2UP's Basics in Matched Betting

One of the most exciting offers in the matched betting world is the ‘2 up’ offer that can be found on Bet365 and Paddy Power. This is a great offer for multiple reasons:

For those without a lot of spare time, it can give large profits for little effort (although a bit of patience will be required).

For those in the early stages of matched betting, it can give bankrolls a hefty boost if luck is on side.

And for those with large bankrolls, there is the possibility for four-figure profits from a single winning bet, with very minimal financial risk to go with it.

In this guide we’re going to be looking at how to exploit the 2-up offer, the different 2-up strategies you can use and also a range of hints and tips for making the most profit possible.

Introducing 2UP's

When the team you’ve bet on goes two goals in front of their opponent, you will be paid out by the bookmaker. The premise is very simple; bet on a team whose back and lay odds are extremely close or, ideally, an exact match. All you have to do after that is hope that they go two goals in the lead. This could be 2-0, 3-1, 4-2… you get the idea.

This reason ‘2-up’ offers such huge potential is because if your team then fails to actually get the victory, your lay bet (on the exchange) will win as well as your early payout on the bookmaker side. If you have an exact odds match and 0% commission, you’re going to have no qualifying loss. If you’re at 2% or 5% commission, your qualifying loss will be extremely small (relative to the size of your stake) and it will be extremely +EV.

Just in case this wasn’t already clear, this offer is not a standard ‘Bet X, Get Y’ basic free bet offer. It is a more advanced offer that is not going to generate small-but-consistent profits. This means you’re likely to have periods where your team regularly doesn’t go two goals in front and therefore your chance at profit is zero. This is where patience and perseverance are required.

However, when your team does go two goals in front…the profits can be spectacular.

Cash Out Strategies

Let’s now take a look at the two different options you have for profit strategies.

Letting It Ride

This option is by far the most simple. However, it is also extremely high variance; you’re not likely to have many profits this way, but when you do they will be large.

For example:

You back a team for £100 at odds of 5.0 and lay them at 5.0. Your commission is 0%, and your qualifying loss is therefore £0. You then do nothing else but cross your fingers and hope for the best. If your team goes 2-0 up but still wins, you make nothing and lose nothing.

If they don’t go 2 goals in front, you make nothing and lose nothing. However, if your team does go 2-0 up and then draws or loses, you would make £500 profit. £400 would come from the bookmaker side and the £100 from the exchange.

This is the lowest effort, highest reward option, but also the least consistent by far. Expect long stretches of no profits and some small qualifying losses.

Locking In A Profit

This second option, the ‘lock-in’ method, is generally preferred by most matched bettors. The strategy is generally the same:

Back and lay as instructed above. Wait for your team to go two goals in front. However, once they do take a two goal lead and you get your early payout, you now have a decision to make. Do you want to lock in? If you do, you can generate a profit. Alternatively, you could wait and see if the other team pulls a goal back.

If this happens, the odds can swing nicely, and you can generate a more significant profit. Let’s look at the same example as above; you’ve bet £100 at 5.0 and laid at 5.0 with 0% commission.

Your team goes 2-0 up just inside the second half. The odds on your team to win are now 1.18. We could now back our team again – via the exchange this time – with a stake of £423.73 and generate £76.27 in guaranteed profit by doing so.

Let’s say we didn’t lock-in at 2-0 and we hoped that the opposition pulled the score back to 2-1. Fortunately for us in this made up example, they score virtually straight away! Our underdog team are 2-1 up with half an hour to play. Their odds are now 1.65. At these new odds, we could now lock-in £196.97 in profit.

Beginners with small bankrolls should look to lock in at 2-0 for the bankroll boost. For those with slightly larger bankrolls, waiting until 2-1 (or even 2-2) may be more favourable. The EV doesn’t actually differ when you’re paying 0% commission, but locking in earlier is slightly lower EV when you’re paying commission – this is due to larger exchange stakes.