You might have heard the term “matched betting” from a friend, or seen it mentioned on your social media feed. It’s historically been difficult in the USA, but is starting to become an incredibly profitable opportunity.
Matched betting is a technique that involves taking advantage of promotional offers provided by sportsbooks to guarantee a profit. By strategically placing bets on all possible outcomes of a sporting event, you can eliminate the risk of losing and extract real profits from bonus bets.
Hundreds of thousands of people across the world have used these techniques to earn risk-free profits, especially in countries like the UK and Australia.
Now. It’s America’s turn to profit.
Is Matched Betting Possible In The USA?
Yes. Matched betting is possible in the USA.
Matched betting can be used to guarantee profit anywhere that three conditions are satisfied:
- Online sports betting is legal.
- There are multiple sportsbooks operating.
- The sportsbooks are allowed to offer bonus bets as an incentive.
Unfortunately, these conditions aren’t met everywhere in the USA. There are a few states that are highly profitable for matched betting, with many others waiting for online sports betting to become legal.
In order to take advantage of matched betting, you will need to be a resident in a state that has legalized online sports betting. Strict laws control access to online gambling and you will be asked to provide proof of residency.
Is Matched Betting Legal?
Matched betting is 100% legal in the USA.
You are taking advantage of sportsbook offers to mathematically guarantee a profit. There are no underhand or illegal tactics required to make profits through matched betting.
The only legal aspect to be cautious of is to only use sportsbook’s who can legally operate in your state of residence.
You might find that some sportsbook operators aren’t too happy with matched bettors. Not because we’re taking any of their money, but because we are often looking for the most advantageous value bets. Bets where their commission (or ‘vigorish’) is very low and make our accounts less profitable.
It’s not uncommon to be ‘gubbed’ at a sportsbook where they will limit your access to bonus bets, although this will only ever happen after you’ve made significant profits.
Which States Are Suitable For Matched Betting?
Online sports betting is legal in 27 US States. This started with Delaware and Nevada in 2018 before spreading across to states like New Jersey, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
However, not all of these 27 states satisfy the second and third conditions. Some states have only legalized gambling on a casino premises, or have granted licenses to just one or two sportsbooks to operate.
That means many states aren’t suitable for matched betting.
The technique of matched betting in the USA can be used to guarantee risk-free profits in:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Oregon
- Ohio
- Pennsylvania
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Just because matched betting is possible in all of these States, doesn’t mean it’s very profitable. As we are relying on sportsbook bonuses to make money, matched betting becomes more profitable when more sportsbooks are operating.
Currently, the most profitable states for matched betting are New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
How Matched Betting Works In The USA
Whilst I’ll cover the highlights here, you should really check out our detailed guide to matched betting in the United States. There, I explain all the secrets to making money from matched betting.
1. Find Sportsbook offers.
As each state has a different set of sportsbook operators, it’s worth searching for all of the services currently offering online/mobile gambling in your state. They must be operating in your state, or you’ll find yourself unable to register due to strict gambling control laws.
For each service, you’re looking for any indication on their homepage that they offer a ‘welcome’ bonus to new sportsbook customers.
Always read the terms & conditions. Some sportsbooks place strict qualifying conditions to earn bonus bets, or place restrictions on withdrawals. It’s important to carefully read the fine print before signing up to any sportsbook.
2. Place a qualifying bet
Most sportsbook promotions will require you to place a qualifying bet (e.g ‘Bet $100, Get $100’). Normally, this would involve risking $100 of your hard-earned cash to qualify for the promotional bonus.
Matched betting is a no-risk opportunity, so we look for bets where we can cover all possible outcomes.
By betting on an event to happen at one sportsbook (e.g Dallas Cowboys to WIN), we can also place a bet on their opponents to win at another sportsbook. These bets cancel each other out and ensure we haven’t risked any of our own money.
We’ve also qualified for the bonus bet from our first sportsbook.
3. Match your bonus bet
Once we’ve qualified and been credited with a bonus bet, we want to repeat the matching process.
However, this time we’re using some of the sportsbook’s own money to place one of our bets. By adjusting our bet at the second Sportsbook, we can guarantee a significant profit whatever the outcome.
American Matched Betting Software
A matched betting service takes a painful process of finding sportsbooks, understanding t&c’s, and finding suitable bets into a simple, painless experience.
I’ve been matched betting for over 10 years, and paying for a matched betting software has been the best investment I’ve ever made. They’ve allowed me to make more profit than I had ever imagined was possible.
As matched betting is still relatively new to the USA, there aren’t many options available. In fact, I can only stand behind one service: ProfitDuel.
Among other awesome features, their ‘Dutch Matcher’ is a really clever tool that finds the best bets and presents them in an easy to read format. You can even use various filters to ensure you’re only seeing bets relevant to the offer you’re currently tackling.
There’s also a wide range of detailed guides, offer summaries, video walkthroughs, calculators, and a profit tracker. Want to know more? Check out my full review of ProfitDuel’s Premium service.
ProfitDuel was started by the owners of OddsMonkey, a very popular matched betting service in the UK. They know their stuff.
ProfitDuel makes the process of matched betting quicker, simpler and more profitable. They provide useful tools for identifying the best bets, along with a growing community of members who can help you whenever you get stuck. We've been a member since they first launched.
Features
- Easy to use bet-finder tool.
- Detailed guides for beginners.
- Facebook and Discord communities.
- Highly lucrative casino offers.
The History Of Matched Betting In The United States
Across the world, matched betting has gained significant popularity since it became possible following the launch of online sports gambling. Sites like OddsMonkey in the UK and BonusBank in Australia popularized matched betting by making it into an accessible side hustle.
Most countries with matched betting operate using an exchange like Betfair, where you ‘Lay’ an event. The same as betting on an event not to happen. This means you can ‘match’ any betting event, including the chances of an individual horse winning a race.
Betfair tried to launch in the USA, bringing it’s exchange-style gambling to New Jersey in 2016 but failed to gain any serious momentum. They shut down the service in 2020. Whilst the reasons are interesting, it left the concept of matched betting in a difficult position.
Instead of having an exchange to lay events on, the only possibility would be to ‘dutch’ sportsbooks against each other.
All of this means that matched betting has a very short history in the USA.
2018 saw the first opportunities crop up as Delaware and Nevada legalized sports betting, however this was limited to a few sportsbook operators and matched betting had limited profitability.
It was New Jersey who led the way, after legalizing sportsbooks in August 2018. That has led to 15+ different operators starting up in the state. The 9.2 million people in New Jersey have the best opportunities of anywhere to profit thousands from matched betting.
Since then, most states have started to introduce legislation to legalize sports betting. It’s a slow but encouraging process that opens up matched betting to more of the American population.
2023 saw a significant change in the US matched betting landscape, with the launch of ProfitDuel. Starting in New Jersey, they’re also expanding in New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
It’s the start of an exciting time for matched betting in America as we see increased legalization of online sports betting, the expansion of new sportsbooks, and the growth of ProfitDuel to help people earn thousands of dollars.
About The Author
David has been matched betting for over 10 years, with experience profiting from bonus bets in the UK and Australia. He's made over $30,000 from just a couple of hours each week and funded travel across the world. He struggles to understand why matched betting isn't more popular when it's the perfect side hustle.