay wins | £10.00 | £67.00 | +£7.00 |
If the free bet never arrives, the exercise ends at a 57p or 58p qualifying loss. Do not count a promised reward as profit. If either lay is only partly matched, these final figures do not apply until you calculate from the actual accepted bets.
Read the live offer's eligibility and market rules before depositing. Use the qualifying calculator and free-bet calculator with current prices, then confirm both slips and the exchange's matched amount. If the two outcomes or the terms do not make sense, stop. Go back to matching bets or liability before using a live offer.
Check you have it
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